Water Change Mistakes to AVOID for an Awesome Reef Tank. No Really, Don't Do This!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 มิ.ย. 2024
- Water changes on saltwater aquariums, we all have done them and many of us have made some mistakes along the way. Today Ryan and Randy share their Top 20 Water Change Mistakes so that you can avoid some of your own in the future!
We're regular reefers just like you and we make mistakes just like you. Learn from us and our whoopsies!
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The content contained in this video is general information on the topic and should not be relied upon as your sole source of information or safety advice for this project or topic. Each product or situation is different and has its own concerns related to successful completion and safety that must be fully researched by the individual considering the project or product. The purpose and content of this video is to provide general information regarding the products and their applications as presented in the video. Aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents disclaim all express or implied warranties, in any way, related to the products and their application as presented in this video, make no representation or warranty regarding the products and the application as presented in this video and shall not be liable for any direct or indirect losses or damages of any type, including but not limited to punitive damages, or from personal injury or death resulting from or in any manner related to the video, and the products in and contents of the video. The viewer expressly agrees that aquatic sales solutions, inc. And its officers, directors, employees and agents shall not be liable for any damages or losses related to the products in and content of the video and hereby agrees to hold the foregoing harmless from any such losses or damages.
How many of these Top 20 Water Change Mistakes have you made?
More then I care to admit lol
Many. But the big one was shattering a heater.
Hey, i think it should be said that if you misdose or something that one elements gets way to high, never remove it fast. The fast low to high and then fast back will more likely kill the corals then get slowly back down to normal.
Always experiencd this with customers, never had problems if the overdosed element was removed slowly
20 :/
All of them, and proud to say I've made up some of my own.
The Wayne's World of reefing
A trick to avoid sucking a mouthful of water when starting a siphon is put the hose well deep into the tank, seal the dry end of the hose with your thumb and then lift most of the wet end out of the tank while lowering the dry end to start the siphon. No fuss. No mouthful of tank water. My grandfather taught me this for siphoning gas out of cars.
Really good points. Great video 👍
Ayy, man I watch ur channel
I met u once ur nice but ur kinda stinky. Edit: as in u physically smell bad ur vids r good
George 😍
@@livinggarbage5168 what the fuck?😂
@@livinggarbage5168 hahahaha
We have spent a lot of time designing our frag systems so that water changes and top offs are effortless. We all know that maintenance can be the reason we quit reefing so these points you bring up are great! It's not for everyone but definitely pay attention to a lot of what's discussed in this video.
I have been a fresh water guy for awhile now, I am now starting my first nano saltwater tank yes I know smaller can mean hard to maintain. I asked around on Facebook and other fish chats and everyone says I need to watch u guys so for the last 3 days I have watched this and the 52 weeks of reefing series I feel like I have a small understanding of what I am doing but I have made a lot of friends so I have many places to go for helpful information
Thanks guys; a great resource for reefers all over the world!
Pretty fortunate in Western Australia, self collected high quality natural salt water then I can clean the rocks (if needed), siphon the sand and drain it out out using a large diameter anti kink hose. I pump it back in using a external pump. Nice and easy with some tunes and a couple of beers!
I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and the in-depth testing you guys do. Thanks from the UK
This is good. All great things we know, but often forget as try to cram this great hobby into our busy lives. Thanks for the great content! It sets you apart from the other retailers. I shop BRS consistently.
Yes! I love vacuuming the gravel. It is very satisfying!
The % explanation is a great ADD to the hobby community. This was my number one conversation with in store-customers who were frustrated that their 20% water change did not make a significant impact to the 160ppms of Nitrates they were testing.
A simple piece of paper and percentage break down would leave them with greater comprehension as to why a 20% water change was not the solution to see a significant impact in waste levels without proactively approaching the cause and effect and evaluating the equipment that was failing or missing entirely in consistent waste removal - most often a Protein Skimmer and a moderated feeding methodology.
Great info! Im getting back in after 20 years. I’ll be watching you guys as I get my stuff gathered up. Hopefully send some biz your way too.
I figured out #4 back when I had my 75g circa '04. Had a 2 story apartment, and I used the downstairs bathroom as a fish room. Bad water down the shower drain, and I had the new saltwater in a 55g bin in the same shower. A bit of kit bashing with the hoses, and I was able to refill the tank just by flipping a lever. That was such a huge time saver.
I’d like to hear the full story.
Another great video - you guys continue to change the educational landscape for reefing, thank you! (As a side note, how can anyone give this video a thumbs down when it's free and valuable content? Can't figure that one out, lol!)
