Frequent Mini-Water Changes Log

Sirreefalot · Jun 29, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
No, there's nothing wrong with many small water changes, and they can be less stressful.

So doing small water changes daily is better then doing 10-15% changes a week?

Will this help keep my tank stable?

I'm having problems keep my chalices. Pretty much have a z/p dominated tank and as much as I love them I love chalices... I don't run a controller and I don't really test my water at all and if I did it wouldn't be with a quality test kit lol. z/p grow well for me And even chalices start off well but then they randomly start to recede. Thought it was from my high nitrates 40-60ppm but I know people that have higher nitrates that have no problem keeping chalices long term. I'm guessing it's a problem with my kalk and alk swinging maybe? Sorry to highjack your thread with all these questions.

zemuss · Jun 30, 2015

@Sirreefalot I will post my parameters here tonight. I know where my parameters were before starting which are below. I have had a really hard time with algae and cyano outbreaks lately and this is the main reason for me to perform these more frequent water changes.

Calc 420
Alk 8.4
Nitrates between 2 - 5
Phosphate undetectable.
SG 1.025

I have an ATS which is helping keep the Nitrates and Phosphate in check.

My hope is between the dosing and the water changes I am doing I keep the parameters more stable resulting in happier corals and live stock.

Triggreef · Jun 30, 2015

I thought that it was mathematically proven that larger and less frequent water changes adding up to the same amount of water over the same time period, would out perform smaller more frequent changes?

That only makes sense because with smaller changes the each time your removing water, a small percentage of the water you added the day before is also being removed each time. That has to add up over time.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 30, 2015

Triggreef said:
I thought that it was mathematically proven that larger and less frequent water changes adding up to the same amount of water over the same time period, would out perform smaller more frequent changes?

That only makes sense because with smaller changes the each time your removing water, a small percentage of the water you added the day before is also being removed each time. That has to add up over time.

They do but the effect is small and is outweighed by other advantages of smaller changes (IMO).

30 x 1% changes is the same as one 26% change.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 30, 2015

Sirreefalot said:
So doing small water changes daily is better then doing 10-15% changes a week?

.

IMO, it is better, but unlikely to make the difference between keeping certain corals and not keeping them alive.

zemuss · Jul 15, 2015

Just an update I haven't been keeping to the 5 days a week schedule like I wanted to, but I have been doing 2 gallon water changes 3 times a week.

Green Cyano is gone, only left is the red now. Nitrates are between 2 and 5 ppm, Po4 undetectable.

Calcium is at 440
ALK is at 8.7
Both have not fluctuated in the last week.

I believe this combined with dosing has made a more stable environment.

Changed lighting to a T5HO fixture from LEDs.

However still cannot keep SPS coral happy and it is bugging me, so I ordered the triton test today and will post on here the reading when i get it.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 17, 2015

Ok, looking forward to the results.

Happy Reefing!

zemuss · Jul 22, 2015

Triton test is being shipped out today. Still doing mini water changes but not in a regular pattern still. (At least three a week at 2 gallons per Water Change)

zemuss · Aug 4, 2015

Holy crap!! I just got the testing back from Triton. I have a huge P and PO4 issue. I don't see a Nitrate result but assume that would / might be P?

Ok I will pull myself together now. What recommendations do you have to get the PO4 in check. What test kits should I purchase to test PO4 myself?

I assume the Algae scrubber is not as good as I once thought?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 4, 2015

P is the central atom of the phosphate, PO4---, and they are related mathematically. The only reason to show both is if some reefers think in terms of P (although none I know of do so). Triton does not provide nitrate in the standard package.