How often do you guys do water changes.

[inline6]

4g every week on my 26g with total water volume @ about 22g.
Not sure if my water quality is good now with the 2 wrasses and mandarin goby.

 

[masterswimmer]

4g every week on my 26g with total water volume @ about 22g.
Not sure if my water quality is good now with the 2 wrasses and mandarin goby.

That's a nice size w/c. I'll bet your water quality is decent.

How many lbs of LR do you have in there? Does your mandarin eat frozen? Do you have a fuge on it as well? How long has the Mandarin been in there? It's not a very big system to have a Mandarin.

master

 

[inline6]

That's a nice size w/c. I'll bet your water quality is decent.

How many lbs of LR do you have in there? Does your mandarin eat frozen? Do you have a fuge on it as well? How long has the Mandarin been in there? It's not a very big system to have a Mandarin.

master

About 40 lbs of LR, 3-3.5" of LS, refugium setup w/LS (blizzard of pods, cheato, etc).
I've had the mandarin for about 3 months now - I've got pods everywhere, but the mandarin dosesn't really go after them instead it picks on the rocks.

 

[jrodjordan]

QUESTION:
If you test weekly, and your levels are ALL GOOD (ph, alk, Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammo, Mg, Ca, I, etc), and your skimmer is collecting the right amount waste expected based on feeding, and you top off with fresh RO/DI water daily, why do a water change?

Doesn't it seems unecessary to stress out the animals with immature water if the system is running perfect?

 

[Sean]

Everyone has there theories some people do weekly large water changes others do small yearly ones. The funny thing is they could both be correct it's a very opinionated subject. Whats most important is the animals are healthy and happy.

 

[masterswimmer]

About 40 lbs of LR, 3-3.5" of LS, refugium setup w/LS (blizzard of pods, cheato, etc).
I've had the mandarin for about 3 months now - I've got pods everywhere, but the mandarin dosesn't really go after them instead it picks on the rocks.

Picking on the rocks like you said is how a Mandarin feeds on pods. They eat copepods, not amphipods. The ones that you say you see everywhere, are amphipods. Copepods will almost look invisible to you. But your Mandarin 'sees' them. Sounds like he's got a great environment. Good luck with him, they are beautiful.

QUESTION:
If you test weekly, and your levels are ALL GOOD (ph, alk, Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammo, Mg, Ca, I, etc), and your skimmer is collecting the right amount waste expected based on feeding, and you top off with fresh RO/DI water daily, why do a water change?

Doesn't it seems unecessary to stress out the animals with immature water if the system is running perfect?

Sean answered this very well, I agree with him. There is another philosophy that I subscribe to because I'm one of those that does two water changes a week. I do two small, three gallon, changes on my 100 gallon system. I do not dose anything into my tank, nothing, zero, zilch, nada. :biggrin: . I use water changes for two things, nutrient export (in addition to my macro algae in my fuge) and to replace trace elements.

My system is a mixed reef, with lots of sps and lps, and most people ask how I dose Ca. When I tell them I don't dose anything they either persist with the same question phrased differently or just think I'm not being truthful . It requires me to get into detail about how I maintain my parameters.

Bottom line is, like Sean said, there is more than one way to do things properly in this hobby. If it works for you, and your animals thrive, so be it.

ms

 

[tomzpc]

I try to do 25 gallon water changes once a month on my 90, but sometimes I slack and fall a week or three behind :tired:

 

[underworld@hvrk]

I do 5 a week on my 20-Imo water changes lots of lr and big skimmer are the life of a nano, or any tank for that matter

 

[Bob 1000]

Every 6 to 8 months...

 

[reefman]

theres no option for "never"

 

[JHOV2324]

I do 5 gallons once a month...matter of fact today is the day for water and media change...

 

[OctaviousMonk]

I do weekly 10gal on my 72 bowfront with about 90 total capacity. Every wed I do the change and make another batch of water.
I used to do 1 gallon every 2 days but switched back to weekly, I never did see any real change in the tank pars.

 

[Dj Orion]

15g change weekly on my 75g fowlr.

1g change weekly on my 12g nano reef.

 

[Craig]

12 gallons every other week on a 46 gallon

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

5 gallons every 2 weeks on the 24 and 3 gallons on the 12