Waterchanges might be a farce

[ZoWhat]

So my background is reefing since 2005.

I use to be this big believer in bimonthly waterchanges .... but now slowly AND firmly changing my mind.

First off, I'm not a SPSer (acros and the like) ... thats a whooooole different ballgame. I'm a LPS'er, heavily involved in zoas/palys

Okay...to the point of this post:

Ever since discovering dosing the strain of blue-green Phytoplankton... im starting to truly believe that waterchanges are only really necessary for major/minor element control that get low or high.

So I'm asking myself;

"If I'm doing regular waterchanges "just because...", am I taking out all that good biochemistry that includes built up phytoplankton? I mean... look at a natural reef swarming in blue-green phytoplankton giving that ocean reef water that turquoise look"

"Is adding brand new saltwater putting a stress on my little ecosystem, where this new water has to biochemically cook and convert??"

Ever since:

* slowing down my waterchanges

* using my skimming to more-wet

* dosing blue-green strain of phytoplankton

* dosing trace elements thru a product called Replinish

* testing and looking for out of range Calcium, Alk and Mag

..... Im seeing mushrooms, zoas, palys plump up to sizes ive never seen before.

So religious Waterchanger ppl might say "What about nitrate/Phosphate control? You gotta change your water every 2 weeks!"

In some mild researching, I'm reading how dosing the strain of Blue-Green Phytoplankton OUTCOMPETES nuisance algae and makes for a more balanced tank.

I'm reeeeally starting to think regular waterchanges is dumping good biochemical water down the drain that worked so hard to achieve a balance.

If I can control my NO3 and PO4 thru heavy skimming, dosing phytoplankton .... why would I do a waterchange UNLESS smthg like Calcium or Carbonate or Magnesium was off?

And if I can dose major and minor elements to keep them within range...AND my no3/po4 are in check... why do a waterchange?

Dilute my biochemistry and the phytoplankton > zooplankton > corals and fish ecosystem chain (?)

To where new saltwater has to "re-cook" that biochemistry?

WHATS YOUR OPINION ON WATERCHANGES????




.

 

[nereefpat]

im starting to believer that waterchanges are only really necessary for element replacement that get low or high

I don't think that is debatable. We do water changes to either dilute built up things, or replace used up things.

 

[lilkiwi930]

So my background is reefing since 2005. More money than I care to talk about lost in fish and coral.

I use to be this big believer in bimonthly waterchanges but slowly AND firmly changing my mind.

First off, I'm not a SPSer (acros and the like) ... thats a whooooole different ballgame.

I'm a LPS'er, heavily involved in zoas/palys

Okay...to the point of this post:

Ever since discovering dosing Phytoplankton... im starting to believer that waterchanges are only really necessary for element replacement that get low or high

I can say I believe the same thing. How often do you do waterchanges?

 

[TriggerFinger]

I did a 5g water change yesterday on a 100ish gallon system. There was 1” of detritus in the bottom of the jug when I was done. How else does that get removed if I wasn’t doing water changes?

 

[X-37B]

Here we go!
For most, water changes are recommended.
My 120 14 months old.
Just did a 10 gallon change a month ago.
First one lol.
Did not see any difference.
If you setup your system for no scheduled water changes and have been around long enough to understand the concept then it can be done.
I wish we could have a thread about this without the im right your wrong mentality.
Pic from last night.

 

[waynel]

I was thinking about this same thing last night while doing a 20 gallon water change (I have about 140 gallons water volume). I've been trying to increase my pod population, and I can see many in my sump refugium (I have chaeto and ~20lbs of liverock in there with some snails). Typically, I would siphon out the 20 gallons from the sump, but now I'm concerned I'm going to remove pods, and I want them for my mandarin. So would I be better to siphon from the DT where I'm less likely to siphon off pods? I'm so confused!

 

[ReefGamer]

I did a 5g water change yesterday on a 100ish gallon system. There was 1” of detritus in the bottom of the jug when I was done. How else does that get removed if I wasn’t doing water changes?

Am I doing this wrong, because AI never see anything in my buckets, but clear water when I water change

 

[TriggerFinger]

Am I doing this wrong, because AI never see anything in my buckets, but clear water when I water change

I siphon from my sump where all the detritus settles. No socks or filter material of any kind. I just set up a skimmer yesterday also...so I’m sure that makes a difference. Water changes siphoned from the DT gives clear water. My tank is also over two years old

 

[ReefGamer]

I siphon from my sump where all the detritus settles. No socks or filter material of any kind. I just set up a skimmer yesterday also...so I’m sure that makes a difference. Water changes siphoned from the DT gives clear water. My tank is also over two years old

Hm, I will try to siphon from the sump and see what happens. Will be tough with my setup, but possible

 

[schuby]

For context, what size is your tank (total water volume), how often were you performing water changes, and how much water did you typically change each time? Do you have fish?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

So my background is reefing since 2005. More money than I care to talk about lost in fish and coral.

I use to be this big believer in bimonthly waterchanges but slowly AND firmly changing my mind.

