25 gallon water change...

It's odd. I bought two plastic trash cans of the same size. I mix salt
water in one, and then siphon off water into the second of the same
amount. But, when I refill, I'm always 2-3 gallons short?

I spent some time vacuuming the sand. Man, it's amazing the amount of
crap (literally) that I pulled up. I'm way under my livestock limit,
but there's no lack of detritus.

Just sharing...

--Kurt

KurtG wrote:
It's odd. I bought two plastic trash cans of the same size. I mix salt
water in one, and then siphon off water into the second of the same
amount. But, when I refill, I'm always 2-3 gallons short?

Yep, that's odd, but I don't understand why you siphon water into the other can.
I just siphon mine into a drain. To make that easy, I placed one of those
stick-on thermometers on my tank with the bottom of it at the correct location
for the water level when it's 25 gallons low. I just drain water until the water
level is a little below the thermometer and pump the new stuff in.

I spent some time vacuuming the sand. Man, it's amazing the amount of
crap (literally) that I pulled up. I'm way under my livestock limit,
but there's no lack of detritus.

Yep, there's a lot. I get the impression, though, that it's not a good idea to
vacuum the sand in a reef tank. I might be wrong there.

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.

Yep, that's correct, it's not good to vacuum the sand.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



George Patterson wrote on 1/6/2007 12:09 AM:
KurtG wrote:
It's odd. I bought two plastic trash cans of the same size. I mix
salt water in one, and then siphon off water into the second of the
same amount. But, when I refill, I'm always 2-3 gallons short?

Yep, that's odd, but I don't understand why you siphon water into the
other can. I just siphon mine into a drain. To make that easy, I placed
one of those stick-on thermometers on my tank with the bottom of it at
the correct location for the water level when it's 25 gallons low. I
just drain water until the water level is a little below the thermometer
and pump the new stuff in.

I spent some time vacuuming the sand. Man, it's amazing the amount of
crap (literally) that I pulled up. I'm way under my livestock limit,
but there's no lack of detritus.

Yep, there's a lot. I get the impression, though, that it's not a good
idea to vacuum the sand in a reef tank. I might be wrong there.

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.

KurtG wrote:
It's odd. I bought two plastic trash cans of the same size. I mix salt
water in one, and then siphon off water into the second of the same
amount. But, when I refill, I'm always 2-3 gallons short?



Evaporation???? I always end up adding more water back in than I remove
in both my Nano reef and all of my freshwater tanks....

My sand also tends to get mucky but my understanding is that the
substrate forms part of the "filtration" system so should be left well
alone - I do try and remove some of the more unsightly stuff that is on
the surface by hand or using a net - but don't know if I'm doing right
being very much a newbie....

Gill

My preference is to NOT vacuum the substrate in reef setups...many
beneficial organisms will be destroyed/removed. If your substrate is of a
fine material and you have good strong flow it should be of little concern
as detritus should stay in suspension long enough to either be eaten, or
removed by your filtration system - Wetwebmedia.com

Kurt, you really should read all the info on this site. It mostly all FAQ.
AND IT'S THE BEST ONE OUT THERE. Read Read Read and when you think you're
done read some more.
This is where I got 90% of my info when I started AND I STILL FREQUENT IT.

To clean the substrate in my tank, because I do have 1 or 2 dead areas.
I get my handy dandy turkey baster and blow off all the corals, rocks and
sand in the dead areas.
I place a fine filter pad in my over flow. It turns a nice shade of poop in
15 minutes.

No Vacuuming for you today !


"KurtG" wrote in message
. ..
It's odd. I bought two plastic trash cans of the same size. I mix salt
water in one, and then siphon off water into the second of the same
amount. But, when I refill, I'm always 2-3 gallons short?

I spent some time vacuuming the sand. Man, it's amazing the amount of
crap (literally) that I pulled up. I'm way under my livestock limit, but
there's no lack of detritus.

Just sharing...

--Kurt

TheRock wrote:
Kurt, you really should read all the info on this site.

Which FAQ? I haven't seen one float by. I bought "The Reef Aquarium:
Science, Art, and Technology, Vol. 3", and I'm still waiting for delivery.

I have a very thin substrate, so it's not much of a filter system.
Besides, there's plenty of material that I couldn't reach around and
behind the rocks. I'll keep it mind ...