Great video guys 👍 I use a hang on the side, Power Gravel Cleaner, which has a fine mesh inside, so it traps the muck coming out of the tank and the clean water goes straight back into the tank, I think it’s one of the best bits of kit I have ever bought !
is your power filter DIY or did you get from a store? do you hove a link or the name of it? or is Power Gravel Cleaner the name? lol
You’re not a reefer unless you’ve ever swallowed a mouthful of saltwater.
Lol
Hahahahaha, true. :(
I just did that acclimating my green spotted into saltwater.
Mouthful? I've gotten tastes when starting acclimation drips, but who starts a water change siphon with their mouth?
Fill the large tube with water, lift up above rim and turn upside down to start flow, resubmerge before running out of water in tube.
craz wolf The og’s
Thanks guys, good stuff!
Really good stuff. Only a couple of missed items, but made notes!
Great idea on the sediment filter no. 11, thanks guys
Very informative gentlemen! Great job
I had not realized there were narrower versions of that siphon thingy. I use a python on my daughter's 20G FW tank (I missed the fine print where I was being retained indefinitely as the maintenance company) and its hard to get the nasty from the crowded spots. Will have to pick one of those up!
Another great video. This series of 'biggest mistake' videos is probably one of my favorite series from you guys.
Awesome content guys, some really great ideas 👍
Awesome information guys cheers
I've taken my water changes to a whole new level, when I drilled my 125 gallon tank I drilled an extra hole in the back of the tank half way down specifically for water changes. I have a drain pipe inside the tank set at the desired level I want the water to drain down to with a sieve on top to prevent any fish, snails etc going down the pipe, this is painted black so it's almost invisible against the black background. The drain outside the tank then goes through the floor of the house and connects into the plumbing of the house. I have 2 taps on the plumbing on the outside of the tank, 1 drains the tank into the plumbing of the house, once the water gets to the preset level inside the tank it breaks the siphon which takes hardly no time at all. The other tap I connect a reef safe 1" braided hose to, the other end of the hose gets connected to the mixing station and I can fill the tank through the same drain pipe in the back of the tank, which also takes hardly not much time. Over all my water change takes less than half an hour, excluding cleaning the tank and mixing saltwater the previous day, and it just involves opening and closing taps, and connecting the filler hose to refill the tank. Eventually I'll run pvc from the mixing station, under the house, and to the tank so i can eliminate the need for the filler hose altogether.
Incredible 👍🏻
Great idea
@@meatrocket1
Thanks, water changes used to be such a chore, they're now so quick and easy on the 125 gallon tank
Sicce ultra zero pump is awesome! I have two of them. One always lives in my salt water mixing bin which bulls from the bottom and pushes up to the top. The drain down to 2mm of water! Great value pump!
Heck yes
Great video,keep it up!
Hi guys good morning from Germany. We love your clips and love too keep in touch with you guys. Best regards from Reef Buddies from Germany
Thanks so muchj for this video. As a newbie, it would be extremely helpful if you'd add links to the items you're mention. Thanks again!
Merci pour cette vidéo !!! 👍👍👍
The idea of testing products to remove heavy metals is a good one
Copper is well documented
Tin isn’t and it’s a contaminant that keeps popping up on ICP tests, sources can be from the glass making process, Plasticisers in PVC pipes and electrical components that are failing
This would be a great review
Great video, helps me as a beginner alot. What do you think about pre-mixing and storing Red Sea Reefer Coral Pro salt? I was thinking about premixing alot and i read in many forums that it's totally not recommended, but exactly as you say, if you have a busy time you might skip the change more often.....
Check out our BRStv Investigates Salt series. What we found is that as long as you keep stored with flow and heat, precipitation isn't an issue. That said, Red Sea doesn't recommend storing Coral Pro for longer than 4 hours, so just know that you may get different results than advertised if you stray from the manufacturer's recommendations.
Great vidro. I am a big fa of you ! Regards
Jake Adams would probably disagree on the no water changes on new tanks 😆🙈😆 his red sea nano 1 day setup tank hasn't had a water change in 2 years from day 1
You can use a small canister filter and hook a gravel cleaner to it to make cleaning your sand a lot more simple and effective and can be done in between w/c
You can get these big blue 75 gallon storage containers with sealing open tops for 50 - 75 dollars. After years I just set up two, one for rodi and one to mix salt in. They are connected so I can open a valve to send rodi to the other one to mix the salt. Both have a tap to fill buckets.. after watching this vid, definitely gonna setup the retractable hose reals .. 6 5gal buckets for a 20% water change is a pain in the buttox!!!
Thank u.
