Water Changes: Where do you stand on water changes for your reef tank?

[bibliophile]

When my tank was running & established, maybe a change per month. Currently doing multiple changes per week to get nitrates down before re-stocking.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

If you lived in norcal I would give you one.
I have a couple larger frags but they grow so fast it really doesnt matter.
Here is the piece I just put back today on the same rock.

Kingman, Az and no lfs near by even.

 

[steve bergmann]

I am in the never water change category. Tank has been running for 10 years and doing ok.

 

[X-37B]

Kingman, Az and no lfs near by even.

If I would have known earlier I have a reptile friend who just moved to kingman. Saw him Saturday and he was leaving with the last of his stuff. Small world lol.

 

[X-37B]

I am in the never water change category. Tank has been running for 10 years and doing ok.

Amazing well done. Kind of shoots holes in the you must do water change crowd lol.

 

[Rose's_Reef]

1) never if it is not an issue
2) Could be important if it is an issue - other times - not important for MY tank

Correct myself - i run Triton Core 7 and have to compensate for elevated salinity with around 0.65 L a day - it means around 0.2 % WC a day


Sincerely Lasse

Hmm

1) never if it is not an issue
2) Could be important if it is an issue - other times - not important for MY tank

Correct myself - i run Triton Core 7 and have to compensate for elevated salinity with around 0.65 L a day - it means around 0.2 % WC a day


Sincerely Lasse

Wow! How do you control the n

1) never if it is not an issue
2) Could be important if it is an issue - other times - not important for MY tank

Correct myself - i run Triton Core 7 and have to compensate for elevated salinity with around 0.65 L a day - it means around 0.2 % WC a day


Sincerely Lasse

Wow! I'm very interested. How do you control the bad elements? I've been trying to figure this out but it hasn't worked for me. Too much bad stuff

 

[codycolina707]

have a 150 with 60 gallon sump but probably 100-120 gallons of water and change 30 gallons weekly but thinking about starting to do that biweekly as my nitrates are really low

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Pretty simple today. I think it's been a while for a site-wide poll on water changes so let's do it! Let's talk about water changes and where you stand concerning your tank!

1. How often do you "change out your water" in your reef tank, what percent and how many gallons is your system? Or do you even?

2. How important or not important do you think water changes are for your reef tank?


@CMO no water change reef! Thread here.

When I moved and set up the new display tank total water volume is 80 gallons 46 for the display and 46 for the sum.1 year old , got lazy and didn't setup auto WC . Since doing auto WC big results.

1. How often do you "change out your water" in your reef tank, what percent and how many gallons is your system? Or do you even?

So right now I change 7 gallons every other day. Volume is 80 gallons apprx

2. How important or not important do you think water changes are for your reef tank?

Because I didn't do regular WC I lost a few corals. Never again, get lazy and do no changes. Im only talking about me.

 

[code4]

I feed things I love. Always have. I love my tanks inhabitants. I researched them. Quarantined. Treated for anything they might have had. Then I fed them because I like to. Then they repay me by pooping in their room. So I break out the vacuum and clean it every week. Then I feed them........there is a pattern here I think.

Do whatever you like with your tank. I have done a lot of different things over the years. I blow out some sand almost every day. Vacuum weekly. Clean filters, sponges, skimmer and glass weekly. Blow out rockwork. This works best for me. My tanks never looked so good before. I don't change out water. I vacuum something out everytime. For me anything less is a waste.

I love my little friends. 140, 65 and 40 gallon tanks.

 

[WallyB]

After Years of Fumbling with Many methods, including additives to replenish Trace Elements, while doing Monthly Water changes (10%, 20%,) or even 20% every two weeks (hoping to improve things for SPS).........

I finally landed on something that Works for Keeping Sensitive SPS, and resuing Water for less Demanding Tanks.

I Add nothing..... [No Specific Trace Elements, no Coral Foods]

AND...

1) Daily AUTO Water changes. ( Just under 1%) for the Primary 110 Gallon SPS Only Tank
2) Each Tank is DOSED "ESV Two Part" for Alk, Calcium and Mag.

