water changes

[gudgreef]

I'm getting back into the hobby and want to do things 'easier and better' this time. I have an in stand sump and water changes were such a pain that they didn't get done nearly enough:(
I'm so jealous of friends that have adjacent 'fish rooms' or plumb to the basement but I'm stuck with having to schlep water to a tank at the far end of a carpeted room. I know there's alot of people in this situation so I was hoping to hear some ideas on how people have dealt with this problem.
thanks
tom

[rhythmicfire]

If you don't want to do all that fancy plumbing and what not, you can just keep freshly mixed saltwater in a trashcan (or any other container) next to your tank. When you want to do water changes siphon the 'dirty' water into five gallon buckets to be thrown out. Throw a powerhead with tubing over the outtake into your trash can have the powerhead do all the work putting water back into your tank =)

[MoonInTn]

If you've looked through some of the DIY forums then I'm sure you've read about automatic top off systems, plumbed with a system of valves and lines to take the tank water out and put the freshly mixed water in. I don't have to room and space to have a set up like that....but sure wish I did!! lol Call me old fashioned, but I still siphon out the tank water into buckets and pour out. But I do use a 32 gallon trash can, which is on rollers, to mix and heat the fresh saltwater. Then just roll the trashcan next to the tanks and use a powerhead to pump the water back into the tanks. According to how big your tank, or system is, you could also use two trashcans with rollers. Mix the fresh water in one, and siphon out the tank water into the other one to roll to where you need to dump it.

[BangkokMatt]

Thats what I do

[PatMayo]

I have a 90 AGA and change 12 gallons weekly. I keep 2 45 gallon food grade trash cans in the garage. 1 full of mixed saltwater and the other full of RO/DI water. I use a MJ 1200 to take 12 gallons out of the sump using a 5 gallon bucket. Into the toliet the water goes. I then fill up the 5 gallon bucket with the new mixed saltwater and pump it back into the sump. I takes be about 1/2 hour to do the total water change. I keep a 15 gallon clear plastic container next to the tank with a dosing pump and a float valve in the sump and it keeps the tank topped off from the evaporation. Really easy to do and take care of.

I have the tank in my family room and there is no room for a fish room etc. I keep the 45 gallon containers in my garage. It works really well for me.

Regards,

Pat