I have it pretty easy with just an IM20. I buy natural marine water at my LFS. The guy who supplies it has been bringing water to stores in the Bay Area for 40 years. I change 5 gallons a week. Rain or shine. 5 gallons a week. This is easy to do, fast, and great for that nutrient transport we all want. I do not run a protein skimmer on such a small tank. I let the weekly 5 take of that.
Great video, but could have been so much better if you had done the countdown in the order that you do your water changes.
1) make up the water overnight...
2) check the parameters of the new water...
3) scrub/Remove algae
4) baste the rocks
then onto the actual water change section... would have made way more sense (imo)
I have found what's best for my glass cages 260 reef tank is 30% every 3 weeks and it thrives very well. It's like giving the fish and acropora a clean bath.😊
I find using a cheap turkey basting squeeze bulb to start the syphon the cleanest way to go.
Cant wait!! Love you guys and the content!! Now try and get LED light prices down!! ha ha
I love that your wife said you needed to know the lawn 🫶🏻
I have my pumps lights and heater all on one power strip. Switch the power strip off and bam ready for a water change. Anything else you have that doesnt need to be turned off can be put on a different power strip and leave on. Side note: interesting about the algae bleaching. Kind of makes sense maybe thats what happened. Temp difference in room to water maybe threw them off too? Shocked them or room temp was too high/low? who knows. Anyway, I always turn the lights off simply because I don't like bright lights in my face while working on the tank lol, but nice to know it may be beneficial in some way too!
hi great video I know your videos is more about saltwater aquariums but I have 1 question when I python the sand I don't always see the waste going up do that means I'm not cleaning I have no spill python water changer
As a new viewer I wished you had or I found videos for 40 gallon tanks because I'm not at the point of having sump or bigger water changes. Just some pointers on small tanks I'll be looking for . Thanks guys
Please do a video on the DIY Hose Reel!
@@MrChadVossen Did you buy one?
how did it work with the clear poly tubing?
Nice!
I think if you have a smaller tank its harder to both clean the sand and maybe do algae
Wow thank you Steve balmer
I miss dancing to the BRS jingle. 😁
Nice video, really love it :)
I'm a bit skeptical for the part "Using a filtration before it goes to your aquarium" You will lose a lot of mineral and what not no?
Some time I turn my light also when I know lot of corals will be expose for long, I splash them with my wet hand to make sure they don't dries
Keeping in mind that a sediment filter captures larger particles... the salt/calcium/carbonate/magnesium/trace elements are not large enough to get filtered out. It's those larger unknown and undissolved particles and impurities that we are concerned with removing via a sediment filter.
Any sediment in the water wouldn't be a trace element, so there shouldn't be any concerns there.
@@BRStv Good to know, thank you
I was only able to get to a place where I could do minimal water changes after I set up a refugium with a healthy stock of microfauna. Due to the refugium the animals couldn't get to the breeding stock of my microfauna so that stock was what the coral fed upon too, mostly at night.
20:42 can definitely sat that its from exposure to the air as soon as its dry its dead. they happened to me recently, and there were no lights and a cling wrapped the top as the back wall has a really large patch of gsp. coralline also dries out quickly, it seems.
I have the skimmer, heater, power heads, and pump on the same power strip. I turn it off when doing water changes. Makes it easier.
Same here, but do my water change in sump rather then tank about once a month to 6 weeks.
Im an islander i always use natural sea water in my saltwater tank
Fish,liverock,corals all taken from the same source
Its only cost filtration and the tank itself for me to build my saltwater tank no cycling needed been doing fine this last 3 years
You forgot one, related to turning off the heater. Forgetting to turn the heater back on again. D'oh!
Went I do water change before do it I use the Turkey baster to clean the rocks the used a cheap power head to create micro bubble and all that stuff go to filter in the sump also the micro bubble clean the corals
Hi what brand of water jet were you using to blow algae etc off the rocks??
Great video, however i don’t 100% agree with the simple math of 10% 90%, if your doing a water swap (like auto water changes) and nothing else, then yeah it’s pretty much spot on. However, if you turkey baste the rocks, vacuum detritus from the sand bed, and change the filter socks that 10% water change will be potentially removing a lot more than 10% of the pollutants.
Exactly! There's way more involved here than just changing water. I can get the same or better benefits from a 5-10% 'aggressive' water change as opposed to a typical 10-30+% water change that removes only water...... Also, I dont do water changes unless its an ABSOLUTE must. I've only done a 10% aggressive change once in 6 months.
