Afternoon all. First month!!!

[Gavin Noy]

Afternoon all. Brand new to saltwater aquariums. Just a general question about water changes. I have a Fluval evo 13.5 setup. Live rock, live sand, some media from the setup the rock was in.

2 baby clown fish, 2 x hermits, 1 turbo snail. Ran with those for a couple of weeks, now i have 2 small torch corals and a zoa frag.

Absolutely loving it so far. Obsessed with it.

Peramiters are-
Salinity 35 / 1.026
phosp 0
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
Kh ak 9.3
mg 1290
calc 400
ph 8.4 ish dark green on the salifurt kit.

running floss in the 3d printed cage in section one, section 2 has the standard carbon and ceramic bio with a bag of bioballs under that.

The question…… Should i water change every week even if everything is running ok? Im trying to get my nitrates up a bit for the torch corals. Also im trying to settle them in for as long as possible before messing with the tank. Been adding 2ml of ready to reef every 4 days for a month.

any opinions and input more than welcome at this stage still watching videos and reading every day.

 

[Zach B]

Welcome

 

[Kristopher Conlin]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

Water changes affect a lot more then just nitrate and phosphates. It's good to continually change water to keep all the minor and trace elements in balance as well as remove any potential pollutants building up in the water.

You could skip a week or two to allow nitrates and phosphates to rise but once you are at a level you like I would resume weekly water changes.

 

[ForTheLoveOfCoral21]

Welcome, water changes are your friend. I have an evo 13.5 and do a 5 gallon water change every two weeks.

 

[CasperOe]

Welcome to R2R! Another UK reefer i believe? Great!!

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[zheka757]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[1112-425XL]

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[The_Paradox]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

Water changes affect a lot more then just nitrate and phosphates. It's good to continually change water to keep all the minor and trace elements in balance as well as remove any potential pollutants building up in the water.

You could skip a week or two to allow nitrates and phosphates to rise but once you are at a level you like I would resume weekly water changes.

You cannot maintain trace elements with water changes. Any element that something in the tank consumes will eventually deplete with just water changes unless you’re doing 100% water changes.

 

[Waters]

Welcome !!

 

[Kristopher Conlin]

You cannot maintain trace elements with water changes. Any element that something in the tank consumes will eventually deplete with just water changes unless you’re doing 100% water changes.

Sure he will eventually need to fill in the gap with a good two part additive that includes trace elements or something similar. However we are discussing doing no water changes. I think it's better to do them to help keep the water parameters in balance. Especially in the beginning when most people aren't dosing.

 

[jsker]

 

[BanZI29]

Welcome to our little piece of the reef.
Water changes are a must. It will replace alot of elements that are consumed by your corals, like alkalinity, Calcium, magnesium, ect. What testers are you using?
like mentioned above, you can skip one week to get your nitrate and phosphate up, but after that. do a 10-20% water change.

Welcome!!!

 

[Gavin Noy]

Welcome to our little piece of the reef.
Water changes are a must. It will replace alot of elements that are consumed by your corals, like alkalinity, Calcium, magnesium, ect. What testers are you using?
like mentioned above, you can skip one week to get your nitrate and phosphate up, but after that. do a 10-20% water change.

Welcome!!!

Im using all salifert test kits. Adding ready to reef liquid to hopfully hold my calc and mag up. Wondering if i need to try and lower my ph. Started feeding a bit more today to try and get aome nitrates.

 

[Gavin Noy]

Sure he will eventually need to fill in the gap with a good two part additive that includes trace elements or something similar. However we are discussing doing no water changes. I think it's better to do them to help keep the water parameters in balance. Especially in the beginning when most people aren't dosing.

I am currently using a bit of ready to reef and monitoring my levels. Testing twice a week at the minute. Only had the torches 3 days and trying to learn what the will consume and how quickly.

 

[Gavin Noy]

Welcome, water changes are your friend. I have an evo 13.5 and do a 5 gallon water change every two weeks.

Whats in your tank and what do you find happens over 2 weeks with your levels?

 

[The_Paradox]

Sure he will eventually need to fill in the gap with a good two part additive that includes trace elements or something similar. However we are discussing doing no water changes. I think it's better to do them to help keep the water parameters in balance. Especially in the beginning when most people aren't dosing.

I think a lot of people over simplify. If they have a ton of hard corals they will need to dose sooner rather than later. If it is low coral density they can probably hold off quite a while with just water changes. Personally I have skipped my last 100+ weekly water changes.

 

[BanZI29]

Im using all salifert test kits. Adding ready to reef liquid to hopfully hold my calc and mag up. Wondering if i need to try and lower my ph. Started feeding a bit more today to try and get aome nitrates.

that stuff is OK but there is better. for now, I would say that water changes are all that you will need at this point since you do not have alot of coral taking up alot of elements. later on as you get more coral, you can consider dosing with All-for-reef ( I use this and love it ). for now, water changes of up to 20% should be good.

 

[vetteguy53081]