Why are some people anti-waterchanges?

[FreshSaltyGuy]

You are underestimating the significance of the size and volume of the oceans. If you think you want to mimic it, you likely need an Olympic pool sized aquarium and limit yourself to one small goby. You will never have the dilution and export mechanisms present in the ocean.

I've learned long ago to never say never. I believe the answers are out there but we haven't learned yet and maybe technology isn't there either.

 

[Raul-7]

I've learned long ago to never say never. I believe the answers are out there but we haven't learned yet and maybe technology isn't there either.

DialySeas - SeaVisions of South Florida

Dialyseas Aquarium parameter stability in reef aquariums has always been, and will always be key to your success. Don’t chase numbers. Use these machines to stabilize your aquarium AUTOMATICALLY. The DialySeas is truly the most advanced filtration system ever designed for aquarium use. The...

seavisions.com

That is your closest answer that you are looking for.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Don't tell anyone but I haven't done a water change on a 30 gallon reef tank since May/June 2023. I don't plan on doing one as long as EVERYTHING looks healthy. I think these pics of my 7 month old corals tell the story. I got them all as frags and they have since triple and quadrupled in size and have grow to the point where I'm giving things away until my 220 gal tank is ready. This tank is NOT dosed, no water changes, has no skimmer....nothing other than a tiny 4 gallon fuge , lots of rock and live sand and a **** load of CUC. I also hardly ever clean the glass...why because my CUC takes care of that.

Raul, please stop man. Don't mean to be rude but of course we don't have the oceans amount of water. We and a tiny fraction and we base our filtration and ability to work properly for the size tank. Perfect example on 1 thing. If you have a 30 gallon tank you should have 30-50 CUC. If you have a 200 gallon tank then you should have 200-300 CUC. It's all relative to size man.

I have only changed 12 gallons since november on my 75g, both times were to take water for another system.

I am keeping it on this route to see what happens. My coral growth is pretty absurd. I put in a yellow porites expecting to never see polyp extension but mine has looked fuzzy since day 1.

I should probably be doing water changes, but I stuggle to keep nutrients up and seem to have gotten my finger on the pulse of my trace elements super quick.

I am pretty sure a large water change would upset my corals at this point. I'd have to find a new salt that matches my current water better. I have 3 buckets of reef crystals that are pretty much only going to be used for my QT water changes at this rate. But I expect issues eventually, I have like 50 kenya trees and I assume they release more than 10 tbsp of carbon every 2 months can pull out.

 

[Someshmuk]

All this reading makes my head spin!
So should I do water changes or not?

The short answer is probably. Long answer depends on what kind of filtration/age of tank/overall health/dosing regiment and determines frequency.

Maybe 2 weeks? maybe 2 months? maybe 2 years? Maybe never. Who's counting lol. Just do what best fits your perogative.

 

[Mikeltee]

I went 2 years without a water change and 1 year without a skimmer while I had dinos. Nitrates were 5.0 and phos were .8. Live rock does wonders

 

[FreshSaltyGuy]

I went 2 years without a water change and 1 year without a skimmer while I had dinos. Nitrates were 5.0 and phos were .8. Live rock does wonders

There you go

 

[ErikVR]

Because it takes me two hours to do 10% with my current setup.

 

[FreshSaltyGuy]

DialySeas - SeaVisions of South Florida

Dialyseas Aquarium parameter stability in reef aquariums has always been, and will always be key to your success. Don’t chase numbers. Use these machines to stabilize your aquarium AUTOMATICALLY. The DialySeas is truly the most advanced filtration system ever designed for aquarium use. The...

seavisions.com

That is your closest answer that you are looking for.

What does that do different that having a ATO come right off the filtration system, and a system like an Apex for dosing?

 

[KrisReef]

What does that do different that having a ATO come right off the filtration system, and a system like an Apex for dosing?

Is that what it does? I wasn’t sure from the site that it did anything other than empty the wallet of the customer? I really couldn’t make out what it is supposed to be/ do. I gave up.

 

[Raul-7]

What does that do different that having a ATO come right off the filtration system, and a system like an Apex for dosing?

Is that what it does? I wasn’t sure from the site that it did anything other than empty the wallet of the customer? I really couldn’t make out what it is supposed to be/ do. I gave up.

