First water change coming up

[blazk]

Ok herd and read alot of different ways to do your first water change. I was thinking of 20% (45L / 11Gal) Tank size is 250L / 65Gal, sump size 50L 14Gal. Would this be a sufficiant first water change? As i dont have an RO filter i have to use "pureatap" this is water thats been filtered through a carbon filter. This is the steps i was going to do today ready for tomorrow.

1. Put water, dechlorinater, and salt into the buckets
2. Measure with a Hydrometer to make sure the salt is the same as the tank (1.025)
3. Wait over night till the next morning
4. Syphon out 45L / 11Gal out of the tank.
5. Slowly add the new salt water mix into the tank. I cant pour it into the sump as the space is to tight to get enough leverage to pour the bucket into.

Any help or advice on this proceedure would help me out greatly. Thanks for reading.

 

[Smitty]

Sounds good, do you have access to r/o water...i would you r/o instead of puretap...also check the salinity tomorrow before adding to tank.
Other than that, sounds like a plan.

 

[blazk]

No access to RO water unfortnatly. There are companies that can deliver it for me at a price of course. Im saving up for the RO system but untill then i dont really have much choice. I have enough algae eater to combat the brown algae that come with the water.

 

[Smitty]

Well, you have to do what you have to do...you should be ok with tap, it just have minerals that fuel algae...i used tap to start my tank also, for about 6 months, then converted to r/o...but you should be ok, especially since you have no choice. :)

 

[blazk]

i ran my other reef tank on tap, was just algae that made things look nasty. I will definatly save for an RO system. I can find any cheaper ones here in AUS $350 for a 3 stage i thought was bs. But shipping one from the states is quite expensive too. Not sure if you need DI either, do u ?

 

[dustin_P74]

you dont NEED di but it doesnt hurt to have it

 

[blazk]

could u recommend a RO /Di system, where to get one, even if its from the states?

 

[Smitty]

nope...when I buy my water, I check for revers osmosis and/or distillation.

 

[Smitty]

check out the drs. website...i think shipping is standard price.

 

[yote]

The only thing I'd do different,is let the water set in the bucket with a power heard for 24 hours or so.That way the chlorine will escape the water as a gas and wont have to use dechlorinator.

 

[blazk]

I might try that, should i add the dechlorinator just in case or dont bother?

 

[yote]

If you can let it run for a day or 2,then I wouldnt use it.But if your doing the water change in less than 48 hours,then I'd use it.

 

[Bifferwine]

You'll also want to add a small heater to your new water to get it to the same temperature as your tank before you add it. There are three things you want to get the two waters to match as closely as possible: temperature, salinity and pH.

 

[blazk]

would a air stone be ok, dont really have a spare powerhead?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, that'd be fine too.