All I used to do (using ro/di water) was aerate, match temp and salinity and never seemed to have problems. Only thing I'm doing different now is ensuring the Ca and Mg are also up.

Proper Calcium levels, alk, ph etc etc.. I always test these things after water has sat for a day or two...being mixed and aerated. bad salt has and will happen again. if you are using tap water i would suggest a copper test kit as well.

Is it very important let your water sit for a couple days after mixing it? Do you just manually aerate it or?

One tip i find good, is if you have to syphon the tank water out, dont swallow it! :)

I use an airstone in my water tub, and the only reason i let it sit is to allow the heater to get it to the same temperature as the tank, that and to allow the chlorine to evap.

I read an article once that said it was important to let newly mixed salt water age for a few days because it is very caustic and corrosive when just mixe and it could be hard on livestock AND equipment.

I usually let my water sit for 24 hours, just to have a chance to mix really well and bring it up to temperature.

That's UNdissolved salt and saltcreep that's corrosive. As long as the water is clear it's fine to use. Using a high powered pump helps hasten help dissolving process. I use a DIY modded maxijet which will blast the water out of my 33 gallon Brute garbage can if I'm not careful.

I used a mixer paddle on the end of a drill, mixed it up real good :mrgreen: the only time I let it sit for more than an hour is when I felt lazy all of a sudden, but having said that overnight would be good. now I used RO water so I wasn't worried about clorine or anything.


Steve

I just added 80g to my system, it didn't sit more than an hour per batch. I added 4 20g pails over the course of the day. Every thing is fine.

Wow I totally missed this thread, it got to like 50 posts in 2 days!

I'd say siphoning out detritus has the effect of changing my water. My 5 gallons or less of siphoning is my small window of opportunity to siphon out as much visible detritus as possible and I've been trying to develop my own way of getting as much as I can with each change.

As for aerating water any changes larger than 5% I aerate if the water's straight out of the RO unit. I do this for 24 hours then use it. If my RO basin has had the current batch of water in it for like a week I just dump in the resulting saltwater right away.

And I test my water going into the aquarium about every 3rd batch or so (or on a new bucket).

One "no-no" i've done is use the well water a couple times out of desperation here on the acreage (since I haul water from the city to use on the aquarium). I have comprehensive test results of the water done by the hospital and it's supposed to be better than city water except it's high in potassium (which doesn't hurt since our salt's low in it). I haven't had problems yet but I haven't really used it much out of fear of something nasty happening. I've only used about 5 gallons in total over the past 3-4 weeks.

The reason I let my water sit is to balance out the alk, ph etc.. sometimes i have to add things to get what i want. It is proably one of those things that can be done either way...some say its fine to add and some say no. Kent says its okay to add, but to wait preferably. I only wait because i usually have to dose something or another. I find it more convenient to do it my way. :) I don't actually use kent...well i do sometimes i have a bucket laying around...but i have found salt is salt. I'd use reefers best but my calcium reactor cracked and i am too cheap to get a new one, and the calcium is low in reeefers best on purpose.

I don't know how long you have to be in the hobby to not be a "Newbie" anymore but I still definately consider myself a Newbie. There's so much to know I think i always will be....lol...

I started my system about a year ago but I had been researching the logistics for about 3-4 months before the actual setup. Books; specifically "The contientious marine aquarist" and the Internet were my bibles at first, the staff at OA were later to come but have been invaluable. To me the amount of money that I was going to have to put into the setup alone, let alone then stocking the system was the reason I took the researching aspect so seriously. In everything I read, "Good Skimmers and Weekly Water Changes" was not just mentioned but described in detail. I didn't even know until reading this thread that not doing weekly water changes was an option. I just assumed that if you let it go long enough, everything would die....just another reason i love this site...I always learn something new from every post I read on here. From what I have gathered though from this thread is those who don't do weekly or even bi-weekly water changes and have successful systems are very experienced and have a way better understanding of their water paramaters and what they need to be running/supplementing to ensure those water levels. I think I'll stick with weekly water changes for now.:lol:

I started with a Coral life Super Skimmer 60, which was great in the beginning but has been up and down over the last 6 months and the motor seems to have gone, again, on the pump in the past few days but I don't think I can fix it this time. I now know this wasn't the greatest choice for skimmers and I want to look at something that will last more than a year and do a better job than this one did.

