Water Changes

[mcarroll]

Thanks for all the responses. I currently do 10% weekly. I use ro/di water from my LFS. A system is on the "TO DO LIST". Mallorie posted about using iodine. Can we discus this and its importance? I use Red Sea Coral Pro Salt. My test dont seem to move. Guess imy tank isnt loaded enough with corals to consume what the salt mix is putting in...Thoughts? Also Mallorie talked about using Iodine, can we talk about the benefits? Thanks again everyone. Paul

I shoot for weekly water changes for max stability. 10-20% is the amount - usually 20% lately. I dose two-part (recipe 2) at close to a liter a day (a boatload).

You will not have to worry about dosing until you get stony corals and they start growing out.

Alkalinity - aka KH, karbonate hardness, carbonate hardness and measurable in meq/L, ppm, or dKH which is "degrees of karbonate hardness" - is the single most important parameter for you to pay attention to (i.e. test) and learn about if stony corals are in your future. More than Calcium, Magnesium, pH or Iodine. It is also the first parameter you are likely to need to dose for as things other than coral growth can negatively impact it.

As far as nutrient levels (nitrate, phosphate), I personally find testing for them on an ongoing basis to be a little wasteful. If you're worried about these then you most likely are over stocked, over feeding or otherwise not taking care of the tank properly - don't simply band-aid these things with expensive management regimes, make the needed changes to you or the tank. Also, if there is excess algae, you have too many nutrients - test complete, now do something about it.

For you I would recommend sticking to your current routine and testing Alkalinity regularly - maybe every water change once you have stony corals growing. As need for alk is indicated in testing, I would increase your volume and/or frequency of water changes. Once you've gone as far as is practical for you with water changes, then consider dosing.

-Matt