Reverse Osmosis Question

Friends:

I am a newby to the forum and into the Saltwater era for about a year now and the subject i need help on is the water i am puting into my tank.

I want to buy an RO/DI filtration system but when I do water changes i have been mixing my salt in a 5 gallon bucket with tap water wile adding cycle and prime to each fill.  I have a 55 gal tank and this was the way i was taught.

With RO/DI, there is minimal pressure for the way that i have been mixing.  Do you A. fill some plastic jugs you would get from a water store with an RO system and stock them up for future water changes or B. fill the buckets with the salt and let it slowly fill? the later question would need to be followed up by what is the temp of the water. Too cold?  Or am i aproching this stuff all wrong?

Is 15 Gallons too much for a water change? Should i be doing gravel vacs all the time?

YALL!!! Give me your ideas please.  Im a sea sponge at this point. I need help. and while i read these forum i am also reading a book called Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook by. DR Robert J. Goldstein.  is this a reputible book or sudgestions?

On average, 10% per month is a sufficient water change. Up to a 30% water change can be mixed and dumped in immediately, if it's stirred and sloshed and aerates as it goes into the tank. I do it all the time. IMO, people make too much trouble of this.

Many people do water changes more often than 10% per month because they keep a lot of water polluters and/or trace element users, yet those same tanks could just as easily go 2-4 months without a water change and be just fine.

When mixing salt in tap water, you didn't need to use Prime or Cycle. The stores got your money there.  There is no harm in using tap water unless you have some fancy coral.

Buy a 24 gpd bare bones R.O. unit (around $100 at MSM). Hook it up and and fill the bucket. Mix the salt and dump it in the aquarium. If the water is pretty close to room temperature, that's all that's needed.

Gravel vacumming is not necessary, but can be useful in moderation in sections every six months. It depends on the way you set up the tank, the kinds of organisms, the amount of feeding....

No tank is the same. The same methods don't work the same for everyone. Please tell us about your tank so we can offer advice more specific to your aquarium's needs.

If I inherited that tank:

I'd stop messing with the sand and make sure there is enough of it.

I'd use R.O. water for top-off and 10% monthly water changes.

I'd add macroalgae to filter the water, provide food for the Tang and hiding places/food for bugs.

I'd remove the filter sponge from the powerhead and the sump.

I'd only worry about the pump to the skimmer when it started to slow.

I'd add a piece or two of LR from a real nice reef tank (moved in water, not letting it touch air).

I'd ask a hobbyist with a real nice reef tank if I could have their water from a water change and put it all in my tank.

I'd add a quart of LS from a real nice reef tank.

I'd remove the carpet anemone, in hopes of saving it. I'd give it to the hobbyist of the tank that I got the LS, LR, or LW from.

I'd remove the bioballs and make that little sump into an RDP Refugium with a bright little light growing macroalgae, or get a new sump that could be better utilized as a Refugium.

I'd get more soft coral and maybe an LPS coral or two and then add some more fish, feeding them Garlic Oil, in their meaty foods, to prevent illness.

That's what I'd do if I inherited that tank.

Go to the link below to find the meaning for the acronyms/abreviations used in the hobby:

  http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4866& PN=1

That link comes from the F.A.Q.'s section of this MB(message board)

What size of particles is the crushed coral you currently have?

To start learning about RDP Refugiums go here to read the Feb. 2002 Sea Star Online. http://www.utahreefs.com/SeaStar/wmasSeaStar02Feb.pdf

So, do you live in Utah?