I also started with a large rubbermaid garbage bin with a heater, some airstones and a maxijet 1200 for prepping the water for water changes. I've never tested anything other than the salinity and temp before doing my water changes but I just assume my water is really good as when I take my water in, my tests have mostly been really good and if not, they tell me what to do and it goes right back down. I am now curious to know what the change water tests at.

I do 10-15% weekly water changes which seems to be the standard recommendation among books, the internet, staff at the stores I've been to and alot of people on here. That's more than enough for me and with the amount I've invested in it, the stories of the negative effects of not doing water changes is just not worth it.

Questions: :question:

1. What test kits for which tests do people use??
I've been thinking of starting to do my own testing at home. Getting to the store weekly to get my water tested just hasn't been feasible lately and I wouldn't mind getting a better idea of the different tests done. I have a cheap test kit I bought at one the big animal superstores in the beginning but i know it's not accurate. So which brand names or test kits, products does everyone use??

2. Skimmers options. What's a good skimmer for 100 - 150gal????
I have a 100 gallon system including the sump but with rock displacement I figure there's about 60-70 gallons of water in the tank (not sure if this makes a difference or not). I have a plan in the works for a bigger system (150-180gal) that I would like to be able to transfer any new skimmer to. I have heard alot of good things about the Euro Reef Skimmers, I have heard mixed reviews about remora's and I've seen alot of things about DIY...but i definately don't think i'm there yet......lol

I sometimes think I ask too many questions but I wouldn't know most of what i do if i hadn't ask lots of questions:):)

1. Test kits - I use all of the test kits available from elos. (Ph, Calcium, Iodine, KH, NH4, NH3, NO3, NO2, PO4) I also have test kits from Salifert of all of the previous, in addition i have a copper test kit, a dissolved oxygen test kit, ammonia test, silicate, boron and strontium. The last three i did not buy they were given to me as an apology for a messed up online order. I find most test kits okay...the all in one box sets are fine for starting out, but i've found the elos and salifert a little more easy to interpret the results.
2. Skimmers - this get harder because you are treading a fine line between name, build quality, new technology vs old etc. I recently looked into this in more depth as i needed to get a skimmer (ended up getting three, all euro-reefs - Price was right) I like the KZ Skimmers but the price is wrong, as well as the bubblekings, the bubblemasters i liked as well but i found trying to order one and trying to get a hold of ati was ludirously hard so i gave up (was told their cus. serv. was horrible, and it is) A lot of people are recomending octopus skimmers...xtreme something or other. Again it was a hassle to get one so i gave up :) Mostly what i hear about euroreef is older technology, very wasteful energy wise pumps. That sort of thing. I like mine, i would recomend them. People still buy ASM's same performance as a euro-reef i've heard but cheaper. H&S seems nice, but waaay to pricey for me. Deltecs are always bought as well as the PM Bullets. I can only offer advice on the euro-reefs as the only other skimmers i used are so dated or diy'd it would be no use. I liked the picture at least of the foaminator 5000(?) seemed big...easy to impress people when they come over :)

I do like my euro-reefs but i think if i did not find them used i would try asm if going new. There are many many opinions on skimmers and no real consesus other than you need one...and even that is questioned by some.

One other aspect to remember with regards to skimmers is if you want an in-sump or external skimmer. OR Hang on back type...with a sump i doubt it unless room is a question. Each in-sump skimmer also requires a certain footprint (room in sump) and a certain water level in the sump to operate at peak effiency. So a Automatic top off or at least diligence in topping off helps. External skimmers are usually built tougher, require feed pumps and are more expensive than in-sumps. One other note...some of the better built/quality etc pumps use clear pvc as opposed to cell cast acrylic or extruded acrylic...i like this idea better, but the ones i wanted were out of my price range.

