A question on Water change's

[Bluewater25]

I have a 55 gal acrilic tank with two access holes on the top and a canopy with lights. Under the tank I have a small sump full of equipment.
I have always wondered how the experts do there water changes? I typically take the top off the tank and use a siphon hose with a one way valve to pull out all the left over debrie off the bottom of the tank along with the water. I always thought that this has to be pretty tramatic for the fish, seeing me banging around there house with a 2' siphon, taking out there water, then pooring new water back into the tank. Can anyone give me suggestion on how to make water changes easier on both me, and the tank critters.

[leebca]

Taking advantage of a water change to siphon away detritus and wastes from the substrate is the optimum use of having to make a water change.

If you do this activity routinely and avoid 'banging around' the fish will come to recognize the activity as non-threatening. What the fish are very sensitive to is vibrations. Marine fish have 7 senses whereas humans have only 5 senses. One of the extra senses is that of vibration. Every 'hit' you make with the siphon is like a sonic boom to them.

Move slowly and deliberately. To do a good job, restrict the flow so you have enough time to move around without frantic movements OR concentrate on half the tank for one water change, then the other half of the tank for the next, and maintain this 1/2 pattern.

Putting water back in should be slow and deliberate. Less 'dumping' and more like the water was removed -- via hose. You can get a small, low flow submersible pump to put the water back in slowly and steady.

As an aside, take note that the standard 55g is not an ideal shape aquarium for marine fishes. The foot print is small, compared to the volume.

Good luck!

[weez1959]

Hi Lee,

Since I don't have any debris (not sure why) in my tank I do my water change via the sump so the fish don't know what's happening.

I proceed as if it's feeding time:

First I turn off all pumps and powerheads, then as usual ALL the fish come to the upper right side of the tank and wait for me to dump in the goodies. I dump it there because whatever doesn't get eaten falls on the BTA.

Then I go to the sump room and pump out 12g of about 80-85g water and replace it with the new properly adjusted water. Then I go back to the DT and turn all pumps and PHs back on and voila! The fish never knew what happened!

I'm not sure if anyone else out there does it this way but it works for me and the fish never have to stress about having weird things in the tank...

[leebca]

Do you have substrate in the display tank? If you do, take a solid rod and stir up a 6 inch square patch of it. You're post indicates that nothing will come up when you stir it.

If the pump in the sump will run/circulate the water when the 12 gallons are removed, then why not run the circulating pump while you put in the new water? In this way, the old mixes with the new and the fish don't face any sudden wave of new water.

The above is only a suggestion. Most fish can handle the 'wave' of new water. Keeping with doing things slowly, I like to make a water change with my circulating pump on. As I'm adding the new water, it is mixing with the old and being sent into the display as a mix.

Have a good weekend!

[weez1959]

Hmmm,
I didn't think of turning the pumps back on before adding the new water
As for the substrate, I have about 4-5" of aragamax but I thought you were never supposed to disturb the sand bed??? Or did I miss something along the way

[leebca]

Or did I miss something along the way

Yes.

The top of a deep sand bed needs to be cleaned to prevent it from being compacted and blocked. If either occurs, the substrate below goes from anoxic (very little oxygen) to anaerobic (no oxygen). The anaerobic environment is conducive to allowing the bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide (a poison to fish and humans) to flourish. This is one of the causes for a marine system to crash.

On a routine basis, you want to disturb the top inch or so of the bed to remove any wastes that are 'filling' the gaps between substrate particles. This action also verifies that there is no substrate compacting going on. For the most part, worms, snails, cucumbers, sand sifting Gobi's, etc. can help with this function, cutting back on the need. BUT the need always exists. Even with the above listed helpers, some cleaning must be done. Even those animals that 'eat detritus' create wastes that need removing. So if you have those listed substrate animals, you'll need to clean the top layer less frequently.

With such cleaning, enough nutrients and nitrates will move to the lower layers for the anoxic bacteria there, performing denitrification.

Since I presume from your response you have not done any cleaning, you must not attempt to clean the whole substrate area at the same time. Do it at 25% increments until it is has all been cleaned over a time period of at least 2 months. Then, depending upon your clean-up crew and animals, perform this cleaning at certain time intervals and routinely.