I have a 55 gal main tank with a 20 gal long sump that I built myself. My sump has a refugium that takes up about 1/3 the tank and the skimmer section takes up 1/3 and the pump is the other 1/3. I use to buy my water from Wal-Mart by the gallon and mix 1/2 cup of salt with each gal jug and then pour into my tank, this method took 20 min. to do a water change but left me with 12 plastic gal jugs to recycle (what a pain). Now I have a R/O filter which I setup in my basement and I store the clean water in a plastic 44 gal trash can. The problem is I use a 2 gallon container to transfer water from the basement to the upstairs where my reef tank is. To fill up my tank I siphon the water from the container into my sump after I mix the salt in it. My sump can not hold all that water so I have to turn on my sump and wait for the pump area to go dry and then siphon another 2 gallons of salt water into my sump and repeat 4-6 times depending on how much water I take out of my main tank. This takes twice as much time as the old way and makes more of a mess (spills on floor, up the stairs from the basement, tilting container to get every last drop of water and spilling on floor again, you get the idea).
Any help
Water changes with a sump
7 posts
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Snowboss4492 - Posts: 2098
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm
and DON'T hot mix your salt like that, your just asking for trouble
i get my RO from walmart in those 5 gallon water cooler jugs, and i have a 4 gallon square container with a lid that has salt mix running all the time {small heater and a powerhead in there} all in the basement
i syphon off my water from the main tank, into a "dirty" 5 gallon bucket and then syphon new water into a "clean" 5 gallon bucket and haul it up
you could set the bucket on a milk crate or two if needed and then just syphon it into your sump....................its never going to be a speedy process,lol.but fewer steps is always nice - - - - the power head isn't a bad idea if your moveing a lot of water - - - to me it's just one more electrical thing for me to shock myself with when i forget to dry my hands or something and grab the plug....lol but im a dumb ass so it may be fine for you
my wife and i are going to be building a new house soon and there is going to be a large display in the living room and the sump will be elevated in the basement right under it - - -i will be seting up larger Poly containers with pumps and such in them so i should never have to move water by hand again. the ro system will fill pure water containers, a pump to the salt mix container, and a pump to the sump for filling, valve to drain the sump to the waste drain ...................we'll see if i can't mess that up, lol
Boss
i get my RO from walmart in those 5 gallon water cooler jugs, and i have a 4 gallon square container with a lid that has salt mix running all the time {small heater and a powerhead in there} all in the basement
i syphon off my water from the main tank, into a "dirty" 5 gallon bucket and then syphon new water into a "clean" 5 gallon bucket and haul it up
you could set the bucket on a milk crate or two if needed and then just syphon it into your sump....................its never going to be a speedy process,lol.but fewer steps is always nice - - - - the power head isn't a bad idea if your moveing a lot of water - - - to me it's just one more electrical thing for me to shock myself with when i forget to dry my hands or something and grab the plug....lol but im a dumb ass so it may be fine for you
my wife and i are going to be building a new house soon and there is going to be a large display in the living room and the sump will be elevated in the basement right under it - - -i will be seting up larger Poly containers with pumps and such in them so i should never have to move water by hand again. the ro system will fill pure water containers, a pump to the salt mix container, and a pump to the sump for filling, valve to drain the sump to the waste drain ...................we'll see if i can't mess that up, lol
Boss
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gdeeber - Posts: 113
- Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 12:27 pm
Snowboss:
How long should you mix your salt before using in tank? I mix it 1/2 hour before and stir up just before use.
How long should you mix your salt before using in tank? I mix it 1/2 hour before and stir up just before use.
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Snowboss4492 - Posts: 2098
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm
24 hours minimum - - - salt will continue to disolve for that long easily, so if you mix your water to 1.023 and let it sit over night it could be 1.025 -1.075 or higher depending on the salt mix - - - with fish only tanks it's not as critical but i bet your shrimp doesn't care for it - -it's not a terrible thing your doing but it is a bad habit.....if you move to corals, most of them can be hyper sensative to sudden changes in salinity even tempurature
like i posted earlier, when i do a water change, i imediatly mix a new 4 gallon batch and it runs until the next water change, sometimes 2-3 weeks depending on the need, during which time i can monitor salinity and temp pretty closely and by the time its needed - - it is usually within a degree of the display temp and right on as far as salinity goes ...........my clowns swim in the water flow as i dump it in, its that close - - -when i used to hot mix, they would hide for a couple hours until the tank started to balance a little
Boss
like i posted earlier, when i do a water change, i imediatly mix a new 4 gallon batch and it runs until the next water change, sometimes 2-3 weeks depending on the need, during which time i can monitor salinity and temp pretty closely and by the time its needed - - it is usually within a degree of the display temp and right on as far as salinity goes ...........my clowns swim in the water flow as i dump it in, its that close - - -when i used to hot mix, they would hide for a couple hours until the tank started to balance a little
Boss
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puffedupseagull - Posts: 623
- Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:38 am
MoVe the RO upstairs. And then store the water some where else if possible. Then i would also suggest like BOSS to get a cheap ass power head and siphon the water sraight out of your jug to the tank via a hose.
NO SPILLS NO FRILLS, and DEFIANTLY NO MORE HILLS
NO SPILLS NO FRILLS, and DEFIANTLY NO MORE HILLS
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a1k8t31524 - Posts: 939
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:10 am
now i am fresh water so i am sure there is a lot of differances here.....
but this is what i do, i do a 25% change every 3rd day i have 11 1 gallon jugs of treated water always sitting in my "fish closet" i syphon out 10 - 11 gallons add it in one gallon at a time, this way i am not lifting up a huge bucket and then spilling it everywere and i dont have to worry about it pouring in too fast and moving shit around. after i replace the water i just make new.... and repeat the process 3 days later.....takes 15 20 min max unless i am doing some "deep cleaning"
but this is what i do, i do a 25% change every 3rd day i have 11 1 gallon jugs of treated water always sitting in my "fish closet" i syphon out 10 - 11 gallons add it in one gallon at a time, this way i am not lifting up a huge bucket and then spilling it everywere and i dont have to worry about it pouring in too fast and moving shit around. after i replace the water i just make new.... and repeat the process 3 days later.....takes 15 20 min max unless i am doing some "deep cleaning"