how do you do your water change???

I have a new 225, and the first water change was a real pain in the rear, how do you get your new water from garage to your tank?? mine is about 60ft away and have 70 gallons to do at a time.

 

ATO system, a good pump and a hose pipe.
That's what I do, it's not 60 feet, I nly have about 20 - 22 feet, I pump from my RODI brute container, outside water changes the water is purely water, when it comes time for a change, I add the salt and mix it in the brute container, give it couple of hours to aerate, then I start siphoning water from the tank and into 5 gallon salt buckets, the ATO simply fills the tank tank up.

 

+1 on the ATO

When I had my 120 setup, my water changes were done manually and they were also a complete pain. I do not have that running anymore due to lack of space, so I started an IM 8 gal. tank. I bit the bullet and bought an APEX with a BO box and float switch. I use that as an ATO and it works great! Expensive, but well worth the money IMO. All I have to do is make water and keep my 5 gal. bucket full (usually lasts about 3 - 4 weeks).

When I have the space and funding for my 120, I plan to have a 100 gallon drum hooked up to my RO/DI unit so I always have a good amount of fresh water. Then like Scuba said, plumb it directly to the sump so your ATO can take care of the work.

 

I don't go that far, but I just siphon old water out turn on a pump to discharge and turn on another pump to add new water in until at the right level. No ATO, but that would work too.

 

I am in a similar situation as my RO supply will be on a different floor - fortunately though I can run a line from my holding water tot he sump.

I am going to use the SpectraPure Ultra-Precise Auto Top Off as it looked like the best unit for a longer line instead of ordering a unit and a strong pump.

 

on my 220g I have a 1/4 hose through the wall of my office into my garage (shhhh don't tell my wife)....it goes into my sump.

small pump on the other end and I just flip the pump whether I'm pulling water out or in from the garage. I was doing it by 5g buckets in the beginning which was really good exercise, but gets to be a pain.

 

On my 250 system, I run my RO/DI into a 55 gallon rubbermaid can - mix the salt water in there and aerate/heat it over night. I use a python suction system to drain water, clean sand, etc from the system and then I have a mag 9.5 pump that I use to pump the water from the rubbermaid can back into my sump - its pretty easy, and I can do a 45 gallon change in about 30 minutes - that includes cleaning out my protein skimmers, etc. My tank is an in-wall system and the top of it is actually above my head, so I had to come up with something other than than manual 5 gallon bucket method, and this works well for me. I also have an apex with an ATO, but I prefer to do my water changes in bulk as opposed to over the course of time. Just personal preference I guess.

 

oh man - I couldn't imagine trying to put water in my DT. The top edge is 7'. I do all my work in the sump underneath. I can see now why you went the route you did with your setup.

I originally wanted all my plumbing and sump in the garage on the opposite wall of my DT, but the wife didn't like the idea of a hole in the wall big enough for all that pipe.
So mine is pretty traditional with the sump underneath the DT.