# water changes



## munky2000r (Sep 15, 2003)

how do u do water changes w/ a SW tank? do u wait for the water to evoprate and add freshwater? or change the SW w/ new SW?


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## Fallenangel0210 (Dec 15, 2003)

for saltwater tanks, it's important to frequently (at least every month) take out some of your tank salt water and add fresh declorinated salt water. between water changes you may find that you need to add declorinated fresh water because of evaporation...
but if you only add the fresh water, and don't add new salt water, the trace elements contained in the salt will all be consumed. thats why water changes are important, even if your water parameters are good

fyi- when you do water changes, check your salinity using a hydrometer, you will likely find that your salinity has rose because of evaporatin, so you will want to add saltwater that has a slightly lower salinity to your tank, and remember to always mix water in buckets or containers outside of the aquarium so you can correctly adjust the salinity (add more salt if you want a higher salinity, or add more declorinated fresh water if you want a lower salinity)


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

so to make it simple when you do a water change. befor eyou take out the water the hydrometer says that it is 5 and when you take out the water and add new water do you want the new water to be 5 or lower or something.

and can you just add freashwater and add the slat later to see what you salinity is before you add salt.

thanks


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## Fallenangel0210 (Dec 15, 2003)

I donno exactly what ya mean 5- are you just using that abstractly, like salinity x







you want to keep your specific gravity between 1.019-1.025 or salinity ppt 26-34 (hydrometers usually measure both ways) keep it on the higher end of the spectrum for inverts.
ex- say you want to keep your salinity at 27 ppt. you set up your tank (the only time you can mix salt inside the tankis when it's new, when there are no animals in the tank) and have the salinity of 27ppt. after a month, you test your water, see that you cycle is complete and want to do a water change. you take out 20 percent or so, then check the salinity of your tank it's rose to like 33ppt because of water evaporation. so you mix up declorinated fresh water and salt in buckets and set your salinity in the buckets around 23. so that when you add it to your tank, you'll bring your salinity level back to around 27

don't mix salt in the aquarium, it can burn the fish and stress them out if the salinity levels jump around to much, to frequently


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