First off, I'm not a SPSer (acros and the like) ... thats a whooooole different ballgame. I'm a LPS'er, heavily involved in zoas/palys

Okay...to the point of this post:

Ever since discovering dosing Phytoplankton... im starting to truly believe that waterchanges are only really necessary for element control that get low or high.

So I'm asking myself;

"when I do a waterchange am I taking out all that good biochemistry that includes built up phytoplankton?"

"Is adding brand new saltwater putting a stress on my little ecosystem, where this new water has to biochemically convert??"

Ever since slowing down my waterchanges, using my skimming to more-wet, dosing phytoplankton, dosing teace elements thru a product called Replinish..... Im seeing mushrooms, zoas, palys plump up to sizes ive never seen before.

So religious Waterchanger ppl might say "What about nitrate/Phosphate control? You gotta change your water every 2 weeks!"

I'm some mild researching, I'm reading how dosing the strain of Blue-Green Phytoplankton OUTCOMPETES nuisance algae and makes for a more balanced tank.

I'm reeeeally starting to think religious waterchanges is dumping good biochemical water down the drain that worked so hard to achieve a balance.

If I can control my NO3 and PO4 thru heavy skimming, dosing phytoplankton .... why would I do a waterchange UNLESS smthg like Calcium or Carbonate or Magnesium was off?

And if I can dose major and minor elements to keep them.withun range...AND my no3/po4 are in check... why waterchange?

Dilute my biochemistry and the phytoplankton > zooplankton > corals and fish ecosystem chain (?)

To where new saltwater has to "re-cook" that biochemistry?

WHATS YOUR OPINION ON WATERCHANGES????




.

I do not do water changes on any of my tanks anymore. Occasionally they may get a replenishment of new water due to the skimmer removing some or I remove detritus from the sump. But nothing major or scheduled.

I do dose phyto on all of the tanks via a drip that runs all day and night. This includes my sps dominated tank. All other major and minor elements are dosed. Skimmers are half wet/half dry, so to speak.

Since dosing phyto regularly, things just do better. Almost no algae on glass, none on the rocks, PE and growth like no tomorrow from sps, fat lps and zoas, plus my micro critter population is massive. My fuge makes more macro then I know what to do with as well. No3 stays at 10 and po4 at .08. Which is right where I want them.

In my opinion, I think phyto is a big element of a tank that gets overlooked.

On a side note. I used to do religious water changes. Had to leave for a month for work, wife could not fathom how to do a water change, so they were not done. She also misunderstood my phyto dosing schedule and was dumping loads of phyto in and not what I told here. Came back from the trip and tanks never looked better. From then on, I just matched what she was dumping in the tanks via a drip over the day and went with it. I did have to buy some more dosing pumps, but those have paid for themselves with not having to buy a ton of salt.

 

[ZoWhat]

I can say I believe the same thing. How often do you do waterchanges?

3-4 times a year

I'm barebottom. I crank my Vortechs to 100% for 10mins once a week to get all the debris into the water column so it gets to the sump/skimmer.

My "churn" looks like a Cat5 Hurricane


I carefully watch the food I feed to control no3/po4 upfront. Im stingy with the amt if food the fish get BUT dose 32ozs of blue-green phytoplankton I cultivate myself over the course of a week! Thst phyo has made a HUGE difference in the happiness of my tank.

I test my water about every 2 weeks. I have Calcium Chloride pellets and Magnesium Chloride pellets to level out out-of-range test results.

I really try to only do waterchanges if I really need to.

 

[stingeragent]

I do not do water changes on any of my tanks anymore. Occasionally they may get a replenishment of new water due to the skimmer removing some or I remove detritus from the sump. But nothing major or scheduled.

I do dose phyto on all of the tanks via a drip that runs all day and night. This includes my sps dominated tank. All other major and minor elements are dosed. Skimmers are half wet/half dry, so to speak.

Since dosing phyto regularly, things just do better. Almost no algae on glass, none on the rocks, PE and growth like no tomorrow from sps, fat lps and zoas, plus my micro critter population is massive. My fuge makes more macro then I know what to do with as well. No3 stays at 10 and po4 at .08. Which is right where I want them.

In my opinion, I think phyto is a big element of a tank that gets overlooked.

On a side note. I used to do religious water changes. Had to leave for a month for work, wife could not fathom how to do a water change, so they were not done. She also misunderstood my phyto dosing schedule and was dumping loads of phyto in and not what I told here. Came back from the trip and tanks never looked better. From then on, I just matched what she was dumping in the tanks via a drip over the day and went with it. I did have to buy some more dosing pumps, but those have paid for themselves with not having to buy a ton of salt.

Do you have a link to the phytoplankton you use? I dose the seachem phytoplankton twice a week for my clam, but curious if another brand is better.

Also, are you using an electronic doser for your setup, or a DIY method? Thanks

 

[BeltedCoyote]

I’m planning on running my system with as few water changes as possible.

part of how I’ll be doing that is the DSR ez system. But beyond that, after reading a lot of Randy’s articles, I think maintaining the various element levels will be easier via dosing rather than water changes.

