Water changes...how important?

[FastUno]

How important do you think water changes are? I used to do at least 5-15g weekly but have now cut back. Just wondering if I am in for it?

I have a good skimmer & run a 1 micron filter sock & water looks good, so no real reason to change water that often. Am I just fooling myelf?

How big is your tank & how much water do you exchange out every week/month?

[ June 24, 2005, 11:20 PM: Message edited by: FastUno ]

 

[House of Laughter]

Fast,

Mistake - on RC, there is a calculator that shows the percentage of water quality you will effect by doing what size water change -

I have to say that corals will look thier best with consistant water changes. I have a new system that is 245 gallons total and I plan on doing 15g weekly and a 30g monthly to keep the tank fresh. I may consider doing 2 30's in a month but will wait to see how the tank reacts.

As long as you are using good salt, water changes are critical regardless of what hardware system you have.

That being said, i hardly do changes on my current 92 bow - I just got lazy and it's a pain in the Arsh to do changes - I have to say, though, once I do a change, tha health of the animals shows in 2-3 days after the change.

FWIW

House

 

[pecan2phat]

When my tanks are stable and the key word being "stable", I do a 10% water change once every two weeks. I'll increase it to 20% if things don't look right.

 

[bad coffee]

I've got a 20 gallon with about 9 gallons in the sump. I have to change my water every two weeks, or my tank starts to look really bad. I change 5 gallons when I do the change.

BC

 

[FastUno]

How do you explain systems where reefers barely change water out & the reefs are doing so well? I know a few such situations, for instance check out the link below for a reefer who only changed out water 3x out of 8 months. Plus he has got some crappy skimmer & so many fish. I figured if they can do it, then why not me? Think of the money you will be saving on salt & all the extra corals you can buy.

If I knew for a fact that water changes had a directly positive effect & that no changes had a negative impact in the long run, then I could convince myself to go back to weekly water changes.

What do you guys think is most affected by doing water changes? Is it the unwanted chemicals that we are removing or the new elements that are being replenished that are most essential?

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=596694

[ June 25, 2005, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: FastUno ]

 

[Dave ESPI]

I think i can be a proponent here in this thread.....


I hardly ever change water in 2 of my tanks. WHY ? because they are stable, very mature and established, and I use a high quality salt and good water with effective nutrient skimming.

I add supplements on sporratic occasions, and when the water starts to get tanic, I use carbon to pull the impurities out, then do a water change after a week of carbon filtration, and often times I rarely even need to do that.

Again the key is tat you really need to understand the nutritional requirements of your tank, and how to keep a ballance. It took me about 4 years to get that down pat, but initialy I had a nice "green thumb" or "salty thumb" so I was far beter off than a lot of beginners who are constantly battling with their tanks.

I DID have onetank that was IMPOSSIBLE to tame, and I eventualy tore it down and turned it into a new habitat for my turtles

the rock and life is now in another tank of a close friend, and it is doing super with nay a dilema or issue, so sometimes it is just murphy's law.

cheers,

D.

[ June 25, 2005, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: Dave ESPI ]

 

[Vic8361]

I would say very important.

Vic

 

[Pedro]

I would say that it all depends on how balanced your system is. That will buy you more time in between water changes. I still recommend at least a monthly water change, just to replenish some lost trace elements and dilute the water. JMO