--Kurt

At the bottom of the page they have a Google type search.
click to search wetwebmedia

or just go into Marine articles http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm
there's enough in there to keep you busy for the next 2 years : )

"KurtG" wrote in message
. ..
TheRock wrote:
Kurt, you really should read all the info on this site.

Which FAQ? I haven't seen one float by. I bought "The Reef Aquarium:
Science, Art, and Technology, Vol. 3", and I'm still waiting for delivery.

I have a very thin substrate, so it's not much of a filter system.
Besides, there's plenty of material that I couldn't reach around and
behind the rocks. I'll keep it mind ...

--Kurt

On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 23:24:28 -0500, KurtG
wrote:

It's odd. I bought two plastic trash cans of the same size. I mix salt
water in one, and then siphon off water into the second of the same
amount. But, when I refill, I'm always 2-3 gallons short?

The same thing happens to me as well. I do not know why it does but it
does. I use a magic marker and make a dot at the point I use to do my
routine water changes, but I iusually go way over this point anyhow.
Lots of water to play with since I use naturally collected seawater,
and stocre up to 3, 55 gal drums.

I spent some time vacuuming the sand. Man, it's amazing the amount of
crap (literally) that I pulled up. I'm way under my livestock limit,
but there's no lack of detritus.

IMHO and others as well I think yur better off NOT syphoning your sand
as is typical in a freshwater aquarium. The action of cleaning the
sand removes lots of beneficial stuff. Perhaps a more diverse cleanup
crew would help. I have a bi color blenny (certainly not considered
part of a cleanup crew) who just has a penchant for eating other
fishes waste. Its not unusual to see a fish go, and have him snatch up
the waste before it hits the bottom. And whatever goes in his mouth is
never ever seen to get spit back out. Its like he just swallows stuff
and never tastes it. He does a great job of cleaning all kinds of
junk off the tanks bottom. The dwarf Zebra hermit is also a good
cleanup member as is the bumble bee snails and ceriths....and of
course lots of brittle serpent stars.

Just sharing...

--Kurt



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

Tristan wrote:
IMHO and others as well I think yur better off NOT syphoning your sand
as is typical in a freshwater aquarium.

I'll consider it. Thanks.

btw, I did find Nori in my 3rd store. $1.89 for 5 sheets.

--Kurt

"Tristan" wrote in message
...

Now it's Ron .... troll and troll everyone.........just ruin there
group....much fun for you eh scumbag?

Roy" wrote in message
...

Hey Ron, you can go **** yourself too....and then lick my ass, I could
give a flying **** what yuou google up or google down, it matters not
to me. I am not afraid to own up to anything I posted anywhere
anytime................no go back in your room and take a prozac
before you stroke out after getting turned on by profanity!


On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 23:24:28 -0500, KurtG
wrote:

It's odd. I bought two plastic trash cans of the same size. I mix
salt
water in one, and then siphon off water into the second of the same
amount. But, when I refill, I'm always 2-3 gallons short?

The same thing happens to me as well. I do not know why it does but it
does. I use a magic marker and make a dot at the point I use to do my
routine water changes, but I iusually go way over this point anyhow.
Lots of water to play with since I use naturally collected seawater,
and stocre up to 3, 55 gal drums.

I spent some time vacuuming the sand. Man, it's amazing the amount of
crap (literally) that I pulled up. I'm way under my livestock limit,
but there's no lack of detritus.

IMHO and others as well I think yur better off NOT syphoning your sand
as is typical in a freshwater aquarium. The action of cleaning the
sand removes lots of beneficial stuff. Perhaps a more diverse cleanup
crew would help. I have a bi color blenny (certainly not considered
part of a cleanup crew) who just has a penchant for eating other
fishes waste. Its not unusual to see a fish go, and have him snatch up
the waste before it hits the bottom. And whatever goes in his mouth is
never ever seen to get spit back out. Its like he just swallows stuff
and never tastes it. He does a great job of cleaning all kinds of
junk off the tanks bottom. The dwarf Zebra hermit is also a good
cleanup member as is the bumble bee snails and ceriths....and of
course lots of brittle serpent stars.

Just sharing...

--Kurt



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!