Best way to do a 90% water change?

[as1720]

So im having issues with my 29 gal tank. I would like to do a 90% water change. I was thinking of rather then just doing it like a regular water change i was going to acclimate the corals to the clean water and then add them back to the DT when im done cleaning the DT.

Here are some of the issues i am having with my tank.

Some hair algea/some cyno GHot more powerheads to fix that but its not getting rid of what was already there just stoped it from spreading

High CA not sure how it go high but its high and the mag/KH are ware they should be

Its just dirty/green algea/want to scrub behind rocks

high nirates from over feeding I had a small hippo in there i was feeding a lot but she is gone now. (we planned on having our 125 up a week after we got her but that has been delayed so we found her a home. lol

and low PH not sure how pH got so low i am thinking it may have been because i pulled the blue filter stuff out of my bak pak and put in rock/cheeto should i put the blue stuff back?

So i wanted to acclimate the corals to the clean water leave them in there while i clean up the DT and rocks i planned on doing this in the evening while the lights would be off anyways.

Does this sound like a good idea? Am i missing anything?

 

[mercedes]

90% water change is a bad idea. i would do it in 25% increments over the course of the week so the coral + fish don't go into shock.

 

[Bosco83]

Maybe you should double check your KH because if you ph is too low and calcium is higher than normal I think maybe your KH is lower than it should be. I was having the same problem with my calcium until the guy from a red sea aquarium told me to start using kKent Marine super buffer d-kh. Now everything is back to normal.

Brian

 

[alki]

more snails more crabs

 

[as1720]

OK here is my plan.

Pull all the corals and fish out acclimate them to the clean water bins in the evening.

Clean the hair algea off the rocks/rescape the rocks.

Clean the glass of the tank.

Replace sand bed.

Add more snails maybe a crab or two more.

Then the next morning when the sand has settled add the clean water, fish, and corals.


P.S trust me i have checked my perams twice a week for a month!

 

[Scooterman]

When doing large changes like this you need to have a calibrated refract. both tank water & new water should match up exactly temp., salinity most importantly. I've done this many times but you better have your plan down & get it right. On small tanks such as yours it should be easier than really large tanks.

 

[sgwill122]

I think you can execute your plan and be a little less harsh on your corals by filling your totes with existing tank water and place your corals in the containers which would be zero shock providing you keep the temp stable, then execute your radical tank cleaning plan replacing 90% of the water and move your corals back with some acclimation after the tank settles down. This way the corals only have one adjustment to absorb.

 

[as1720]

I have two 10 gallon containers both filled with freashly made saltwater at the same saltnaity and temp as my DT that i planned on acclimating my corals to, so the water they will be acclimated to is the water that will go into the tank. Does that make sence. Sorry if i am not making myself vary clear. lol

Temp and saltinity are about the only two things in my DT that are ware they should be!

Thats also why i have been asking to make i have a plan and it goes right i dont want to loose any more coral then i already have.

 

[as1720]

befor i forget i wanted to know what you guys thought of the Bak Pak filter being changed to live rock and cheeto? Good bad? Should i put back the blue stuff? To be honest the cheeto is kinda annoying but if it works better i'll keep it.

 

[reef18ster]

Chaeto needs light to thrive. How are you going to provide light to it if it's in the Bak Pak?

 

[as1720]

its not under direct light but its been doing fine for over a month. I swish it around once/twice a day too which is whats annoying about it. but if it works better then the blue stuff i'll deal with it.

 

[Skeptic9962]

its not under direct light but its been doing fine for over a month. I swish it around once/twice a day too which is whats annoying about it. but if it works better then the blue stuff i'll deal with it.

when i had my 29gal setup i took the blue floss out right when i got it....didnt replace it with anything just put my heater in that chamber....works good for hiding it and i had a cpr refuge idd rec. one if you can, def. helps keep the nitrates at 0

 

[as1720]

I would get a HOB fuge for it but i dont know if we are going to keep this little tank up after we put the 125 up.

I want to get a 10 gallon nano though. lol

 

[DonW]

90% water change is a bad idea. i would do it in 25% increments over the course of the week so the coral + fish don't go into shock.

Fish and corals will not go into shock if you do it right and start with well balanced water chemistry to begin with. Balance the saltwater to match the tank and leave enough water for the fish to swim. The corals dont mind being out of the water for a few minutes.

Don

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

I wouldn't use the blue stuff it's a detritus trap.

 

[as1720]

Its going to take more then a few minutes thats why i wanted to put them in another container. I think it will take about an hour maybe two.

 

[as1720]

I wouldn't use the blue stuff it's a detritus trap.

I dont think i will i think i will just put the heater in there.

What about micro bubbles? I seem to have a problem with them when i feed the the corals or fish the blue stuff helps, but i know you can buy a foam thing to put in there to help with it, wouldnt that trap detritus too?

 

[DonW]

Your tank is going to cycle if you do it how you planned. If you just do a big water change its ok. Doing a tear down and big cleaning of the rocks is going to cause problems in a tank that small. I'd clean and do some smaller water changes once that's all done a big one is fine. Coral do not need to acclimate to clean water.

Don

 

[as1720]

I was going to scrub the glass, pull the hair algea off the rocks, take all the old sand out and add new sand. I was worried about the sand causing the tank to cycle more so then cleaning the hair algea off the rocks and scrubing the glass. Should i be worried about adding sand? i was going to go get some arogonite sand i think it is.

the Ph is also off on the DT but good in the clean water do i needc to worry about that?

 

[DonW]

Yes you need to get ph as close as possible. Why change the sand it doesn't go bad. Is it a dsb? I'd remove most of the sand over time with small waterchanges and a siphon hose. Big water changes are great for maintenance but not as a problem cure.

Don