Waterchanges

So I notice almost everyone suggest having the new SW mixed for 24horus prior to doing a WC. I was wondering why so long? I do not yet have a second heater for WC bucket so I have been making it pretty warm and mixing the salt along with a dose of prime and letting it sit with a powerhead pointed towards the surface for good agitation and wait until the temp drops down to the tanks temp (takes a few hours) before doing the WC.

Only have a CUC and 2 clowns at this time no sensitive fish or corals since the tank is only a little over a month old. Also its a 46gallon and I change out about 10gal per WC on a weekly basis. I am hoping to drop that down to 5 gallons weekly but until I add a protein skimmer I figured the larger water changes would be more beneficial for the time being.

 

As long as you have no corals and low nitrates I don't see why any water changes would be necessary.

 

nitrates seem to hang around 10ppm with an API kit, not sure how accurate the kit is though need to get a better one

 

I would disagree. I would continue doing them every 2-3 weeks, especially with no protein skimmer. I definitely don't think you need to do a WC weekly tho.

The reason you are supposed to prepare the saltwater 24 hours in advance is basically just a saftey precation so that you can be certain all of the salt has been given a chance to dissolve. However, I have done water changes in the past with maybe 6-8 hours of mixing time before with no problems, so I think that as long as you are giving it at least several hours to mix you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Are you using RO/DI water?
The reason I let it mix for so long is to make sure that the pH has had time to adjust and the salt is completely mixed.
You should not need to add prime.
To heat my water I put the container in the sink or bath tub with hot water for an hour before to bring it to the correct temp and then do the wc.
A wc of 10% bi-monthly has been my practice for many years. I am a believer in wc to replenish the trace elements and remove waste and detritus produced by inhabitants.

 

I agree, water changes should be done but 10g weekly on a 46g tank with no corals and a couple clowns is excessive IMO.

 

Using tapwater at the time being, might invest in an RO/DI system down the road. I had my phosphates tested during my diatom bloom and they were near 0. SHould I do 10gal biweekly then??

 

I wouldn't do one with tap water.At the very least buy ro/di from the lfs,buy jugged distilled water or as a last resort get the refill jugs from the water machine at wally world.Learned my lesson with tap quite a few years ago.

 

Bi-monthly IMO and buy bottled water until you get an RO/DI unit or access to one. The affects of tap my not show for awhile. I am not making a blanketed statement one way or another about tap other than to say one persons tap maybe fine and another persons tap horrible. Does Prime affect Chloramine?

 

yes,prime does claim to remove chloramine.