water changes whats the point

jelly · May 1, 2013

The point of water changes is to export nurturance andimport minerals. What the point of them if your nitrates and phos are at 0 andyou have a ca reactor that give your everything else you need..

Tinola · May 1, 2013

Trace elements.

jelly · May 1, 2013

when you use a ca reactor it adds trace elements as it adds alk, ca, mag..

Smnparish · May 1, 2013

Those are major elements, trace elements are things like strontium, iodine, potassium, the list goes on and on

oceanparadise1 · May 1, 2013

I feel no matter what you dose you always have to do water changes, it adds some many trace elements that theres no way to dose for them all.

jelly · May 1, 2013

but as corals build they take in everything they need to build there skeleton. so when you use the reactor and it desolves the media it should dose all the elements that the corals before used. corals can only take up so much elements

Smnparish · May 1, 2013

It's not just for their skeletal production; they need to be healthy first before they grow, and to be healthy they need trace elements. Believe me, if there were a good way to keep a reef tank long-term without doing water changes, everyone would be doing it.

Rockadile · May 1, 2013

The trace elements in question are more for the zooxanthellae then the coral skeleton. They need things like iodine and the many othe trace elements to thrive, stontonium is for the skeleton but aragonite as it breaks down gives off a very large amount of that element.

jelly · May 1, 2013

but aren't the traces they need to be healthy also taken up and used in there skeletons.. this thread is just to get opinions about the matter.. so please no one make it more then what it is..

Rockadile · May 1, 2013

Smnparish said:
It's not just for their skeletal production; they need to be healthy first before they grow, and to be healthy they need trace elements. Believe me, if there were a good way to keep a reef tank long-term without doing water changes, everyone would be doing it.

You can, you just need to dose more frequently and more elements.

jelly · May 1, 2013

Im always dosing with my ca reactor.. im in the idea that it will give me what ever traces my corals will need..

Acroholic · May 1, 2013

Water changes do more than just replace trace elements. All corals, fish, inverts, etc., have organic byproducts of respiration (cellular respiration, not breathing) that are released into the water. Skimming, carbon, GFO, macro algae refugiums, mechanical filtration will get some of them, but not all of them. Water changes lower the concentration of these. There is a saying that "the solution to pollution is dilution." These byproducts of respiration are the pollution, and water changes are the dilution. Reducing the accumulation/concentration of these is really what water changes are beneficial for. JMO.

kfd · May 2, 2013

there is no coral tissues on your calcium reactor media................ if that makes you feel better

mcarroll · May 5, 2013

jelly said:
The point of water changes is to export nurturance andimport minerals. What the point of them if your nitrates and phos are at 0 andyou have a ca reactor that give your everything else you need..

I'm not sure how one could think redissolving coral skeletons is equivalent to salt mix.

Coral skeletons are the by-product of just one single metabolism at work in your tank, and at most can only represent some of the minerals, etc, that are present in any salt mix.

When you account for all the other metabolisms also at work, there will be a wide array of substances "missing" from the original mix.

-Matt

P.S. The point of water changes is to keep your water as close to natural seawater as possible.

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

Paul B · May 5, 2013

andyou have a ca reactor that give your everything else you need..

Seawater has in it every element on earth, ASW has maybe 74 minerals. Your calcium reactor supplies maybe 3 elements. Do you think that is enough to supply your animals with everything they need?
I agree you can go a few years without water changes and I also feel that people change way to much water, but water changes do have beneficial effects and a tank can not go forever without one. Two years is not forever as many people feel. But if you don't think they are necessary, don't change water. It is a good test.

Murfman · May 5, 2013

Frank Burr has been running a tank for over 20 years with no water changes. Frank Burr | Fourreef Consortium LLC | ZoomInfo.com I saw him speak at Reefstock and as long as you have a self sustaining biosphere, you don't need to do the water changes. Now, exactly what corals he is keeping, I have no idea.

mcarroll · May 6, 2013

Murfman said:
[...]as long as you have a self sustaining biosphere[...]

Oh, that's all?

Safe to say then that we can all keep doing water changes!

-Matt

navila06 · May 6, 2013

lol!!!

mcarroll said:
Oh, that's all?

Safe to say then that we can all keep doing water changes!

-Matt

backpack · May 6, 2013

I guess you could try dosing trace elements and have a refugulium larger than your umderstocked tank. Might work but it wouldn't be worth it to me. You will have lots of problems like loss of cycle instability ect.... create a post about it and track your levels I would read it. Just be prepared for some obstacles.

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

Reefing Madness · May 6, 2013

I don't do WC but every 6 months. I don't have any troubles. I dose everything needed. Not hard to keep track of everything, and testing once a week. I also Carbon Dose, (aka Vodka Dose)