Also some of my favorite tanks on here don’t do WCs religiously

 

[lilkiwi930]

3-4 times a year

I'm barebottom. I crank my Vortechs to 100% for 10mins once a week to get all the debris into the water column so it gets to the sump/skimmer.

My "churn" looks like a Cat5 Hurricane


I carefully watch the food I feed to control no3/po4 upfront. Im stingy with the amt if food the fish get BUT dose 32ozs of blue-green phytoplankton I cultivate myself over the course of a week! Thst phyo has made a HUGE difference in the happiness of my tank.

I test my water about every 2 weeks. I have Calcium Carbonate pellets and Magnesium Chloride pellets to level out out-of-range test results.

I really try to only do waterchanges if I really need to.

Nice I probably do water changes every other month. Which I believe why all my parameters stay good and everything is thriving.

 

[infinite0180]

I really hate doing them! My new tank is a couple months old. I have yet to do one on it and if it were not for me messing with my lighting soo much i dont think id be having any issues at all. I managed to bleach a few sps out and tick off my lps. That being said, i cant be certain. I actually just picked up another DOS and my plan is to run auto water changes... i think a small amount daily can benefit my reef. Im thinking 0.5 gal daily on a system with about 55 gal total water volume. If i dont see a noticeable difference over 3-6 months i will stop them because its a waste of money on salt if its not helping...

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Do you have a link to the phytoplankton you use? I dose the seachem phytoplankton twice a week for my clam, but curious if another brand is better.

Also, are you using an electronic doser for your setup, or a DIY method? Thanks

I culture my own. I started with some phyto from a local company a few years ago. They are no longer open, but one of the partners started his own business doing the same thing. His name is Sam and he is a great guy.

here is the link to his website. You can give him a call, as he is still working out the website and such. He does ship, as well.

SEAHORSE SAM AQUACULTURE - Google Search

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Do you have a link to the phytoplankton you use? I dose the seachem phytoplankton twice a week for my clam, but curious if another brand is better.

Also, are you using an electronic doser for your setup, or a DIY method? Thanks

Forgot the method lol.

dosing pump on the 500 with a 10 gallon tank to hold it. My 180 and 90 are sort of diy and drip. They also culture as well. Once they get low, I pump water into them to fill them back up, a dosing pump kicks on to provide some food for them and it just keeps repeating. I have lost a few cultures here and there doing that, but I have my main cultures in my fish room as back ups.

If you feed a lot, I suggest culturing your own with a good starter to begin with. Here is a good read and culturing is super easy.

Culture your own Phytoplankton | Melev's Reef

www.melevsreef.com

 

[ZoWhat]

Since dosing phyto regularly, things just do better. Almost no algae on glass, none on the rocks, PE and growth like no tomorrow from sps, fat lps and zoas, plus my micro critter population is massive. My fuge makes more macro then I know what to do with as well. No3 stays at 10 and po4 at .08. Which is right where I want them.

In my opinion, I think phyto is a big element of a tank that gets overlooked.

Brother.....im seeing the same exact things you mentioned above

Amen to your comments

 

[sfin52]

So my background is reefing since 2005.

I use to be this big believer in bimonthly waterchanges .... but now slowly AND firmly changing my mind.

First off, I'm not a SPSer (acros and the like) ... thats a whooooole different ballgame. I'm a LPS'er, heavily involved in zoas/palys

Okay...to the point of this post:

Ever since discovering dosing the strain of blue-green Phytoplankton... im starting to truly believe that waterchanges are only really necessary for major/minor element control that get low or high.

So I'm asking myself;

"If I'm doing regular waterchanges "just because...", am I taking out all that good biochemistry that includes built up phytoplankton? I mean... look at a natural reef swarming in blue-green phytoplankton giving that ocean reef water that turquoise look"

"Is adding brand new saltwater putting a stress on my little ecosystem, where this new water has to biochemically cook and convert??"

Ever since:

* slowing down my waterchanges

* using my skimming to more-wet

* dosing blue-green strain of phytoplankton

* dosing trace elements thru a product called Replinish

* testing and looking for out of range Calcium, Alk and Mag

..... Im seeing mushrooms, zoas, palys plump up to sizes ive never seen before.

So religious Waterchanger ppl might say "What about nitrate/Phosphate control? You gotta change your water every 2 weeks!"

In some mild researching, I'm reading how dosing the strain of Blue-Green Phytoplankton OUTCOMPETES nuisance algae and makes for a more balanced tank.

I'm reeeeally starting to think regular waterchanges is dumping good biochemical water down the drain that worked so hard to achieve a balance.

If I can control my NO3 and PO4 thru heavy skimming, dosing phytoplankton .... why would I do a waterchange UNLESS smthg like Calcium or Carbonate or Magnesium was off?

And if I can dose major and minor elements to keep them within range...AND my no3/po4 are in check... why do a waterchange?

Dilute my biochemistry and the phytoplankton > zooplankton > corals and fish ecosystem chain (?)

To where new saltwater has to "re-cook" that biochemistry?

WHATS YOUR OPINION ON WATERCHANGES????




.

What algea strands are you putting into your tank.