water changes

[Zuska]

whats better?

water changes every week or water changes every month or so? what do water changes change in the tank? i havent done a water change in about 2 months now... there is no change.... What is the point of doing it every week?

 

[MikeyZO]

first and foremost, water changes do two major things... replenish vital essential elements in the water that reefs need to survive, and lower the polluntants (nitrates, phosphates, etc) that accumulate in the water.

how often you do water changes depends on how much pollutants accumulate in your water column as well as how fast your system uses up said elements. Both can be sustained by certain filtering meathods as well as dosing needed elements (which many people frown upon).

 

[D1J8Z]

some corals tend not to mind I have neglected tanks with no consequences BUT with my new tank I didnt do a water change for a month and I had sps start to STN so I did a water change and everything was happy again thats the last time I wait longer than my normal 2-3 week water change

 

[Zuska]

well i run a cal reactor and none of my corals are looking unhappy everything is growing the way it should be and my nitrates,ph and such are all 0ppm the ph is a good 8.0

 

[mcnuggget]

yes, dont do any water change. they r no use. showers r overrated too. :biggrin:

 

[duke62]

i know i feel like im keeping my tank replenished whenever i do a water change.i dont run a calcium reactor and i know whenever i do my weekly water change i am adding more calcium and other trace elements that keep my system thriving.to me its like feeding the tank.i need to feed my tank everyday so i need to do water change every week.yeah u can go 3 days without feeding the tank with no loss but your livestock wont be happy.same with the water changes.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I used to every week but Salt at least my salt is not cheap so I do it every other week.

 

[isgon26]

what percentage of water do you change?

 

[marki24]

There is no right and wrong answer to this topic. I have been to members home where he has not done a water change in the past 8 years and you see his tank and you cannot believe what he is telling you. Then you go to the guy who changes his water every other week and his tank is as good looking as the guy who doesnt change his water at all. It all comes down to, what works for you and your corals. Mike dont expect a right wrong answer to this topic. Continue to do what you are doing right now since your tank is looking great. Simple

 

[wschang812]

i do a 20% water change once a month and everything is fine. i have been doing that for the past 6 months

 

[skene]

I change 20% every week in my tanks. I would hate to be on the opposite end of a living in a room, where I can never leave and have to sift in my poop all day.

 

[nanoreefer22]

There is no right and wrong answer to this topic. I have been to members home where he has not done a water change in the past 8 years and you see his tank and you cannot believe what he is telling you. Then you go to the guy who changes his water every other week and his tank is as good looking as the guy who doesnt change his water at all. It all comes down to, what works for you and your corals. Mike dont expect a right wrong answer to this topic. Continue to do what you are doing right now since your tank is looking great. Simple

:iamwithst:birthday:

 

[greggnyce]

Things could be fine now,but you have to think about the long term accumulation of waste. Better to change a little water than to lose all of the money you invested in your livestock. I do 10% a week takes 5 minutes.

 

[ecvernon]

i think water changes are not for the parameters we have control over which we dose like alk, calcium, magnesium but more for the trace elements in water that we do not test for in our standard test kits. a calcium reactor will replace elements such as calcium, carbonate, strontium, magnesium, potassium. but not all trace elements.

i try to do water changes every 2 weeks because i want to simulate as close as possible a natural reef environment. its safe to say that is all of our goals

 

[MatthewScars]

Ive been going a 20 gallon change every week for 5 months now. I have a few corals growing rapidly and some slow. I think its more of a placement issue.

Anyway, everyweek is starting to get annoying so now i do it every 10 days

I normally just empty the sump and refill it.

 

[ClosetFishGeek]

I like doing 15% water change every week. As stated before there are a lot of people with varied success with there husbandry skills. With that said, I feel that every tank is very different from the next and in turn each has its own needs for survival in a closed environment. In my reef I have large messy eaters(7" trigger, 4 tangs over 5", a blue face angel that needs to be plump at all times,and a dozen other smaller species) that i love to feed. In my environment if i didnt do water changes at least every other week I would eventually have water quality issues in no time. Doing it every week is my insurance policy that bolth my corals and fish will thrive in my tank and allow me to feed the hell out of them(which I believe is one of the greatest enjoyments in our hobby).