Top off instead of water change?

[ohio reefer]

I have a fluval 12 gallon tank that loses about 20% of the water due to evaporation a week. Could I just top off the 20% with my RODI?


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[ohio reefer]

Instead of doing the actual water change


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[NinjaThat]

i top off every day in my nano 8 then once every 2-3 weeks do a water change. with smaller tanks you should always top off to keep you salinity.

 

[bobssecrtsn]

Topping off and Water Changing is 2 different things, You will have to Top off with Fresh Ro/Di water and in do water changes every other week! hope this helps

 

[ShimmyUK]

As the others have said, you need to do both. Topping off doesn't add or remove anything, it only keeps your salanity correct. Water changes add trace elements and also removes some of the bad stuff (nitrates etc)

 

[Loki]

A bit more clarification may be needed... It seems that you are thinking with the loss of 20% of your water if you top it off with RO/DI instead of saltwater would that work.

First thing is that salt does not evaporate. So what you are losing is only water and needs to be replaced with only water (no salt). When water evaporates you need to only put RO/DI back in to get it up to its normal level.

As for a water change. Yes you still will need to do them. Make sure your water is at its optimal level before removing any water to do the water change.

You will want to remove your (whatever % you intend to change) tank water and then replace it with fresh salt water. It is ideal to mix the new salt water for at least 24 hours prior to changing it.


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[florida reef]

A bit more clarification may be needed... It seems that you are thinking with the loss of 20% of your water if you top it off with RO/DI instead of saltwater would that work.

First thing is that salt does not evaporate. So what you are losing is only water and needs to be replaced with only water (no salt). When water evaporates you need to only put RO/DI back in to get it up to its normal level.

As for a water change. Yes you still will need to do them. Make sure your water is at its optimal level before removing any water to do the water change.

You will want to remove your (whatever % you intend to change) tank water and then replace it with fresh salt water. It is ideal to mix the new salt water for at least 24 hours prior to changing it.


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+1.