Biggest Water change?

[ShaunW]

What's the biggest water change that you have ever done?

I just completed a 55 gallon water change on my 120 gallon tank that has a 30 gallon sump. It represented an approximately 50% change. I compeleted it in less than 10 minutes. Please keep in mind that the prep work is alot, i.e. containing the new water, heating it, monitoring the salinity and moving water around before putting it into the tank.

Lately I have been thinking about doing more since I can do it so rapidly using pumps, especially in my new BB tank.

 

[bad coffee]

I used to do 5 gallons on my 10 gallon all the time. Took about 10 minutes as well.

5 gallon bucket out, 5 gallons of fresh salt water in.

On my 20, I still do (did) 5 gallon changes. I'm just lazy.

BC

 

[DEEPWATER]

I have a 90 gal .with 20 sump200lbs of live rock ,and 120 lbs of live sand ,so I dont think i have a full 90gal ,maybe 60/70 gal left in the tank
In july i moved from the 2cd fl to the 6th .I had 45gals of new RO/DI water ready in my new apt.did the waater change /easier to have 45gal ready upstairs then shelping it up .
Other wise I do 20 gal monthly and 5 gal evey now a then during the month

 

[herman]

Sollby. Can you describe the system (waterchange)? Is it plumbed into a drain etc? 10 minutes - thats very efficient!

 

[jackson6745]

I usually do 20% wc as usualy weekly or bi-weekly maintence. When that mag pump was killing my tank I was doing like 25% wc every day for 2 weeks

 

[kimoyo]

Bomber on RC and other do close to 100% water changes. The majority of your cycling bacteria are on surfaces (aquarium walls and rocks) so changing out the water isn't really a problem. Of course those guys do it with natural sea water.

 

[kimoyo]

But doing large water changes isn't that much better than doing more smaller water changes. Randy on RC did an article a few months back and the numbers were close (obviously larger water changes were a little better). If you did 5 25% WC close together that would probably be real close to a 100% WC. But if your doing it with synthetic sea water, that would be scary to me.

 

[marrone]

I have done large water changes on my 260gal in very short times, say 100gals, in 15 minutes using pumps. I have seen places that have drains built into tank where they just flip a lever and the water drains right out and then they flip another lever and the tank fills right back up. This is really good on say gold fish feeder tanks.

The real problem with doing large water changes is that it can shock the system causing a mini-cycle to happen. I have seen this many times when people have decided to do large water changes of 50%+.

 

[jhale]

the most I do on my system of 160 gallons is 40 gallons.

this is all the water I can make at one time comfortably in 2 rubbermaid containers.

 

[kimoyo]

The real problem with doing large water changes is that it can shock the system causing a mini-cycle to happen.

Why? ...

 

[marrone]

You have a stable system and then you doing a very large change to it and it can cause the bateria to go into shock. Remember no matter how close you get the new water to what's in the current tank it's going to still be different and that difference could cause the bateria to go into stock. Just think when your going to introduce a new fish, coral or invert you just don't throw them into a new system or even in a tank with new clean water as this could cause them to go into shock, same with your fish tank.

 

[ShaunW]

Sollby. Can you describe the system (waterchange)? Is it plumbed into a drain etc? 10 minutes - thats very efficient!

I have two 45 gallon plastic holding tanks, these are filled with fresh salt water placed next to the tank.

I have two 20 gallon plastic garbage cans that are then filled with water coming out of the tanks in addition to many 5 gallon containers.

So using two separate pumps attached to tubing that is many feet long I am able to remove the water from the tank using one pump tubing combination and replace it with the other pump tubing combination.

 

[ShaunW]

Bomber on RC and other do close to 100% water changes. The majority of your cycling bacteria are on surfaces (aquarium walls and rocks) so changing out the water isn't really a problem. Of course those guys do it with natural sea water.

This is true, no bacteria will be disturbed by such an event as removing all the water from the tank and replacing it as long as it is done in a timely manner.

The biggest problem I see with large water changes is trying to minimize the stress response from corals. Once again if the change is done fast enough no stress would occur.

 

[kimoyo]

You have a stable system and then you doing a very large change to it and it can cause the bateria to go into shock. Remember no matter how close you get the new water to what's in the current tank it's going to still be different and that difference could cause the bateria to go into stock. Just think when your going to introduce a new fish, coral or invert you just don't throw them into a new system or even in a tank with new clean water as this could cause them to go into shock, same with your fish tank.

Up to this point, my limited experience has only been with fish. As long as temperature and ph were very close I would put a fish in new clean water. I've done it several times with dips, both freshwater (extreme change in salinity) and saltwater while treating for ich. So that why I have no problem believing that huge water changes are safe. I don't even think that permanent large changes (ie 0.007 and not fluctuations) in salinity will hurt fish (not inverts).

Why would animals go into shock by decreasing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

The biggest problem I see with large water changes is trying to minimize the stress response from corals. Once again if the change is done fast enough no stress would occur.

My main concerns with synthetic salt would be a bad batch and poor aeration.

 

[House of Laughter]

This is an interesting read - I have done as many as 60g change - since my new system is plumbed all together and includes a ball valve that directs tank water into the basement sink, it is easy for me to do a water change.

I have been doing 30g per week and 45g every other week (or every other 3 depending on my time) for the past few months. This was a huge PIA becuase I would have to turn the skimmer off as the sump level would cause it to overflow the drain cup etc. and fill the little room behind my tank with buckets etc.

For the past month, I have been doing 15g water changes 2x a week - I am able to do this becasue I have a 15g food grade container that is tall and skinny and I can keep it in the room. I don't have to turn anything off and the system is relatively unaffected. I typically pump my freshly salted water into the area where the drains bring 1750gph into. So, the stress on the animals is minimal if at all. I am going to keep a close eye on this new method and I might decide to go with a larger WC eonce a month or every other.

I have noticed that my corals are starting to color up and look like they are getting better.

FWIW.

House

 

[jhale]

The biggest problem I see with large water changes is trying to minimize the stress response from corals. Once again if the change is done fast enough no stress would occur.

I've also felt limited by the height of the coral in my tank.

if you turned off the lights to avoid melting the coral do you think it would matter to them to be exposed to the air for a few minutes?

look at reefs in nature, there are huge coral heads that get exposed to air during the tides. is this species specific, or would all the coral and inverts be able to deal with it?

 

[ShaunW]

I've also felt limited by the height of the coral in my tank.

if you turned off the lights to avoid melting the coral do you think it would matter to them to be exposed to the air for a few minutes?

look at reefs in nature, there are huge coral heads that get exposed to air during the tides. is this species specific, or would all the coral and inverts be able to deal with it?

Judging specifically your reef tank, I would say that your SPS would have no problem. Like you said, huge coral heads can be exposed to air (SPS). I wouldn't want to have, for example, mushrooms exposed too long. Their stress response is quick and can be deadly to other creatures. Soft corals in general have a deadlier stress response to other corals than SPS, in my observations. They can also melt down quicker and release toxins.

I always do my water changes when the tank lights are off. Definately, having a BB tank, makes it easier to do bigger water changes since I can use bigger pumps to move the water around without having to worry about a potential sand storm.

 

[jhale]

guess what, I just found my frogspawn a spot it likes in the top left corner, oh well.

I can always move him to the bottom for the super sized changes.

feel like a drink?

 

[ShaunW]

Normally I would, but tonight I am in for the night, family events with an every now and again MR check, :lol: .

 

[jhale]

oh well.

I guess I'll just watch my mixing containers fill with RO for the water change tomorrow :tired:

your turning into a much too responsible person as you get older

this thread needs pictures maybe I'll post some of my water change, hehe