No water change in over 20 years!

[shogun1964]

I saw this video on YouTube where this guy hasn't done a water change in over 20 years, plus no protein skimmer. His corals are growing and his tank looks awesome.

 

[jrwoltman]

Don't believe everything you see on the internet...

 

[RyanCSGO]

Don't believe everything you see on the internet...

its from a reputable person. its Sanjay's nano.
tank is incredible.
its on the reef builders youtube channel.

 

[shogun1964]

I wonder what his secret is?

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

its from a reputable person. its Sanjay's nano.
tank is incredible.
its on the reef builders youtube channel.

He was keeping some easier to in there though but it was super impressive. Especially with that Gem Tang in there.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I wonder what his secret is?

There's likely no secret. The reason we do water changes is to remove impurities, remove organics such as nitrates and phosphates, and/or to replace minerals (Mg/Ca/carbonate). If a tank has no impurities (lead, copper, aluminum, etc), it has sufficient nutrient uptake (which can happen even without a skimmer), and Mg/Ca/Alk are kept up, it's possible to never change the water. The reason you don't see it more is because it's incredibly difficult to manage all those variables with hobby-grade equipment. But, it can be done.

This is actually how the Triton method works. You use a fuge to manage nutrients, and they use ICP testing to tell you what you need to add, as well as what impurities you need to manage.

Personally, I wouldn't try to go without water changes unless you're following a plan such as Triton. But, there's no magic or wizardry in not doing water changes. Water changes accomplish a very specific set of goals. If you accomplish those goals with other means and have a high degree of certainty that your water chemistry is solid (such as Triton's ICP testing), then you don't need to do water changes.

 

[brandon429]

https://reefbuilders.com/2017/07/19/sanjay-joshis-nano-reef-tank-breaks-all-the-rules/

r2r is uber friendly and grown up compared to many other sites we share pertinent info. r2r is so cool they don't block pertinent info even from sites that block r2r, talk about being the stand up person on the block

when it comes to unmitigated pertinent information exchange, lesser site admins could take note. I noticed a heck of a scraper in the pic, I think that grows the common algae on the glass and has to be removed, if anything that reflects the method well that's pretty neat claim and technique regarding nanos.



It leaves me stumped how he got 20 yrs in a nano when all ours at nr.com must change water to stay alive and not be racked with cyano eventually.

 

[andrewkw]

There's a lot more info in this video then no water changes, no skimmer for 20 years. If this is all you took from the video I suggest you watch it again. Worth it just for the gem tang anyway, but the big thing Sanjay mentions is not fighting the system. The corals he has in there thrive under the conditions but he can't just throw in some rando coral today and expect in 2 years it's like any of the other coral in there. It might be depending on what it is, but it also might not.

 

[shogun1964]

I also got that, I was just impressed with the quality of his tank with no water change, I thought it was impossible

 

[pelphrey]

In the video the tank has been running for 20+ years without a water change for the last 5 years ( If I remember correctly)?

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

The title of your thread is incorrect. Did you listen to the video? He said he doesn't do water changes anymore, and the last water change was 5 years ago. Still impressive, but if you set up a tank with normal equipment and husbandry and slowly remove equipment/tasks over time as the system becomes extremely well established over 23 years, that's very different then setting up a tank with no skimmer and no water changes and then just letting it run for 20+ years. He mentioned replacing the stand and sump at some point as well. I don't know when this occurred, but it surely involved a complete breakdown/refill of the tank.

I just listened to the video and only watched here and there (I'm at work), but I didn't hear mention of a refugium or any other method of nutrient removal. Something doesn't add up - if you put food in the tank for 5 years, and you don't remove anything (commonly via water changes, skimmer, or refugium), then that "stuff" is still there. It's simple science. They seemed to want to push the fact that there is no skimming or water changes but is there really absolutely no method of nutrient control/removal? Removing corals as they overgrow would remove some nutrients from the system, but I would be surprised if the corals grew enough that nutrient control was managed by their pruning.

 

[brandon429]

Good call. In my opinion there's what individuals do and then there's what works for the masses. If we instruct the masses who set up nano reefs to have low priority export (this above is straight berlin w no skimming?) and change water hardly ever then in eight months we have nearly universal cyano issues

Maybe his tank went through that and matured out. Maybe he guided it into balance and now is the hands off phase duly earned.


i haven't watched it at all been at work just going off comments and I remembered seeing that article last week

 

[FranklinDattein]

Only high nutrient and easy to keep corals, small fishes (gem tang is there temporarily) and off course, a life time of experience.