Should always add links to anything for buying :)
I would love to do that but I don't really have a floor drain because they are in my room and I don't have a faucet that I can use. :-( I only have freshwater because salt is too expensive and difficult for me. It is usually buckets and water for me. I use 5 gallon buckets and it takes quite a few.
What brand is the black sand cleaner vac used in video?
Thanks
Awsome..ii am new again to salt luv all that!!!!!!! Big help..I have 1 question. I have a 15 gal. Nano and have the sump in it (fluvol evo) and added diy wet dry.can I over filtrate
It's certainly possible to have too good of a filtration system. Most reefers will monitor nitrate and phosphate levels to give them an idea of how their filtration is performing. The goal is low, but not zero, nitrates and phosphates.
do you guys use a water polishing pump to help when you do the water changes and suspend the gunk in the tank?
Could you mention, though, that some fish, like Tangs, like to eat that algae. Also, what is the harm of it if it is alive? Isn't is eating up nitrates? I can understand not wanting it on the front glass or sand, but my Tangs love to eat it and I think it looks cool.
Chemi-pure blue resin works wonders as well as purigen
You guys do awesome reviews ... Nice to live in Bermuda salt water is freeeeee lol
Lots of great tips! I ordered a bin from amazon last night on wheels that holds alot of water so I can premix it and just wheel it in to the tank but now think I will either get a pump or the phython and not even have to move it! Not sure if i can use the phyton into the bin though to take the water to the tank or is it the pump that would be best for that situation? I do have a big utility sink in the same room I am keeping the bin so I could drain it into there but cant fill it being its not fresh water. To bad I cant get full use out of it! I also thought about using my big cooler on wheels to drain water into and it has a plug you pull to release the water out. How would I change the alkalinity on a large water change? I dont dose being I do weekly water changes on my 10 gallon so now today I am doing my first change on my 36 gallon and I am going to do a 50 percent being it just finished cycling. Also when figuring percentage do you count sump as total water volume I suppose?
You'll need some sort of pump to pump your freshly mixed saltwater to your tank after you've drained it for a water change. If you need to adjust the alkalinity of your freshly mixed saltwater, we'd suggest using sodium bicarbonate. Unfortunately, you can't adjust it down, just up, so pick a salt mix that most closely matches your tank's water parameters.
@@BRStv Thanks for reply! I nearly killed myself with my first big water change last night and ended up flooding my sump! haha I couldnt figure out why when I got to the end of filling that it wouldnt fill! I moved the drain pipe down vertically just yesterday instead of keeping it horizontally so I suppose thats why! haha. Fun night! Now I am desperately wanting that pump you talked about. You mentioned cj. What is the name of that brand you showed that you can sit in sump?Also, regarding alkalinity and water change. A re there saltmixes that have different alkalinity's. I just bought a 5 gallon bucket, hope I got the right one
Yeah seems salt water tank is expensive and alot of work 😂 but I’m still thinking about starting a new tank from one of mine smaller freshwater tank.!
What salt stores the best? Thats a great idea storing it
Check out our BRStv Investigates Salt series 😉
I like brs 🐶
This should be good
What sediment filter would you recommend for simplicity as a drop-in? Currently using a basic pump & Brute setup.
We use these little Carbon/GFO reactors with a 10"inch sediment filter in them. Easy as can be! www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-gfo-carbon-reactor-single.html
Nice work! Let's say I mix 1 month's worth of salt. Do I need to leave the pump ON for the whole month? Turning it on a couple of days before the WC is something you would consider or no?
We've found that certain salt mixes can sit stagnant for longer periods of time than others (see our BRStv Investigates salt series). That said, if you didn't want to have to think about it, leaving the circulation pump on 24/7 is your safest bet. Doesn't have to be a huge pump by any means, just enough to keep the water moving.
I get this white powdery film on the surface of my saltwater mix. Not sure what it is. I use the SeaChem salt.
i have 2 pumps and 2 conduits for water changes. 1 pump lives in my tank and my shrimp love to clean it and I use that to keep all the nasty with the nasty that way the clean water doesnt get polluted with what came out of the aquarium.
I am working on a similar system. So much easier than buckets haha
I change water about every 10 days and I vacuum the entire snad bed and kind of shuffle the sand around. (not many nassarius snails) Is that to often? One time I let it go for a few water changes because i had so many new frags on sand bed and it was really filthy. it really isnt very dirty now but i have diatoms or dinos or something so I need to but should I just do a section each time? Could it be removing bacteria I need? I soaked rocks in peroxide today and killed a lot of copepods and bristle worms:( really bumbed about that :( could this be a setback for a 7 month old tank?