It is basically a semi-permeable membrane that uses the difference is osmolarity between the RO/DI and aquarium water to transfer solutes across the membrane to be removed. So you're left with 'cleaner' water.

However, it does not allow the diffusion of large molecules like proteins, etc. And it also does not discriminate between good and bad - like PO4, NO3 vs Ca++ and Mg++ for example.

Hence it does not replace waterchanges.

https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/pr/index.php

 

[StripeCore]

Every 2 weeks or max 3 weeks, clean out main filters, surface skimmers, UV , pipes , glass cleaning, I appreciate it afterwards... like a brand new aquriam

oh well.

 

[buruskeee]

Some might say it’s lazy to not do water changes - others might say it’s lazy to do the simple water changes rather than understand how to create a complex, but balanced and stable high import high export complete ecosystem system and thrive.

It’s not easy, but it’s also not something to look down on if it’s not understood. There isn’t just one “correct” way to reef.

My 2cents.

 

[fish farmer]

Some might say it’s lazy to not do water changes - others might say it’s lazy to do the simple water changes rather than understand how to create a complex, but balanced and stable high import high export complete ecosystem system and thrive.

It’s not easy, but it’s also not something to look down on if it’s not understood. There isn’t just one “correct” way to reef.

My 2cents.

That's a great way to look at it.

I do water changes regularly, sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly. When I do them, I siphon out some detritus, algae, loose discoma mushrooms or those palys I don't like.

WC is part of my export system if other components like refuge/skimmer/circulation pumps aren't working at their maximum potential.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The dialyseas device not not a good choice for a reef tank, IMO.

ANYTHING it does to purify the water is better done (that is, done more efficiently) by an ordinary water change, and many things water changes do, it cannot do. Removing toxins is one it cannot do.

It is a device looking for a problem to solve , and it found one it does not do very well.

I advise people to avoid it.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

I would like to see some tanks that haven't had a water change in 5+ years. To actually see them for comparison, not trying to make a point.

 

[MnFish1]

Saying I'm against water changes would be a misnomer. Just sick of them....at least the time consuming ones.

As a cichlid hobbyist, I have to perform massive (50-80%) weekly changes on some pretty large tanks just to maintain stability. I spend at least 2 or 3 hours a week just changing the water...and that's not factoring in any other maintenance that needs done. That level of work feels more like a weekend job after a while than a hobby.

The fact that I could work towards creating a system that all but eliminates those changes AND maintains stability is admittedly quite intriguing! And if I have to change only 10-25% on a smaller setup, then I'm good with that. Getting back to having fun with my hobby is the primary driver with my decision to get into Reefing.

Were I you - I would drop your water changes by 50% - and see what happens. I no longer follow the 'normal recommendations' - and change water frequently on my discus tank - with spawning every couple weeks

EDIT - INFREQUENTLY

 

[MnFish1]

Up to you lol. These types of debates are endless… but there is stuff to be learned if you know who to read.

The problem IMHO - is that certain tanks need them - certain do not. There is no one answer - again just my opinion

 

[MnFish1]

I strongly disagree. Our tanks are a much much much smaller scale of the Ocean. We just need to dial in what that should look like.

that was my exact point. What are you disagreeing with? IMHO - every tank is different. Let's look at the old phrase 'first do no harm' - in all likelihood, waterchanges will not do any harm if done correctly.

 

[CascadianExotics]

Were I you - I would drop your water changes by 50% - and see what happens. I no longer follow the 'normal recommendations' - and change water frequently on my discus tank - with spawning every couple weeks

Discus are a whole different thing than the East African species that I'm keeping. You can actually have plants in a Discus setup, and not have to overstock while maintaining a GH and KH akin to liquid rock, lol. I know some Malawis can handle Nitrates up to 270 ppm, but I really don't want to push it.

 

[Rewd]

I'm going back to 10% weekly water changes on 3 tanks (total about 300 gallons). Over the summer I tried to reduce that to monthly and ended up with weird algae issues in 2 of the tanks that were humming along nicely until that point. I tried backing it to 10% every other week and I am not seeing much improvement, so going back to what worked (and has always worked in my reef tanks of old): 10% weekly.