Water Change VS Dosing Additives Poll

[BoomCorals]

I didn't know the intention of water changes was to replace elements, I thought it was to remove junk from the tank. I replace elements by dosing the big three and keeping a huge fuge with miracle mud (maybe the mud replaces trace elements, maybe not, but thats what they claim lol).

If you never change water where does all the waste go, I haven't wrapped my head around that piece of the triton system yet. The argument is that you add what is needed, but how do you remove what you dont want, such as fish waste, uneaten fish food, metal build up and whatever else accumulates in an old tank.

I try to change 1 to 3 buckets (120 gallon tank) a week depending on my mood. Basically I vacuum what what i can from the bottom. I totally vacuum the sump once a year to remove the massive amount of detritus that builds up over time. I couldnt imagine going years without doing this especially without using filter socks.

Skimmer and algae scrubber or fuge exports all the waste. Plus your corals eat it too.

 

[ca1ore]

Water changes serve two functions: waste dilution/removal and element replenishment. The do both in an imprecise way. Not sure I agree that 'skimmer/ATS/fuge exports all the waste', but they certainly remove much of it and can absolutely mitigate the need for large, routine water changes. I realized many years ago that relying on water changes alone for adequate replenishment was a fools errand, so I use a calcium reactor to maintain proper levels - at least of the things that I can measure. I assume that since the CaRx is dissolving coral skeletons, it adds back the things living corals need to grow in the proper ratios - therefore, if Alk is correct everything else will be too. I do modest water changes through AWS (10% every two weeks), use a CaRx and occasionally dose trace elements based on
Triton water testing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

As more and more folks get ICP testing of their water, we find that lots of folks are deficient in some trace elements, and have an excess of others. Water changes help somewhat in both of these cases (assuming the mix has "better" levels than the tank), where dosing alone only helps those that are deficient.

 

[Robbiesamp1]

Following

 

[loz]

My tank keeps a lot of fish and feeds regularly, so i do water chạnge 10% to 20% every week.I see the corals grow well and color up nicely.

 

[ReeferNoob]

Lots of good info from everyone, thanks! Seems like a combo of the two options is the best way to go.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Went with water changes. But I dose cal alk and mag.

Theres a lot more to “additives”

 

[ADAM]

Water changes and dosing here. About every three to 4 weeks the corals will start to look a little dull and the water just looks “different”. Typically I will replace 20gal of 100gal total. 1-2 days later back to beautiful. I believe that in my system it’s from the softies, the slime/chemicals they can release when agitated or shedding build up. Maybe my shower gel building up also, but the other sounds better to me.

The answer is probably more personal preference and/or exactly what’s in each of the individual systems ie; equipment, chemical filtration methods and livestock.

 

[ZaneTer]

@BoomCorals
I use triton and I am very very happy with the results but with one caveat...... it can become prohibitively expensive very quickly. The colours are great and it is a really balanced way of delivering elements.
I am going over to calcium reactor but with element dosing to keep levels correct.

I am currently spending £700 a year on chemicals and to be honest I would rather invest the money into a decent reactor setup especially with the expectation of those cost rising with growing colonies.

 

[Pete1968]

Water changes are a thing of the past, I switched to no water changes and dosing aquaforest 1,2,3 and my levels are not only more stable but my corals look better than ever

 

[Ardeus]

10% water changes every 10 days, kalk with vinegar on rodi water, 85% water change once per year.

 

[Yamsuph]

I didn't know the intention of water changes was to replace elements, I thought it was to remove junk from the tank. I replace elements by dosing the big three and keeping a huge fuge with miracle mud (maybe the mud replaces trace elements, maybe not, but thats what they claim lol).

If you never change water where does all the waste go, I haven't wrapped my head around that piece of the triton system yet. The argument is that you add what is needed, but how do you remove what you dont want, such as fish waste, uneaten fish food, metal build up and whatever else accumulates in an old tank.

I try to change 1 to 3 buckets (120 gallon tank) a week depending on my mood. Basically I vacuum what what i can from the bottom. I totally vacuum the sump once a year to remove the massive amount of detritus that builds up over time. I couldnt imagine going years without doing this especially without using filter socks.

You are correct! Dirty water is just that, dirty water. The best cleanup crew and filters in the world cannot compare to directly removing a percentage of waste. I always see those guys with beautiful tanks say “and no water changes, pure dosing” and the first thing that goes through my mind is, that could be even better with regular water changes. This is reef tank 101.