Noob question:

[krg]

Hi guys,
Your replies have led me to ask another question..water changes..what exactly am I doing? I have some experience with freshwater tanks, and am used to vaccuuming the gravel when I do a water change. I was told with saltwater I don't want to siphon my substrate cause I have befeficial stuff there. So..am I just basically sucking up water and replacing it? Or am I just vaccuuming the parts of my Live Rock that I can vaccuum? I'm slightly confused on what to do to perform a 'proper' water change.
Thanks to anyone still reading and to anyone replying..I EXTREMELY appreciate it!!! Thanks to everyone who has replied. I look forward to learning some more!!! Take care,
Kennan

[mike31154]

I vacuum the substrate a little on every water change. Doing a small area a little deeper and everything reachable lightly every time will help keep the crud level down without disturbing all the beneficial stuff too much.

While you're out shopping have a look at some of the hang on back (HOB) skimmers available. I've been running a 77 gal sumpless for close to 4 years and went from FOWLR at the start to where I now have anemones, soft and LPS corals. My skimmer came with the used system and is an old school DIY counter current, wooden air stone unit. With a few of my own mods, it works very well. If the skimmer prices are a little hard to take, search the net for DIY plans and if you're handy you should be able to get something built relatively easily for less money. Even with a FOWLR, once you see the stuff a skimmer can remove from the water over time, you'll be convinced it's a good thing for your livestock and to ease your maintenance burden.

Further on the subject of water changes, it's recommended to use RO/DI or distilled water to prepare your mix. Can depend on your source water too, but long term you'll have better results with pure water than with treated tap water when running a salt water system.

[whatcaneyedo]

I dont vacume the substrate but I do use a turkey baster to blast some of the settled detritus off of my rock and coral when i do a water change. I also always give new saltwater at least overnight to completely dissolve with a powerhead in the bucket before I use it.

[krg]

Mike,
So you think a 'hang-over-the-side' skimmer is a good way to go?? I'll check into it! I actually just got back from my excursion to Calgary. I planned on going to Gold's but..he was closed. I actually caught him bringing stuff in. The lights were off but he told me I could go in and take a quick look around. From what I can see..it looks like a pretty decent store. I then went to Big Al's. It's a pretty big store, fairly impressive tanks. All of the tanks looked good, no algea or anything like that. No casualties, all around a good store. The only thing I kind of question is..A lot of younger adults working there(I'd say 18-24ish, just a guess), and I wonder about their knowledge. How much do they know? Are they going to blow smoke up my butt? I guess I shouldn't judge them, I'm just curious if they can answer any questions I may have. I noticed their prices are pretty close to here in Brooks so..I'll just buy some things locally(Powerheads, for example).
A question about mixing a batch of saltwater and letting it sit overnight. Are you just using a regular powerhead? Are you suctioning it to the pail, or magnet? That brings another question..I believe those are two of the types..magnet and suction..is one any better than the other? I believe the one I'm looking at here at home is a magnet, and the one I was looking at in Calgary is a suction-type. Which is the better way to go?
Back to Mike,
So, are you saying that since you hooked up a protein skimmer you are running corrals now, instead of FOWLR? Will a skimmer really do THAT much for me? I'm not sure if I want to have corrals in this tank but if a skimmer gives me the ability too..I'll buy one for sure. If for nothing else than to make my water quality that much better!!
My 60ga tank is a homade jobbie(not by me), and is pretty decent. I was thinking because I have room underneath(whereas with my 77ga I don't), I could maybe put a sump underneath. Now..is it true that I'll need holes drilled in the base of the tank for the sump? Is it possible to have a sump without drilling into the tank? If it's not possible I'll probably just leave the tank as-is and keep it a freshwater tank, and eventually buy a bigger tank set up for a sump. At least, that's the thought in mind.
Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble on. I look forward to more replies. In the meantime..I think I'm going to go to my LFS and see what's going on around there. Thanks again, everyone..take care!!!
Kennan

[whatcaneyedo]

There are far more in-sump skimmers to choose from than there are hang-ons... Many of the inexpensive hanging ones are crap so do some research before buying.

I just have a regular powerhead sitting on the bottom of a garbage can. That is all that is needed to mix up new saltwater. However some people go a step further and add an airstone and maybe a heater but those aren't needed in my opinion.

Magnet holding systems are better in my mind than suction cup hangers for holding powerheads. Calcifying organisms and algae will eventually cause suction cups to fail while magnetic mounts aren't effected by such things.

[krg]

Awesome!! I think I know the powerhead I'm going to buy then..THANKS!!! I'll do some checking as far as the skimmers go. I find out what my local store carries, check out the web-site(s) and tell you guys as well. I'll get it figured out..I hope Thanks again! Take care,
Kennan

[mike31154]

I use AquaClear powerheads with the 'hang on the side' bracket as well as a heater when mixing new water in a rectangular rubbermaid type plastic tub. Generally allow it to mix for a couple of days and put the heater in the day before the actual water change. I like to match the temp and salinity of the new water as close as possible for adding since I have to add to the display due to being sumpless at the moment.

The skimmer I'm using as mentioned is a DIY that came with the system and as soon as I figured out how to use it, I powered it up. Many folks run systems successfully without skimmers, but I think it involves more frequent water changes to keep the quality to a point where it's livable for the inhabitants. Personally, even if I was running FOWLR, I'd still be using the skimmer. Tanks with plenty of fish produce more 'crap' and protein for a skimmer to skim. Make sure you do plenty of research before jumping on to the skimmer bandwagon. There's a lot of stuff out there and all have their pros & cons. You can easily spend and extra grand for the latest and greatest which may only improve performance over an older model marginally. And yes, there are some very junnky ones out there too. There are times when good is good enough. If money is no object, knock yourself out, ha ha.

I used a Remora C HOB with a Mag 3 pump for a while since it came with another used system I purchased. Why am I back to the dated technology of a DIY wooden air stone skimmer? Frankly the Remora didn't work well for me at all. It was incredibly noisy and only ever produced a mild tea coloured skimmate. The only good thing about the Remora was that I could fit it in between the wall and the display.

Since modifying my old skimmer with a monster DIY wooden air stone and upgrading the air pump, it's working better than ever. I run it fairly dry so it takes a while to fill up the plastic bottle I use to collect the liquid skimmate, but the dry paste I scrape out of the collection cup every week is testament to the good job it does. And it does it silently and with very low power consumption, maybe 15 watts total with the air pump and small AquaClear powerhead. I'm pretty sure my next build with basement sump will include another DIY skimmer with wooden air stone, but I'll make it at least a six footer since there will be no limitation with respect to room. IMO there's no substitute for contact time with skimmers and the best way to get that is slow flow with a very long tube.

Here are several photos. I also built a dedicated side stand for it since I didn't actually like hooking it on the side of the tank. This necessitated further modifications in the form of a longer return line. The pics are a little dated showing the older air pump and using store bought air stones.


Here's the stuff that will need to be exported by other means without a skimmer. And this is old school, so take it from there. I'm getting much nastier stuff after my mods.