My red sea coral pro salt says to only mix within a few hours of use I wish I could do it overnight.
hhmm i'm not sure about what you said about exposing corals when doing the water change and lighting too strong. Think about in the wild, where many reefs around the world are exposed for a few hours, twice a day at low tide, and experience temperatures of 40+ c, mainly sps. Your lights would not be able to produce as much light as what corals are exposed to at these times.
I use my return pump to return new salt mixed water to the tank with valves.
I notice you guys say garden hoses are not safe but have a clip of someone using one. So what way is it?
which coral is the purple one in the back tank? ty
I have not had luck with preparing saltwater more than a few days out. I was regularly making a month worth of water, and then doing weekly changes. By the end of the month the water was green several times and had to throw away. Using a brute food safe trash can, heater, and powerhead.
i been doing a water change due to having high nitrate level also i am running Refugium i do have sand and do gravel not sure what else do to, also i have a BioMaxx BioPellet Reactor I haven't been using it.
Make yourself a seachem denitrate reactor using a 1 gallon water jug from the grocery store.. full it with denitrate and run a pump that flows 20-30gph and youre peoblem will be solved. My 135 gallon has 5 tangs a foxface and other various fish and i feed then heavily 2-3x a day. I use 2 gallone of denitrate on my tank making my own reactors with 1 gallon water jugs and some barb hose fittings and silicone. And running at 28gph my nitrates can go from 80ppm to 40ppm to 10 ppm in 4 days if i dont feed my fish. It really does work. Feeding my fish it keeps my nitrates around 20-30ppm. And without it ny nitrates would get to over 80 in just a week
Should of added the topic of using RO water vs your tap water when mixing salt
1 question how many microns need to be filter to filter sand water from salt tank to aquarium? Thanks.
How about plugging your heaters back in I don't run a saltwater tank but a freshwater tank
Hey BRS.. after talking about using water changes to clean sand, remove algae and detritus you then go on to advocate automatic water changes which does none of the above. I think it would have been wise to encourage a regular sand/rock cleaning schedule along with auto water changes otherwise buildup of nutrients will continue to build up despite the auto water changes.
Just because you have an auto water change system doesn't mean that you can't ever do an occasional manual water change to help clean up the rock and sand :)
Bulk Reef Supply absolutely! I was thinking it probably should have been worth mentioning in the video because it would easy to get complacent if you have auto water changes. Overall I think it was a great video though :)
Rico tried to have a seasoned reef from pre-cycle. Maturation. As the old Theil crowd would say..."seasoned"
I would like to know how "auto water change" could be done. It could definitely save me some time and effort!
My tank is established more than 2 years time, it looks really stable and good to me, and it makes me lazy to do the water change
Here's a couple of options we've done videos for! :)
th-cam.com/video/mKGa26bM-L4/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/6Be-GtlQJOI/w-d-xo.html
Where can you get the python detailer that there talking about.
Great video guys...but on #16, please understand that in natural coral reefs at low tides can leave corals high and dry for several hours....high tide is usually around 4pm and the sun is still very bright. I tend to think there was a different cause.
i put a divert on my return pump and a long hose to a drain turn two valves and just pump out what i need for water changes
You all never tested fritz salt and it says heat water to tank temperature add salt and mix for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes it’s ready to use. Would like to see you guys test items that you don’t carry.
Yeah, I just moved to using Fritz after a bad batch of Instant Ocean. Fritz is awesome, its crystal clear in 5 minutes and the DKH isn't a crazy 11+ or stupid low Calcium like IO salt.
What is your advice on water changes if I run my skimmer quite wet and then replace the water regularly (about 7% of the tank per week)
If you're pulling out 7% of your tank's volume via the skimmer, you're effectively doing a 7% water change in that period of time. That's still a pretty small water change, so you're likely going to want to still continue doing manual changes.
I just got a biocube mother's day and but still have freshwater 🐟 3 in my tank but I want change it to saltwater
As a guy who grew up right near the beach and grew up surfing, I had to laugh at #5. Nobody likes a mouthful of seawater but I can't tell you how much I have had go into my mouth over decades of surfing and never have had an issue with it.
There's a big difference between the open sea and a tiny box full of concentrated fish waste and bacteria. That's like equating drinking from a fast flowing stream to drinking from a pond or a puddle.
Sometimes the problems is just simply not having enough clean up crew. I didn’t have enough snails and bought like 10 snails and my algae problem was reduce and improving. I also now use NoPox daily which has works wonders. If you have a newer tank don’t use it. If it’s established, use it! I’d say an established tank is roughly 2 years old. But yah.
Lol done most of them, forgot about the Auto topup pump that fills the tank with clean water.