reefkeeping.com TOTM

[roc5288]

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/119-tank-of-the-month

No water change in almost 4 years wow.

 

[marrone]

If you look at his fish load it's pretty small, especially for a tank that's about 150gal with a separate Refug, which contains a DSB too. He also was using Bio-Pellets for a while and then went back to sugar dosing. Basically he has the equipment to remove waste that most people would do through water changes, and he supplements the system by adding what he needs.

If you have the proper setup to remove waste, and dose what you need, you can probably reduce, or even skip, water changes. On RC there was a very large reef tank, which was also tank of the month, that was almost completely automatize and the owner hadn't done a water change in years and the tank was unbelievable.

 

[tosiek]

Its completely possible if you fully understand the chemistry and bio in your tank. Most people I know or have read about that sugar/carbon dose don't do WC's for long periods of time to reduce bacterial spurts that mess with the systems balance. The guy knows what he is doing in the tank, this isn't something everyone should be practicing unless they fully realize that failing is an option. The water volume to waste is also a big factor in being able to skip water changes as well. I don't see this being possible in smaller tanks.

 

[James]

Its completely possible if you fully understand the chemistry and bio in your tank. .

Sad fact is that many don't even have a rudimentary understanding of these things as evidenced by a billion internet forum posts.
People will discard commonly held practices and grasp onto the exceptions/unorthodox as absolute truth when it fits what they want to do (IE: no water changes).... then they will meet with failure most of the time.
For most of us, the tried and true frequent WCs and proper basic husbandry are the easiest way to keep our systems thriving. One day no WCs may be the norm, but that day is not upon us yet.

 

[nanoreefer22]

This tank may be the exception to the rule, but it shows what can be done with the right knowledge and discipline.

I've done the no water changes thing in the past, but I was only running a softie/LPS tank with a single monti cap. The tank thrived, but I doubt it would have worked well if the tank was SPS dominated. On that tank I was dosing some aminos and just using kalk in my top off. It worked well for about a year, until I broke down the tank.