Water Changes
By Doctor
Published: April 3, 2008

We all know how important water changes are to the success of reef aquaria. It took me a little while in the hobby to realize that a proper water change requires some effort. Many aquarists simply mix up their salt in some water and change it out. Unfortunately, it doesn't work this way and can do more harm than good. Many aquarists use Instant Ocean salt. It is all that I have ever used and all that I know. There are many brands on the market and some are better than others. I have considered a few other brands but am too scared to make the switch after reading some of the horror stories from switching. The following two links give a detailed analysis of the major brands of salt. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/11/aafeature1 http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1 You will quickly notice that there is extreme variation among brands. What you won't notice is the extreme variation within brands. For example I have seen IO mix up Ca anywhere from 320 ppm to 410 ppm. There have been instances of bad batches of salt released and have devastated systems. Always test new buckets to ensure they are safe to use. Article by SAMPER Please click "Read More" to read the full article

To perform a proper water change you will need the following: 1. A food safe and inert container to mix in with a lid. Size will vary with individual needs. You don't want to use a container that is going to immediately begin to release PO4 ions into the water or anything else. 2. A powerhead 3. A heater 4 Test kits and or appropriate probes and a refractometer. 5. The proper source water. RO/DI or Distilled water. Use the latter if possible provided that you know the methods used in distillation and storage before you receive it. You are shooting for 0 total dissolved solids (tds). 6. Salt mix Ok so you have everything you need. Fill your container with water and plug in your heater and powerhead. Let the water circulate and warm up prior to adding the salt. The amount you add will depend on your specific needs. I keep reef systems and maintain a specific gravity of 1.026. If you keep fish only you will do fine with a SG of 1.022. Let this mix until the next day. At that point check your SG with your refractometer and make sure you are not above or below your target level. If you add more salt wait another day to test everything. Once the SG is in line and has been that way for 24 hours go ahead and run some tests. The most important tests for me at this point are Ca, Alk, Mg, pH, and temperature. I use Salifert for Ca and Mg and a LaMotte for the Alk. I test pH with a milwaukee probe to ensure accuracy and the temp with another probe. My system parameters for these are as follows: Ca 450 ppm Alk 11 dkH Mg 1350 ppm pH ranges from 8.1 to 8.3 temperature 80-81 degrees F Since those are my system parameters those are what I want my water change water parameters to be. I adjust the Ca and Alk with a 2 part. This also affects the pH. Mg is an additional additive and temperature is adjusted on the heater. After you adjust the levels in line with the displays let it mix another day. At this point I like to test the water again. If I am satisfied I let the container sit with the lid on for another 3-5 days to age. When you first mix up salt or add chemicals to the water it can be extremely harsh and you don't want to use it unless it is an emergency. Allow yourself a good solid week before you make the change. Match everything as close to your target levels as you can get them especially the pH. Here is the reason and what wikipedia says about the pH scale. "The pH scale is an inverse logarithmic representation of hydrogen proton (H+) concentration. Unlike linear scales, which have a constant relationship between the item being measured (H+ concentration in this case) and the value reported, each individual pH unit is a factor of 10 different than the next higher or lower unit. For example, a change in pH from 2 to 3 represents a 10-fold decrease in H+ concentration, and a shift from 2 to 4 represents a one-hundred (10 × 10)-fold decrease in H+ concentration." So you can see that it is crucial the the pH matches that of the display. After you have ensured that the chemistry is correct and have aged the water for the proper amount of time you are ready to perform your water change. At this point I give my skimmer a very thorough cleaning and change out my carbon and ferric oxide media bags. I then use my turkey baster to blast the aquascape out really good and I go ahead and feed the fish and corals. I then siphon out all of the water that I need and pay attention to any deitritus or food that is floating around or collecting in the bottom. Even with extremely high flow there will always be a place that will collect something. This is your opportunity to remove that junk. I let my return pump from the sump run during this entire procedure. When the tides come in and go out on the natural reefs there are many microbubbles in the water. The corals use this opportunity to release wastes and I replicate it whenever I can by letting my return blow bubbles into the display. I have to remove my T5's from the top of the display or I'll have to really give them a good cleaning from bubbles popping. About five minutes of corals sliming and I'm ready to add the fresh artificial sea water (ASW). I attach a hose to my powerheads output inside the container and let it flow into the sump. At this point I am finished other than cleanup. I know that this seems like a pain in the tail and I am not suggesting that you have to follow my methods to be successful. I have personally found this to be the best way for me to perform water changes. With as much money as we all have invested it would be silly to risk the health of the livestock by not taking many of these precautions. At the very minimum, use the proper source water, match the parameters of the the display and age it. I hope this helps someone.

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