1. I prefer Salifert kits for nitrate, calcium, and magnesium. My Elos kit for KH is just fine (each drop measures 1 dKH) and I sometimes use my Elos pH kit. For ammonia I think my aquarium pharmeceuticals is accurate enough (goes down to 0.25ppm).

2. The euroreefs are very good mid-range skimmers. I'd recommend the RS-180 if you're possibly upgrading tanks later. I wouldn't consider displaced water volume, but rather fish-load on the skimmer. Generally a large tank is stocked with more fish than a little tank no matter how much rock is inside. Larger skimmers can then help with the bioload. But I'm not condoning overstocking your tank either.

My way.
 

Change 20% of the water volume in your tank every two weeks no matter what, use ro/di water use kent part a/b 2 times a week have at least 5 watts per gallon of good quality lighting like t5-mh, clean your filters 2 times a week with bleach and make sure it has no bleach on it when it goes back into the tank.

I run a protein skimmer its a must.
I also have a uv sterilizer light it does alot of good.
Def get a refugium and put rock rubble, coco pods, cheato, snails, live sand & a ok light run it when your sleeping.
Filter Sump is the only way to go.
Maxi jet power heads a must for good water flow.
check your levels once a week.
Dont clutter your tank with alot of fish (Nitrate factor)
Use very little live sand less poo.
Get a mag glass cleaner.
Fiji live rock imo.

If any body has questions let me know.

Brian.

:mrgreen:

^ Yessir! :lol:

I found the recommendations overly rigid.

Ok.
 

:mrgreen:

Where is the very old thread about no water changes and no skimmers? it had great discussions! and I dont want to type out another 4 page explanation...;)

My two cents in response to a few points :)

1. The "watts per gallon" rule is out dated
2. UV sterlizer is not always great ... a no-go if you are running zeo
3. There are much better power heads out there than maxi-jets (for the record I use a maxijet as my water change salt mixer :p)

Good for you.
 

You want a cookie ?
:biggrin:

damn how did I miss that, good thing I did thought or it would have been a extra long post..

just for everyones info as there are probably a lot of people reading this the watts/gal rule should not be used.. better off to forget you ever heard it as it correlates to absolutely nothing except the exact same types of bulbs on the exact same size of tank which you can imagine is useless. if you want the big long explanation I will find one of my old ones and repost it or you can just search my name and watt/gal and you will probably find me repeating myself over and over.:mrgreen:

Steve

^ LOL! I've heard the speech!

Hey! I use MJs in my tank!!! They work well to blast my SPS and my Gorg. But I also use them for stirring water...lol.

What's with the attitude Reefmaster08? We are Canadians (hence CANreef), we don't like hostilities. As an American I could see how you may be confused by this. :p

I'm kidding!


.....kind of.....

The short explanation is "How would a coral know how many gallons of water it was in to determine its light requirements?"

Omg.
 

Every one is going to have there own way of doing things this is mine i have 75g & 125g running for years like a charm.

This will be the last post for me in this thread.

I was just trying to help, im new to the board and didnt want people to think i was here just to buy frags.

:usa

You can buy frags from us just as easily as we can buy them from you :p

No harm no foul, everyone has their own opinions, all I'm suggesting is that methods and products in the hobby seem to change quickly andthat if you cling on to the past you get left behind.


ps.. where is my cookie?

It was the way you chose to express yourself. You came across very "my way or the highway". There's a million different ways to keep reef tanks, and many ways work just as well as eachother, and many ways will only work for a small group of people. If you keep that in mind, there will be no issue. There is no such thing as "my way or the highway" with reef tanks. There are A LOT of similarities in the tanks that "win" Tank of the Month, but there are also a lot of differences. What works for one person may or may not work for another...depending what exactly it is.

