New to the hobby - How to do water changes

[bjbass]

Hello. I have a 210 gallon AGA tank with dual megaflow overflows. I also have a Marineland Model 4 sump.

So I have the tank cycling right now and I have my max fill line set on my sump while my pumps are running.

When I vacuum the tank with my Aqueon water changer, do I turn the pumps off? When I add water back in do I add the water to my sump with the pumps running. I am confused as how this works.

 

[navygirl76]

i have a sump and canister on my 180, and you unplug the sump pump and any filters you have while doing a waterchange. when you add water when youre doing a waterchange, once the fishtank itself is full, the water will drain down your overflows into the sump. when you get the level you want in the sump, stop the water and then plug in your sump pump and filters, and heater again.

at least, thats how i do waterchanges lol

 

[balton777]

I agree with navygirl. And don't forget to condition the water.

Another thing, I position the outflow nozzle as high to the water line as possible in case of a power outage. You will have the minimal amount of water overflow into the sump.

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

And don't forget to condition the water.

A

Yes, VERY important

 

[bjbass]

i have a sump and canister on my 180, and you unplug the sump pump and any filters you have while doing a waterchange. when you add water when youre doing a waterchange, once the fishtank itself is full, the water will drain down your overflows into the sump. when you get the level you want in the sump, stop the water and then plug in your sump pump and filters, and heater again.

at least, thats how i do waterchanges lol

Ok that makes sense, but one part is a bit cloudy still. With the pump turned off the sump will fill to the point I previously set at like 2" from the top so that when the power is off it won't overflow. So with the pumps off during water changes this should fill while I am changing unless I pump the water out past the overflow ahead of time, correct?

So should I fill the sump or the tank when putting water back in?

 

[fox3]

Fill the tank, let it overflow into the sump till you reach the MAX _Power Off_ level of the sump with power off in the sump.

I start to do the water change and let the level in the sump drop till the pump is gonna draw in air , then turn off the pump(s). Some water drains back into the sump but it will be be below the MAX _power off _ level.