I only do water changes from my sump. That is where are the crud goes and collects. I have never done a water change from the display and my stuff seems to do great.
So what happens when you do larger water changes than what your sump holds? Also ,what is an easy way to syphon crud out of a level sump (can't use gravity)?? My water changes can be a pain, as I usually change 30g out of my 135g (total water volume...more or less) byweekly. I have to take my skimmer out of the sump and still, I end up taking water from the tank (which I hate).
most always use only the display...i have some sps peices that are 3 years old and running strong, zoas/softies that are 4+, it doesnt affect anything. if you can get a small pump in your sump you can use it to get water out there, hose on both ends to get to crud.
Wes, once I get corals on the very top pieces of LR, I think syphoning water out of the tank will have to be very minimal.This is when my water changes might have to become less volume/more frequency. I'm thinking 15g weekly, which is still more than enough.
I do water changes form the sump with a MAG pump. I use my scraper to get the detrus up before i suck out the water. If you want more volume of water, you can always pull your dorso's up to break vacuum and get that water out as well if you have them. That is what i do. If you have to do a huge water change then of course you have to move to the display after that.
I do both sometimes sump other times display....corals really dont care too much if there healthy if there out the water for few minutes....in my opinion. I havent ever hard any problem either way
I usually do about 50 gallons at a time in a 220 gallon tank. I have always siphoned the water out of the display at the same time I am pumping the new water into the sump. With the amount of water change I am doing I worry less about any big difference in the parameters of the new water versus the tank water. And it takes a lot less time.
Agreed with mtraylor - I use a mag pump to suck approx 20 gallons of water from the sump into a bathtub, with my NSW in a brute nearby. Dirty water out, move the mag to the brute, clean water goes right back in. The pumps in my display continue running while this is going on, so no one's the wiser. Once it's all done just turn the return pump back on and you're done.
