Water change amounts from startup to normal maintenance

[Rscott]

Hey guys

Just doing some preliminary planning

As far as percentage goes

During initial startup how much should I plan on water changes?
50%? 40%?- 10%?

Then as the tank becomes more stable and established what percentage should you plan on for maintenance

Thanks!

 

[Hitman]

You know water changes are not required now correct? A lot of people myself included do not do them. The water in my 240 gallon display and 90 gallon sump is 5 years old and a water change has never been done and corals and fish are growing awesome! With today’s advancements with 2 part dosing ( Calcium & Alkalinity, MG ) , trace element dosing, and icp testing we have found out that we no longer have to do water changes.

 

[Billldg]

I think, initially, you start to do water changes for 2 reasons, first is that it helps you connect to the tank and learn its habits, consumptions, and what to expect. 2nd is the fact that you are new and every little thing will freak you out and make you panic, thus the feeling that a water change will fix everything. Trust me, I'm still a newbie and only just started to calm down when something goes wrong and not panic. The good thing is this AWESOME forum and the AWESOME reefers that are all apart of it. Knowledge is only a IM away. I haven't done a water change in over a month, just started to dose trace elements and mag, for right now I use Kalk to maintain Alk and Cal, but will be switching to 2-part in a little while.

I think for the most part, most people can expect to do a 20% percent water change monthly.

 

[Rscott]

Mis post

 

[Rscott]

You know water changes are not required now correct? A lot of people myself included do not do them. The water in my 240 gallon display and 90 gallon sump is 5 years old and a water change has never been done and corals and fish are growing awesome! With today’s advancements with 2 part dosing ( Calcium & Alkalinity, MG ) , trace element dosing, and icp testing we have found out that we no longer have to do water changes.

In the 2 years i have been researching this i have never once heard this until now. All the big names like BRS and Tidal gardens and many others say weekly water changes are mandatory.

 

[JBKReef]

I would not go as far to say mandatory. But a no water change tank can be achieved.

That being said depending on the type and size of tank you have a simple water change a week can be all the dosing/cleaning you need.

Every tank is different. I would say a good rule of thumb is 10% weekly to start and see what the tank needs from there.

If you have a tank smaller than a 40 gallon than a 5 gallon weekly water change is the easiest way to control nutrients, Major and minor elements, and compact algae associated with over feeding. Scaling up from there the cost goes up so dosing like some others much be a better idea and fewer water changes.

 

[biophilia]

It really depends on your inhabitants and the size of your tank. I prefer large weekly water changes (25%) in my 10 gallon tank because at roughly $1/week it's cheaper and less troublesome than doing ICP tests and trying to maintain trace elements separately, but I'd go the no water change method in a second if I had a big tank. I also find that with a mix of so many corals in my tank and a high fish load, the water gets a little yellow from dissolved organics and water changes give me a chance to remove some of that as well random crud on the rocks, dog hair, etc that makes its way in.

 

[WVNed]

Well you can do water changes or you can do
2 part dosing ( Calcium & Alkalinity, MG ) , trace element dosing, and icp testing

Which you choose depends on what size tank you have. Water changes are much easier on small tanks and the other way is much easier on large tanks

in the middle it gets a little muddy. I do water changes on my 75 because it is harder to screw up.

 

[JBKReef]

It really depends on your inhabitants and the size of your tank. I prefer large weekly water changes (25%) in my 10 gallon tank because at roughly $1/week it's cheaper and less troublesome than doing ICP tests and trying to maintain trace elements separately, but I'd go the no water change method in a second if I had a big tank. I also find that with a mix of so many corals in my tank and a high fish load, the water gets a little yellow from proteins and water changes give me a chance to remove some of that as well random crud on the rocks, dog hair, etc that makes its way in.

Not gonna lie I am shocked at the amount of dog hair I pull from my tank.

 

[biophilia]

Not gonna lie I am shocked at the amount of dog hair I pull from my tank.

Yeah, somehow there is more dog hair in my tank than anywhere else in my house and I don't even have a breed that sheds! It's like they put it in there when I'm not home just to mess with me.

 

[hart24601]

For initial change depends on the size of the system, but you are fine if just want to be consistent and stay with 5% a week give or take on what is easy for you to do. Just adjust feeding and stocking as needed when 1st building the system and export methods.

W/C for most people's tanks are an inexpensive method to make sure elements are not depleted or build up excessively and not have to worry about dosing/testing outside the big 3 of ca/mg/alk so it's wise to get in the habit. Instant ocean for 20 cents a gallon, or less if on sale, is an economical method until tank size gets quite large.

 

[WVNed]

Dog hair will fail a maxijet

 

[dugthefish]

Not gonna lie I am shocked at the amount of dog hair I pull from my tank.

You just need a specialized CUC! What eats dog hair?

 

[WVNed]

I probably do more than I care to admit.

 

[Hitman]

In the 2 years i have been researching this i have never once heard this until now. All the big names like BRS and Tidal gardens and many others say weekly water changes are mandatory.

Triton method is one of many and most known methods of zero water changes and has been around for years. I personally do not use the Triton method but use my own method based off the same principles. And yes it’s much more cost effective for larger tanks to do some sort of method like this then water changes. Between my 3 tanks and the 400 gallon display with a 150 gallon sump that’s months away from being completed would require me to do approximately 300 gallons of water changes between them all weekly. So that’s several hundreds of dollars in weekly water changes vs $30 a month I spend now on dosing elements.

 

[Billldg]

Not gonna lie I am shocked at the amount of dog hair I pull from my tank.

You letting you dog swim in the tank, LOL!!!

 

[Hitman]

Must be a new breed of dog face puffer! Lol

 

[WVNed]

Once we get moved I am planning a 8 foot 240 or so and have been thinking about this. It will be a no change system. The first one I have tried.

 

[Hitman]

I use ESV B-Ionic 2 part in mine and other then a bad set of magnets my ICP test after years of no water changes came back awesome! ESV is the only 2 part that includes trace elements in with CA,ALK,&MG

 

[Rscott]

Well this is interesting,
As far as the dollar signs go.
What makes more sense? Invest in a big water change operation or invest in dosing?

This hobby is out of control expensive as it is so if you only had the money to invest in one process what would it be?

Even if you dont do water changes frequently you probably still need the ability to at least do it once in a while so you will still need to spend the money on things like salt, mixing buckets, pumps, hoses siphons etc etc

If you are not doing water changes I could see it being a big cost savings on salt and RODI filters are such.

Im trying to figure out what its going to cost me monthly to run a reefer 250 or 350 so I was trying to figure out what percentage water change I need weekly and what that costs to add into the budget
Thats where the question came from.

Thanks for the info