It also takes longer, and waist salt.

The way I do water changes, is I make the new salt
water slightly saltier than the aquarium water, then
pump the new water into the aquarium into a sock at
the bottom of the tank. The new water stays at the
bottom, and the old water goes over the overflow. I
also hook a hose to the side output valve of the
return pump plumbing, so I can at the same time,
pump old water from the sump down the drain in the
bath tub. Salt water works great for the septic
tank. So the water in the aquarium does not drop,
except for a tiny bit because there is less water
flowing in the tank to keep the water higher than
the overflow. I can do a 50% water change very
easily this way.

Wayne Sallee



wolfdogg wrote on 11/27/2007 2:47 PM:
i call it the stress free method,

you siphon your tank into your water change container that has fresh
mixed salt water, and simultaneously you take second siphon hose and
siphon the water change container into the sump(assuming the sumps on
the bottom), you need to adjust the hoses with a Kink, or Knot in
them, or simply raise or lower the water change container until the
flow reaches an equilibrium. Then the sump receives water at the same
rate as the tank loses it. its the way i learned from Marc. this way
your tank water level doesn't drop at all, and anything sucked up
will end up in the bucket consequentially.
this way is better than siphoning out water, having your Weir stop or
your water level drop, then pouring water back in which slightly
stresses the creatures, then having to restart the flow again.
some setups wont have the weir (u tube) problem, others will, but
overall its a stress free way to do a water change.