How often should the water be changed?

[WallEyes]

I'm just curious about this idea, but if I have a 20 gallon tank no sump, a skimmer, ATO, HOB filter with carbon GFO sponge, how often should a water change be needed? Weekly, two weeks, monthly?

Thanks!

 

[WallEyes]

I have two juvie clownfish, a juvie six line wrasse, an emerald crab, two hermits and a variety of coral mostly zoas ricordea frogspawn motipora birds nest/paradise and a rbta. everything is looking great as of now, have been doing 25% weekly water changes, but i'm curious if i could step it back. I DONT have a skimmer or the ATO at the moment, but will be getting this week.

 

[Kworker]

How old is the tank? Do you siphon the sand bed? If you have been doing 25% for a good deal of time now and everything has been good than I would continue with the way things are especially since you currently do not have a skimmer. Personally I would get an ATO before the skimmer because IMO its more useful on a nano.

I personally try to stick to a schedule of approx. 10% WC's a week. One on sundays and one on wednesdays. Could also do smaller more frequent changes opposed to larger less frequent.

 

[Reefing Madness]

There is going to be quite a few ideas on this one. But one tried and true way of doing it is watch your system, it will tell you. If you watch and the nitrates creep up in a weeks time frame, then change it weekly at 10%. If it doesn't change for 2 weeks, then do it every 2 weeks at 25%. Theres really no specific day or week to do it it, there are way to many guys out there with way to many ways of it being done.
Take me for instance. I change mine maybe twice a year. I carbon dose, have 2 skimmers, and use a filter to collect the goo from using SeaKlear phosphate remover. My system is clean, I don' tneed to change it like most do.
If you have a very large skimmer, this will let you go longer without a change. If you have SPS this normally means your going to be changing once a week.

 

[WallEyes]

tank is in its 4th month and everything seems happy from what I can tell. Reefing Madness, I like your input because it follows the "every tank is different". I hope to gain opinions from several people on this post so I can better my knowledge on the subject. I'm getting an ATO tomorrow, found a sweet deal on the TUNZE nano via craigslist so it will be running soon!

As for creeping nitrates. Are there good preventative practices for this? Whats the absolutely maximum threshold for nitrates on coral (Not that I will every plan to let my tank get there, but also just good knowledge to know), the highest I've seen mine has been 10, but that was early on when I think I was over feeding

 

[Reefing Madness]

10 is a good number to keep them at. My softies get mad at me if I keep them under 20, so thats where I keep them at. If you plan on SPS then you'll need to run them as close to 0 as possible, LPS need a bit more and Softies like em up some. LPS and softies can be kept at the same range. But I think the guys with softies in and SPS tank had them acclimated to it or feed them more than I do mine.

 

[Pete polyp]

I'm on team "if it ain't broke don't fix it". If this is what has been your normal routine and you're having success then do not change it. I have a tank with no sump, no skimmer, no other equipment for nutrient/phosphate removal and I do a 10% change once a month to replenish trace elements. This is what works for this tank because nutrients aren't an issue.

 

[reefanova]

Agreed,if it ain't broke dont fix it.If this is working stick with it.

 

[WallEyes]

Got the ATO all set up so things will not be stable (hopefully), its a TUNZE 3152 nano. Are there any trade offs to lowering the % water changed in a smaller tank. To me it seems like maybe 25% might be too much, which is why I started this thread. I landed on 5 gal/week because it was a simple volume to work with, but lately I've been thinking that it might be worth while to simply cut it down to 20, 15, or even 10%. Save resources and less of a shock to the system

 

[lefkonj]

Water changes do more than remove nitrates they replenish things like Calcium, Iron, Strontium, etc etc. The things living things consume in our tanks. While nitrates is a good measure for water changes it isn't the only thing. From folks I know that do Nitrate removal with dosing pumps and such, they have to dose the other things in order to maintain a healthy tank. I do a 20% change weekly on my 180 reef system. If I had zero nitrates not sure I would stop doing water changes, may slow down but still do them at least every other week.

 

[tinctorus]

I currently change 10 gallons a week in my RSM130D but was doing 5 gallons 4 days a week awhile back to see if I noticed any difference "I didn't"

 

[Pmastron]

I swap out 5 gallons once a week using an air hose in and out for my 75

 

[EW_Fish]

I have found that on my 20g frag tank 5g weekly water change has done the job better then anything else. Every tank is different and every tank has different needs but this worked for me. I did however have a large skimmer and a 1/2 sand bed.

 

[WindeyD]

I have a 40 breeder and initially was doing a 5 gallon change weekly; I tested all parameters the night before the change and found that all parameters were where I wanted them. I started doing a 5 gallon water change every other week and have seen no ill effects for many months.

 

[fishroomlady]

yes, I would try to find the "percentage" by watching your tank. Try a 15 or 10% once a week and see where your levels are and how the tank looks. Try to do the same amount the following week or increase depending on what your tank's over all health looks like - good coral coloring, active fish eating well, things opening up, lack of nuisance algae, etc. Hope that makes sense. I think you'll find what works for you. I agree in that 25% every week could possibly be reduced. I don't like water changes btw - not that I don't believe in them but I don't like doing them. HTH

 

[WallEyes]

Thanks for all the advice! I think I will cut it back this weekend and see what happens.

 

[djurynk]

I perform bi-weekly 5 gallon water changes for my 75 gallon DT using Instant Ocean an have had great water parameters for the past 22 years. Keep it simple. Depending on what your saltwater hobby is purchase test kit and test your water for stability and if you are happy with the overall growth water parameters maintain regularly.