How long is too long for a water change? Thoughts

TravisParsley · Jun 14, 2017

125 gallon mixed reef.
So far, Im going 5 months without a water change. Everything is thriving.... Its a mature system of 3+ years or so.

Kaddis Mitchell · Jun 15, 2017

I do not do water changes on my tank and it is running great

skim · Jun 15, 2017

I know a guy who has what I call the Magic Tank. He has not done a water change in over 6 years, mixed reef 110 gal, no skimmer and does not use any type of filter for water top up, straight from the tap and Prime, no added water movement just what the Aquaclear will do. Has Led lighting and 2 Aquaclear 110 and runs Carbon twice a month for a few days. It's just one those tanks that just tick you off when you look at your own and have six stage RO/DI water, Cal reactor, Led Lighting, Wavemakers, Sump, big skimmer with seven others on the self, temp controler, and list goes on and then you see this Magic Tank with LED and 2 Aquaclear working away. Everything is doing well and growing and no Hair Algae or Cyno or Bryopsis. I asked him what do you do, " I just feed it and add water as needed from a 5 gal bucket that I keep beside the Tank treated with Prime. I also add supplements as needed." It has to be the most simple tank I have ever seen that is successful. Ah the Magic Tank.:mad::mad::mad:

Bruce Burnett · Jun 15, 2017

I would not have Xenia as they are like weeds. On a small tank regular water changes are cheap. On a large tank doing water changes can be a big expense. I have gone almost 2 years on my 300 gallon system and only do make up from evaporation and salt mix for what is removed by skimmer and a couple of times siphoning detritus. If you had more corals there are ways of adding kalk to top off water but water changes would be best on small tank.

Reef addict... · Jun 15, 2017

IME over the past 4 years of reef keeping. The first year was the easiest. (After start up of course!) The more animals i added, whether they were coral or fish, the more husbandry my tank required. Feeding, lighting, cleaning, dosing all depends on the animals you keep and the smaller the tank, the faster bad stuff will happen. I found my tank did much better with fewer animals, but like most newbies I wanted everything I saw and the more things I added the harder I had to try to keep everything alive. I failed alot! If you don't have the money to invest (throw away as my fiance likes to call it) keep it simple and you will enjoy it more.

Terance · Jun 16, 2017

Joshua Deretich said:
That's the thing. Testing for me is almost impossible, one I can't afford the equipment, and two i would in all honesty consider getting some basic testing kits if I had problems but so far, winging it has worked. I know it's not going to be the most successful tank out there but if I can keep something alive and growing, especially coral, I'd be happy.