Water change question

[DevilBoy]

this may seem like a dumb question but this is really going to be my first blown out reef tank with all the gadgets. And since my old tank didnt have an ATO i was wondering how people with ATOs do water changes, do you turn your ATO off? do you siphon from the tank or out of the sump? refill the new saltwater into the sump and let your return pump fill the main tank, or just refill the main tank with the new saltwater?

[Fly Guy]

you dont want to dump new saltwater in your display. water changes should happen in the sump imo

Here is what I do.

1. my water is mixed and ready in a 65 gallon container in the garage
2. I have a 150 ft drain hose that hooks into a mag 24. I drop the pump in my sump and empty it, or just take out what I want. i run this hose outide and I dump all my dirty water halfway up my gravel driveway. it keeps it weed free.
3. after taking out the majority of water that I want I take my shop vac and real quick hit any detritus on the floor of the sump
4. unscrew the mag from my drain hose and take it to the garage. there I screw on my "fill" hose for this, drop the pump in my bucket of prepared ASW and fill up the sump.

My "fill" hose is just a different hose that has neer been used for anything else unlike my "drain" hose.

thats it. I can change 65 gallons out of two tanks in less than 30 minutes including all water change maintenanace routine.


thats it

done

[DevilBoy]

Thanks Bill.

Do you shut your ATO off while doing this?

[crvz]

I do kill my ATO most of the time.

[ScruffyRubicon]

I do close to the same. I kill my ATO rarely. The water isn't low long enough to make a difference.