Frequency of Water Changes

[HiddenUser]

I've been trying to do 10% / week.

 

[Matthew lewis]

I do 20% monthly. Which is only 15 gallons for my 75 gallon tank

 

[themcnertney]

I change 35 gallons per week (approx. 12%). Key is to never miss a change. Also I might add that I do not dose. My parameters are controlled by routine water changes.

 

[JackDE]

I do 10-15% weekly in my 60 gallon. My load is fairly small but I believe what @Reduck said is true.

 

[RoyalGrammaJohn]

I change about 25-30% a week on my 55 gallon reef tank. I also do not run a skimmer and nitrates is no higher than 3-4ppm. A little nitrate is good and colors up corals nicely too. If I had a skimmer I would probably knock that down to 10-15% a week. It all depends.

 

[Wiz]

1. Almost 18 months and little to no water changes. Dsb and lots of macros. Crazy overstocked 40b with 12 fish and 10+ inverts. Doin great so far!

 

[redfishbluefish]

I have a 90 DT with a 40B sump....maybe about 110 gallons.....and use to do 15 gallons a week. With missing weeks, and whatnot, I went to 25 gallons every two weeks. It makes the water changes easier....and now done on time.

 

[ahammer]

Some people have anecdotes of never doing water changes and thriving system etc, I say don't fall down that trap. Weekly water changes of 5-10% depending on volume on tank will be great. Running gfo,carbon and Purigen are effective and a great addition to weekly water changes.

 

[ahammer]

Some people have anecdotes of never doing water changes and thriving system etc, I say don't fall down that trap. Weekly water changes of 5-10% depending on volume on tank will be great. Running gfo,carbon and Purigen are effective and a great addition to weekly water changes.

 

[zoomonster]

I'm one of the less often water changers. Between a couple gallons a day in evaporation and somewhat wet skimming there are always "water changes" going on though. I also occasionally have to add some salt to keep salinity up. However when I do water changes its never just pump it out and change. I usually take it out 5g at a time with a bucket and a siphon vacuum. End result is each 5g bucket is usually a muddy looking mess so its a water change and a grunge removal. I still want to put together an auto water changer but the grunge removal benefit is lost.

Having been bitten by an alk crash not to long ago and the wide variance in salt mixes (sometimes even in same brand) I think I would be a little hesitant to do to many major changes unless I had no choice. Frequent major water changes IMO screw with the most important aspect of reef keeping (especially acro's) which is maintaining stability.

 

[Wiz]

Some people have anecdotes of never doing water changes and thriving system etc, I say don't fall down that trap. Weekly water changings of 5-10% depending on volume on tank will be great. Running gfo,carbon and Purigen are effective and a great addition to weekly water changes.

Anecdotes?? Ok. Well as I said. 18 months so far and way more waste than most tanks of matching volume. Pics speak for themselves. Sps, nps, lps, softies and the most delicate of Inverts. All live and well. Maybe it will crash one day. Who knows. But not yet. Maybe not everyone's way but it works for me. Although its not for most its certainly not a joke. Conventional wisdom is against it but conventional wisdom is always changing.

 

[JackDE]

Anecdotes?? Ok. Well as I said. 18 months so far and way more waste than most tanks of matching volume. Pics speak for themselves. Sps, nps, lps, softies and the most delicate of Inverts. All live and well. Maybe it will crash one day. Who knows. But not yet. Maybe not everyone's way but it works for me. Although its not for most its certainly not a joke. Conventional wisdom is against it but conventional wisdom is always changing.

I have a friend who has 3 large reef tanks and has been in this for over 15 years. He only changes water every few months and rarely even tests. He thinks I do water changes way too often at 10% weekly but I am just starting out and am not comfortable with just letting it go. His tanks all look amazing so I know it can be done that way. Anyways, my point is I have seen it done your way and it works for some people. My luck is I won't be one of those people.

 

[Pamela]

I do 10% water changes every ten days. I like a clean tank. I vacuum the sand, clean all the glass sides, including the black back wall. The tank looks like the first time I set it up.

Oh, so beautiful, Ed. I also love the looks of a crystal clear and clean aquarium.

 

[Pamela]

Always ask questions if you don't know the answer and ALWAYS try to do your research. Research and asking questions helped me to have and keep a reef tank for over 3 years now. Working on a Nano tank, now.

Thanks, Dave. I agree that research is of tremendous importance. It was while doing research that I found this forum. I've had very good experiences with compatibility in my FW system because I always research fishes before adding a new species. I'm doing that now with the SW critters that've peaked my interest. It's all so fascinating!

Thank you all very much for your responses and advice.

 

[Wiz]

It is defanitly a fine balance. The system must have the right setup to pull it off. And i certainly understand going conventional in such an expensive and delicate hobby. I just love natural. I feel that mother nature created a system that allowed such beauty to exist and i want to duplicate it as closely as possable. :-D

I have a friend who has 3 large reef tanks and has been in this for over 15 years. He only changes water every few months and rarely even tests. He thinks I do water changes way too often at 10% weekly but I am just starting out and am not comfortable with just letting it go. His tanks all look amazing so I know it can be done that way. Anyways, my point is I have seen it done your way and it works for some people. My luck is I won't be one of those people.

 

[oodan]

Same here I do 5gal of fresh clean water every Friday on my 47gal tall tank I have a mixed pump system and fish with coils I run all HOB system I like it most don't but I have had no prob had it for 2 years

 

[Ryan Wain]

My previous reef tank never needed a water change after it reached 6 months old. It self maintained and the fish never needed feeding either. I used 2 canister filers, a trickle filter, uv steriliser, metal halide, denitrator, protein skimmer with ozone and auto top up. Everything flourished, corals grew, fish grew, it was like a perfectly balanced ecosystem and no additives were needed. So, in my opinion it depends on what equipment you have

 

[nhout1975]

I have a 91 gallon system and do 20% quarterly water changes. Check parms. every two weeks.

 

[charlesedgar]

Water change intervals really need to be based on tank testing. Only after you have established your tank habits and tested your tank enough to determine a baseline of nutrient export needed can you begin to create a routine water change schedule. Anything short of testing your tank is just guess work.

Water changes alone are no where near sufficient to replenish nutrients consumed in most reef tanks even with a modest number of corals, most salt mixes do not have high enough levels of normally dosed nutrients to compensate for consumption. ( article )

 

[Pamela]

I change 35 gallons per week (approx. 12%). Key is to never miss a change. Also I might add that I do not dose. My parameters are controlled by routine water changes.

That is my goal, too, Dan. I don't like the idea of adding chemicals to my fishes' water. I'd much rather just change it and give them clean water. That's what I do with my FW, and it's as healthy as can be.