Rate My Fish Tank

Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:09 am GMT   Reply      

I kept saying I had a chart with numbers to back why I do 1 large water change every 2-3 weeks........well heres my backing that i went off of. Overall.....it leads to a more stable system if your doing your waterchanges right...


http://www.reefs.org/library/article/t_brightbill_wc.html

Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:45 am GMT   Reply      

waterchanges are such a pain in the ass...

Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:00 am GMT   Reply      

Between evaporation replacement and water change in my 200 i do 25-40 gallons a week......

And Blue, you hit it on the head....... they SUCK!!

Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:26 am GMT   Reply      

ohhh ya, salt creep is a pain in the ass too........... i think im headed to my lfs to see if they have any sps out, most likely not so ill prolly be wasting approx 10 bucks in gas but o well...

Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:50 pm GMT   Reply      

Must be the day for it, ran out at lunch and grabbed a small mushroom frag and small purple and green brain. Not sure why other than i needed something new to take my eyes off the algea!!

Tue Nov 03, 2009 4:31 pm GMT   Reply      

You guys arent kidding. I just went out today and bought an encrusting montipora. Sweet stuff. Heres what I do to make waterchanges easier.......I use two brute trash cans on wheels..one is full of new water and one is empty....I use a Eheim 1260 to pump the water from the trash can to the tank after I have siphoned out the old water into the empty trash can. it works really really well. Eventually......im going to just buy a really long hose so I dont even have to roll the trash cans. It takes me about 10 minutes to do a full 20 gallon water change. Thats putting everything back and away. It is seariously worth buying the trash cans...it used to be a really big mess......water all over the place and lifting buckets.......PHEW, no more! Make it easy on yourselves guys. :)

Tue Nov 03, 2009 4:49 pm GMT   Reply      

I have unlimited access to powerheads so i use them to move the water from buckets to the tank and back. I have my MaxPro Mpro reverse osmosis unit just haven't had the time to hook it up which would really simplify things!!

Thinking about having it fill a large holding tank that i can then pump water from it to a tank or trashcan, mix the reef crystals / buffer etc then pump into the tank.

Also looking at having it auto top-off for evaporation.... work in progress!! LOL

Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:36 pm GMT   Reply      

autotopoff.com they have awesome kits and its all premade and works great! Cheap too! :) Well worth the cash.

Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:44 pm GMT   Reply      

Im not going to read that Link but i do agree with large frequent water changes, and have preached this theory to half the world.lol.. I actualy like doing them, as odd as that sounds to some of you. Tank maintenance is KEY..If your a person that slacks on WC, you probably slack on many other very important things, Like cleaning salt creep from lights, monthly maintenance on pumps, cleaning the skimmer cup atleast 2x a week, and the list goes on...=) Im a clean freak what can i say...

Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:28 pm GMT   Reply      

I've found with each passing week i spend more and more time with the tank. Fiddling with everything from the pumps, skimmer, lights etc.. It's addicting, I absolutely dread vacation time as I have no idea what i'm going to do with the tank. I just don't trust anybody with it and not willing to pay the LFS for daily visits!

Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:33 pm GMT   Reply      

auto top off will hold you through a week. :)

Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:39 pm GMT   Reply      

I've got pretty much everything i need, just have to tap into the water line on other side of the wall and then get the reserve tank. So hopefully, by vaca time i'll have it all in place and will only need one visit from the LFS to make sure everything is fed and still kicking.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:21 am GMT   Reply      

Well I will fuck a pig in the middle of a pub.
THE PIMP STILL ALIVE

Any way
I do weekly water changes, and change 200ltrs of NSW
My Parameters are perfect always, and dont have the need to dose anything except Ca and KH just to accelerate Coraline algae.

If any one is wondering on the conversion, I have 200 Gallon tank and 52 gallon water changes 25%
Its easy. Got myself a pond pump - 6500ltrs per hour, siphon water from my sump into the shower. Then switch on my pump and refill. all this is done with a garden hose. I don't heat the water cause its about 20 degrees and the tanks 25 so the difference only drops it about a degree or so.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:25 am GMT   Reply      

i know everyones prolly aware of it but i havn't seen it mentioned in this post - but topping off your tanks is not a water change, its only a dilution replacment of straight water lost due to eveporation. it doesnt replace trace and all the goodies in the water.

on a side note i agree and do 25% changes every Sunday usually at 7am before the "Car-toons" come on . . . lol

i am in the process of building a 120gal in the wall witha tank room in the basement, so water changes will be simplified to turning valves and flipping switches then ..............for now the ol bucket is my friend

i pulled my old tom aquatics wet/dry filter yesterday and salvaged the return pump out of it, put a 10gl tank under the stand and ran the overflow into a filter sock, put the skimmer, heater, some rock and the return pump in there and set up a good ol sump.

it increased my water volume from 1 1/2 gallons in the filter to 6 gallons in the sump - looking to get a small light and maybe some calupra [sp}] and see if that helps with the algae issues some

Boss

Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:54 am GMT   Reply      

I'm about to do another on my big tank.

I have a 30 foot hose with attatchments for my plumbing now, so it's a LOT easier.