Water Changes With New Sump

[tainte97]

Ok I just got my rubbermaid wet/dry or sump setup. I got the overflow working, though its a bit noisey and everything seems to be working. Question is how do I do waterchanges. The box in the tank is set where it keeps my tank almost to the rim and the sump is full just enough to the bottom of the bioballs and just enough to cover the pump. Do I just drain like 5 gallons out of the tank and add 5 gallons of new water directly to the tank? Or do I need to turn the pump off or something to suck the water out. I change out 5 gallons at a time. Its a 125 gallon tank. I have no idea how much water is in the sump, I would say at leat an extra 5 gallons or so.

[sls]

Ive always turned off my pump and removed water from sump but mine was like 40 gals. if you have a wet/dry and it only holds 5gals then you will probably need to remove from tank. just be sure you turn off pump or it will run dry when doing the water change.---p.s. is there enough room for backflow in case of a power outage in such a small sump area for a 125?---scott

[Loverotties]

That's the easiest.

[dodge41]

I always used a syphon and drained from the tank so I can get any detritus out so it doesnt cause any problems. Then I would have the water ready, turn the pump on and add it to the sump untill it filled my tank up to the overflow box and filled the sump up as well.

[xaoss23]

I do the same as dodge... turn off return pump, siphon from display, and turn on the return pump again as I fill up the sump with the new water by a powerhead. Works well.