Along with Light GFO every other Week, has Finally achieved (N&P Stability), and conditions that finally, not only keep my SPS alive. SPS have Amazing Color/PE and Resonable GOOD Growth.

And this is something DIFFERENT, that I think isn't common Water Change Practice.

The Auto Water change Setup...(Is A Daisy Chain Tank-to-Tank Cascade [1 Gallon/Daily] )
[[ie. Reusing Water change Water ]]

A) It Uses New Salt Water for the 110 Gal SPS ONLY Tank
B) The 35 Gallon SPS Frag Tank get's USED Water from the 110 Gallon (Prestine Tank)
c) The 90 Galon LPS/MIXED(no SPS) Tank (my Dirty Tank), get's that Water FRom the Frag Tank (The Oldest Water)

Better Explained in a DIAGRAM.

I do this....

With This

For These.....

All 3 Tanks are doing VERY well.. (SPS like Never Ever Before in 5+ year)

However after about 4-5 months, the Last Tank gets a 10% water change, since the Corals start to look a bit down at 4 month point.
Next day (after Water Change), All the Corals Spring back to Life.

((( THIS ILLUSTRATES TO me that After 4 months the Last StageMIXED Tank run's low on Trace Elements, or too much toxic build up of Something))

 

[Lasse]

Hmm

Why Hmm?

Wow! How do you control the n

With refugium and a reversed flow deep sand bed - see my build thread

Wow! I'm very interested. How do you control the bad elements? I've been trying to figure this out but it hasn't worked for me. Too much bad stuff

I´m not sure there is any "bad" elements - rather convinced that the term "bad element" is a invention of a reefer who did not understand what was happening in his/hers biological ecosystem that´s named a saltwater aquarium

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Proteus Meep]

"and revhtree did gather a crowd around before prodding the hornets nest, skipping away laughing gleefully at the chaos unleashed" ......excerpt from the book of reef2reef

 

[Zindebaad]

I have 3 nano aquariums (3, 10, and 13.5 gallon). I change 1/3 of the water every 2 weeks; more often if there is an issue.

 

[Lasse]

I will ad that I during this 4 years never, ever had clean sump, sand and other things from detritus by hand. The sand cleaning -> 3 - 4 sea cucumbers manage.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[xiaoxiy]

I am looking at 1 gal a day on a 300+ system in the future.
Simple to implement and will fit in my alloted space.
A gal a day wont upset my balance and will provide a nice complement to my system.
How big is your system?
I will still follow trace element dosing and a carx.

Approximately 80g in volume after accounting for sand and rock.

 

[Sallstrom]

I voted no WC except for when there is an issue. It's not a competition on how long you can run a tank without WC. If there's a problem and the easiest way is to change water, then you change water. If your water is fine, you don't. And it's not about laziness. Is just another methode of running a reef tank. Not a plug and play method with less work. It's still takes time to get everything to work and it takes a lot of testing and tuning IMO.

Here's a tank from my work, five years after the latest WC. Video by the famous director @Lasse

 

[Limoncello]

It buy the smaller 6.6 kg tubs(as i have a nano it lasts quite a while) at about £27 it costs about £65 for the 23 kg tub

Not sure where you are, im in the UK but i buy it mainly from a company called Aquacadabra via Ebay

H2Ocean Pro+ Reef Salt | D-D The Aquarium Solution

www.theaquariumsolution.com

Thanks! Boston here. I will look into it.

 

[tamanning]

I have a 75 gallon display and around 25 gallons in my sump. I have not done a water change in close to 7 years. I dose lime water and magnesium for the trace when salt gets a little low I top off with reef crystals.

 

[DHH]

I do a 20% replacement in my 24 gallon tank every 2 weeks, as a matter of good practice. I don't know if it is necessary, but it is cheap enough and I like to be safe. I buy Reef Crystals water from my LFS for $.97 per gallon.

 

[Lasse]

If I reduce the doses, they stop molting and oddly enough, they seem to live longer if they don’t molt.

During the molt - they are very sensitive for predation. every molt occasion is a matter of life and dead

Sincerely Lasse