pizzaguy January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 I did the bucket thing twice and only twice. Never again. It's like a second job lugging 70 gallons of water around. Extension cord and a long hose for me with a mag pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 I did the bucket thing twice and only twice. Never again. It's like a second job lugging 70 gallons of water around. Extension cord and a long hose for me with a mag pump. I figure I can skip the gym on water change days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 *&#@, at 3 water changes a week I don't need a gym. Hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 Are you really doing 3 per week working on your nitrates? You need pellets or algae or vinegar or vodka or something. Or you need to find the cat who is dooking in your tank during the night without you seeing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 I was at 3 a week and to be quit honest it got exhausting. Now I'm doing 2-50 gallon changes a week and introduced bio pellets 2 months ago. So with that said that's all I'm doing from now on. It's either gonna work itself out or not. I do need to get a little more pellets to be at full strength and I want to add a fuge at some point but not rushing. I wanna see what these pellets will do. I don't mean to side track this thread but one question. Can you mix brands of pellets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 (edited) I was at 3 a week and to be quit honest it got exhausting. Now I'm doing 2-50 gallon changes a week and introduced bio pellets 2 months ago. So with that said that's all I'm doing from now on. It's either gonna work itself out or not. I do need to get a little more pellets to be at full strength and I want to add a fuge at some point but not rushing. I wanna see what these pellets will do. I don't mean to side track this thread but one question. Can you mix brands of pellets? Sure thing. Well I do and it works for me. I'll say that. Started out with little fishie and now have warner marine bio pellets Edited January 3, 2014 by John Ford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 I was at 3 a week and to be quit honest it got exhausting. Now I'm doing 2-50 gallon changes a week and introduced bio pellets 2 months ago. So with that said that's all I'm doing from now on. It's either gonna work itself out or not. I do need to get a little more pellets to be at full strength and I want to add a fuge at some point but not rushing. I wanna see what these pellets will do. I don't mean to side track this thread but one question. Can you mix brands of pellets? 2 months of running biopellets and you haven't seen a decrease in nitrates? You can give them a boost at the beginning by closed loop cycling them in a bucket with some old tank water and bacteria additive like microbacter 7 or dr. tims. But by now they should be well colonized, especially if your nitrate level is high as the bacteria have a food source. Do you have a build thread for this tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 2 months of running biopellets and you haven't seen a decrease in nitrates? You can give them a boost at the beginning by closed loop cycling them in a bucket with some old tank water and bacteria additive like microbacter 7 or dr. tims. But by now they should be well colonized, especially if your nitrate level is high as the bacteria have a food source. Do you have a build thread for this tank? Does the rate of flow through the biopellets make a big difference ? i.e. bio pellets may not work if the rate of flow through the reactor is too fast. I have not been able to reduced my Nitrates and I've tried months of BRS biopellets and now I am on the 3rd week of Seachem's deNitrate. Seachem's label is suggesting that the pump used should not be more than 50GPH. I know my maxijet has a much higher GPH flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 I do have a build thread. Don't know how to link it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 Does the rate of flow through the biopellets make a big difference ? i.e. bio pellets may not work if the rate of flow through the reactor is too fast. I have not been able to reduced my Nitrates and I've tried months of BRS biopellets and now I am on the 3rd week of Seachem's deNitrate. Seachem's label is suggesting that the pump used should not be more than 50GPH. I know my maxijet has a much higher GPH flow. I've always done a simple single-pass reactor with enough flow to keep them aggressively tumbling. I'm curious as to why they work well for some and not for others. Maybe some other factor like a non-carbon or nitrogen nutrient or element? I do have a build thread. Don't know how to link it here. The nano one that I commented on re: xenia in July? Somehow I thought I read that you changed out that setup for something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 Here is his build: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/53690-pizzaguys-new-build-this-one-is-the-one-no-more-changing/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy January 3, 2014 Share January 3, 2014 