Why do some do water changes and others do not?

[saltyfilmfolks]

For newer reefers. Water changes are fine.
You can grow an amazing amount of things without dosing.

A little low , is opinion.

You’re doing the right thing asking questions and exploring options.

 

[madweazl]

Cautious is usually good but a dKh of 7 isn't anything to worry about. You can run it higher if desired but there is no requirement to do so (I run my tank at 7-7.5 with good results.

 

[Princess Hockey]

Cautious is usually good but a dKh of 7 isn't anything to worry about. You can run it higher if desired but there is no requirement to do so (I run my tank at 7-7.5 with good results.

My coral guy was just concerned since he keeps his at 9 and was selling me a pack of half a dozen things that were going to go home and need to acclimate to 7. He told me that if i was buying SPS that I’d have to come back.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

That, in my experience, is not true.

 

[mr9iron]

I’ve been reading for 20 plus years and have experimented with small water changes, large water changes and no water changes.

In my experience water changes are beneficial for nutrient and detritus removal which can cause problems in excess

My current regimen is to change 5 gallons each week in my 20 gallon IM Nuvo with a net of approximately 12 gallons.

I’m using Fritz RPM and supplement calcium and alkalinity daily with 12mls of both to maintain 8DkH and calcium at 440.

Evaporation is handled by an Ice Cap ato and I add 300ml of saturated Kalk via a peristaltic pump controlled by my Apex.

This is working exceptionally well for this tank.

I recommend water changes.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I don't disagree with that, perhaps efficiency though. Triton (for instance) hasnt proven to be more cost effective than water changes; I haven't played with any of the balling methods so I don't know if one is more efficient than the other.

True, and I think we are saying similar things. As in my post above documenting boron, it would take 23 gallons of water change to raise boron by 0.5 ppm. But, you could likely do a few milliliters of a boron solution and get an inceease several times larger. My point was that it's inefficient to waste 23 gallons of water when a few milliliters of solution will do the same thing.

But, to your point, there's not really a good way to test for trace elements. Triton testing works okay, but it's certainly not perfect for all elements, and there's definitely a cost associated. Plus, you have the associated cost of buying all of the additives required.

Water changes are a legitimate solution to supplementing trace elements, and from a testing and logistics standpoint they might be one of the least complicated that we have. I just really hate when we as a hobby call water changes efficient, especially in the context of supplementing trace elements. Getting rid of gallons of water to supplement elements that are present at the milligram (or even microgram) level is fundamentally not that efficient.

 

[bobbyM]

I like doing water changes. Gives me a closer connection with my tank. I don't get a lot of time to enjoy my tank during the week to just sit and look at it. The weekly 10 gallon water change allows me this time to check out every nook and cranny, syphon detritus, review layout, check equipment and water prams. Same goes for mowing my yard and yard work. My weekend wind down.

 

[Flexin]

Here is a recent thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/why-do-water-changes.439537/

All great information has been discussed. The biggest thing, let your tank mature and get to know it, they indeed are all different. Maintenance, dosing, water changes, feeding, etc help you get familiar with what works and what does not in your tank. The water change is the default aide and many use it as normal maintenance. If you want SPS, get a cheap one and see how it goes for a few months. Don't let someone have you buy a pack and you spend more to find out the tank is not ready and lose the corals. Also, whatever your schedule is to maintain the tank, stick to it. With SPS you only need one seemingly minor event that can wipe you out. Even if you've maintained them for a few years. So go slow and enjoy.