Not to mention that not every reefer is after creating the ultimate living microcosm regardless of cost or blood, sweat and tears involved.
I see a lot of reefs that are beautiful that people are very proud of and yet remain simplistic in their components.
There is definitely a prevailant attitude in this hobby that the more money you've spent, the better off your reef will be and the funny thing is that this is a mentality that creates and propogates itself, I'm amazed at times at how much influence the capital market and rampant consumerism can have on otherwise stable minds.

Spend lots of money and feel good about your reef because you have spent as much money on it as you possibly could and have everything looked after by your electric monitors and wallet or adversely, try maintaining a reef with very little technological aid and bust your *** making it work.
You can always try a mix of both of these methods as well and just see what works for your preferred level of spending and man hours....

nope not even close:mrgreen:

Well you said that a lot better than me...

I haven't done a water change in about 8 months and I'm way overstocked. So far so good. My tank has never been better. I think it has to do with additives that I started using last year. Hope my luck continues. I keep wanting to do a water change but I'm lazy and my corals and fish haven't complained yet.

This is a method of a friend of mine, who has been in the hobby for years. I'm using it and it seems to work pretty well. I do it every 2 weeks.

- turn off all pumps, powerheads, skimmer, etc.
- using a diatom filter with an extension on the exhaust, blow detritus, etc
up into the water
- run the diatom filter for about 1 hour, until water is very clear
- perform a 20% water change
- test all parameters, as diatom filters take out some good stuff as well
- turn on pumps, etc.

Diatom Filters get the water nice and clear. Also has the benefit of filtering any parasites from the tank.

What do you think?

having no experience with diatom filters, this seems like a lot of work for what could essentially be accomplished with a good siphoning/waterchange?

No, They're not a lot of work. It is actually easier than siphoning by hand. Just set in on the floor, hang the exhaust and intake tubes into the tank and turn it on. I've used them for years on FW tanks and they work great. Many LFS use them to quickly clean the tanks. I figure if I'm doing a water change anyway, why not clean the water real well.

At the pet stores I have worked at I have always just done watetr changes. Lance your way would work but it is doing the same thing as a good syphoning and a good syphoning is a lot quicker than using a diatom then a water change.
Super7

New Tank
 

I just got my tank up and running 1 week ago. I have LR LS and 2 hermits to knock back the hair algae.

Other than a slightly elevated phosphate level and a ph of 7.8 my other parameters are good. Should I already be starting water changes or wait a bit?

^ Keep your tanks lights off for the first month or so. I'd wait until the cycle is over (ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate <5ppm) before doing any waterchanges. At which time I like to do a 50% waterchange.

Cycle Over?
 

Could my cycle may be over already? Although the tank has only been set up since last Saturday I had well cured live rock in my rubbermaid tub for almost 2 weeks. I have been turning on the halide for about 2 hours each evening just so I could gaze at the rock and watch the hermits at work.

I will keep testing to see what happens.

I used to have an 180G tank, mainly SPS and a few LPS. It was well stock with fishes and i was doing no water change. Had a big skimmer on that tank, a small refugium and all seem to be doing fine. The tank was up for 2 years, done 1 water change during those 2 years. All the fishes was healthy and fat. The corals was growing fast looks ok too! In the end of the 2 years, i started having a really big problem with algea! None of my snails would eat it and the spreading time was crazy fast! I tried to get rid of that algea with no success, my nitrate level was high and could not go down with even all the water changes and the AZ No3 that i bought did nothing!

Now having my new tank up and running, i learned something from my previous tank. Doing water changes not also bring back some elements, its also a prevention. The colors of the corals also seem more vibrant and the polyps extention after each water change is impressive! A tank could survive without water change, but after a while, you might come by some problem and then, that is really hard to get out of it.

Please note this is my personal opinion on my own experience :)

i do one every 3-4 days, about 15% each time, and the tanks doing great, mind you i'm skimmerless. i dose alot of supplements about twice a week though to pay up for the lost trace elements