Thanks bowie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef January 4, 2014 Share January 4, 2014 I figure I can skip the gym on water change days. I just bought 20ft of hose so I can ditch the dirty water buckets....still gotta lug the clean ones, but alot less waiting!lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling January 4, 2014 Share January 4, 2014 What about heating the clean water ? I use IO 160G buckets for store clean water, using 2 aquarium heaters to head 2 buckets before using them. This takes time, making me lazier to change water in winter. For those who use a huge storage container, do you use a aquarium heater ? I was wondering if there is a simple commercial water heater that will heat cold water much faster than an aquarium heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef January 4, 2014 Share January 4, 2014 I move all my mixed water into the room with a space heater,lol gets them up to room temp of about74,lol Or do those of you whom use a 55g brute or drum just use a 500watt heater? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 4, 2014 Share January 4, 2014 I move all my mixed water into the room with a space heater,lol gets them up to room temp of about74,lol Or do those of you whom use a 55g brute or drum just use a 500watt heater? I have a 32 gallon brute and have to mix a day in advance because the ro/di container sits on the basement floor and stays at 58 degrees. It takes my 250W heater a long time to get it all up to 78. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
londonloco January 4, 2014 Share January 4, 2014 (edited) Why not use 2 or 3 heaters to warm the water faster? Edit: oops already been stated. Edited January 4, 2014 by londonloco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 January 4, 2014 Author Share January 4, 2014 I just made the mistake today of putting in a small heater to replace my old one, in the new mixed water. Let's just say that a 50W heater does not heat up even 15 gallons within 3 hours. I put 10 gallons of 62 degree water in my sump and let it warm up for 20 minutes before I turned the return on and have to wait a while longer to introduce water to the Biocube 14 and RSM 130 since they don't have sumps and I would probably shock the tank inhabitants if I just dumped cold water on em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore January 5, 2014 Share January 5, 2014 I never pre-heat water for bucket changes on my 29gal nano. I usually do 5 gal at a time, and the water in the winter in my garage is in the high 50's or low 60's. It drops the tank temp about 2 degrees and nothing (even delicate sps) has ever shown a reaction, except better polyp extension because of cleaner water. You may be trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist by heating water change bins. Now if you do 50% or more and the water is 20 degrees difference, that may be a different story. But thermoclines exist in nature, and reef animals are used to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals January 5, 2014 Share January 5, 2014 I agree, I have never heated any of my water before mixing, my mag pump keeps the temp up to a good number with a days time anyways. It's still cold sometimes but never hurts anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkfish01 January 5, 2014 Share January 5, 2014 I religiously change water every sunday:3 gals in my bc14 and 1-1.5 for my spec v(no skimmers on these tanks) i may adjust wc if tests day before are good,but as rule thats my regimen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 January 5, 2014 Author Share January 5, 2014 I agree, I have never heated any of my water before mixing, my mag pump keeps the temp up to a good number with a days time anyways. It's still cold sometimes but never hurts anything. I use Red Sea salt and they say not to mix for more than 4 hours or so. I also notice that if I do, my water gets this awful gross build up in the container and the water turns yellowish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford January 6, 2014 Share January 6, 2014 I was under the assumption that temp affects salinity. If you measured 1.026 at 70* it would be a different salinity at 80*. Am I wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 6, 2014 Share January 6, 2014 I was under the assumption that temp affects salinity. If you measured 1.026 at 70* it would be a different salinity at 80*. Am I wrong? It depends on the measurement device. Some refractometers are temperature compensated, some not. The temperature compensation is for the temp of the refractometer, not the water, by the way, since you're only using like 2 drops of water and it will get to the refractometer temp instantly. If you are using a hydrometer then the "measured" salinity in ppt would be different depending on the temp of the water, yes. The SG will definitely be different depending on the temperature, but the ppt of salt will be the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford January 6, 2014 Share January 6, 2014 I gotcha, Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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