I finally got Fisher12's suggestion to plumb for water changes to my fish room completed. I know that since my plan for the 180 is to have sps I will need to be a lot more regimented about water changes and to do that I need them to be as easy as possible. No more lugging buckets of water to the bathroom to empty and having to mix saltwater on demand without giving a chance to dissolve properly and get to tank temperature. I have two 35 gallon trash cans under my fish room in the basement next to my water purification system, one for mixed saltwater and one for freshwater. I have a sump pump that pumps water up to the the fish room just to the left of my aquarium. I put a union ball valve on it to control the output when the pump is on. I have not yet put a switch in the fish room to control the pump yet but plan to. I also installed a drain right next to the water in to pump water straight out of the tank and out it goes. I have needed this for a long time just ask my animals.
Very cool! You are right, the easier the changes are the more likely we are to do them. I have plumbed from my 55 Gal drums in the garage through the attic to my closet in my sump room. One line for fresh and one line for salt. I have not yet put in an easy way to drain the water outside though.
VERY nice setup! Note to self..add to my dream list.. Hey..how do you get the water to tank temperature anyway?? Mine always goes down some when I add the water & I worry that down the line I may get a fish that doesn't take too well to the switch in water temp like the ones i have in there now.... Jen
You add a heater in the mixing vessel for the 24 hrs you mix the water and bring it up to matching tempature along with a powerhead.
