Why do we do water changes so religiously if we can remove the nitrates?

[kingkapoor]

The product is a great one. They make labels and product descriptions for a reason.

I disagree and can prove it, however we can rendevous on that thread if you are so passionate about defending a terrible product

 

[living_tribunal]

I disagree and can prove it, however we can rendevous on that thread if you are so passionate about defending a terrible product

This troll is a little too obvious. To answer your question here, people do water changes for a plethora of reasons. If you have a steady system to maintain trace elements, alk/calc, and export phosphate/nitrate, go hog wild with not doing wc.

 

[Pntbll687]

Most people do water changes because that's what they've been taught to do. I did them religiously every week (or as close to a week) for the first year or so. Then it got to every two weeks, then 3, then a month, then none for months at a time.

Planning a system to have a complete nitrogen cycle or have other options for nitrate and phosphate removal can extend the period between water changes.

 

[Thaxxx]

Yes was a very terrible product indeed. Ended up getting the AI nero and 100 dollars back. Better product for a better price.

Nothing wrong with the product. You failed to research the glass thickness required to own one. Kinda like not researching before you started this thread.
It called lazy. Wanting everything served to you on a silver platter.
I'm with @Scorpius on this one. It gets old fast.

 

[homer1475]

I do water changes to replenish other elements, ammonia spikes or get rid of smelly water. I can normally tell when it's time to do a water change by either the smell of the water or the way my coral look. Other than that or an ammonia spike I don't bother.

Other then trace elements I can't test for, and am too cheap to get an ICP test, this is why I do WC's.

I used to do them religiously, but once my tank matured, I do about one a month when the tank gets that low tide smell(also a good time to change the carbon). lol

As a newbie it's a great way to get them to look at, and inspect everything the tank every week, and notice the little nuances of owning a marine tank.

 

[homer1475]

FWIW IMHO, in a FOWLR tank, water changes aren't needed as much on a reef. A couple a year is probably sufficient if other parameters are in check.

 

[Pntbll687]

Yes was a very terrible product indeed. Ended up getting the AI nero and 100 dollars back. Better product for a better price.

^^^ No body tell him that Ecotech owns AI, and his money went to the same people

 

[kingkapoor]

P

^^^ No body tell him that Ecotech owns AI, and his money went to the same people

Giving money to a company is not an issue, wasting money on a garb (and overpriced) product is the issue.
If you understood that form of economics you wouldnt be relying on your next stimulus check to pay for your tanks feedings.

 

[X-37B]

Wow another water change thread going right into the toilet.
Wish we could have one that stays on target with everyone involved.
Have not seen one yet.
Maybe next time, lol.
Im out.

 

[dimik]

Wow another water change thread going right into the toilet.
Wish we could have one that stays on target with everyone involved.
Have not seen one yet.
Maybe next time, lol.
Im out.

It's the process..

A water change thread followed by members complaining about another water change thread, followed by people arguing and insulting eachother for something irrelevant.

Then everyone wonders why there is another water change thread and why people don't do the "research".. BECAUSE IF YOU DO THE RESEARCH THIS TYPE OF THREAD WILL POP UP 100x with no answers lol

 

[living_tribunal]

Man them Dallas stars suck.

 

[Pntbll687]

P

Giving money to a company is not an issue, wasting money on a garb (and overpriced) product is the issue.
If you understood that form of economics you wouldnt be relying on your next stimulus check to pay for your tanks feedings.

Oh the form of economics where you buy a product without doing any research, and then go complain to the store until they refunded your money and sold you something else.

Are you going to complain about the Nero 5 they sold you when it kills a fish, because you DIDN"T RESEARCH THE PRODUCT BEFORE BUYING IT.

 

[blasterman]

Lebron Traveled.
Salt mix makers cant even get alkalinity straight....and we're claiming they all standardize on strontium, boron, and unubtanium.

I do water changes never. Get your nutrient export under control and stop buying bags of over priced sodium chloride mixed with baking soda and sidewalk de-icer.

 

[ca1ore]

I do a lot less changing of water on my reef tank than I used to, and there you have to worry both about removal of wastes and replenishment of things consumed. For the latter, water changes are something of a blunt instrument - I'm coming around to targeted dosing as a better alternative now that there is more comprehensive testing available. Glad I kept my 8 head dosing pump LOL.

If I had a FOWLR, and nitrates/phosphates were under control such that I did not have an algae problem, I wouldn't do water changes at all since there's nothing to replenish really.

 

[Paul B]

A lot of animosity in this thread. I don't know why. If I don't like a thread, I don't read it.

Anyway I think we change far to much water in this hobby. I have been here since the hobby started and I don't remember who came up with that changing water every week thing.
I have a full reef, it is very old and I change water maybe 4 or 5 times a year and I only do it that much because I like going to the beach to collect water.

 

[kingkapoor]

A lot of animosity in this thread. I don't know why. If I don't like a thread, I don't read it.

Anyway I think we change far to much water in this hobby. I have been here since the hobby started and I don't remember who came up with that changing water every week thing.
I have a full reef, it is very old and I change water maybe 4 or 5 times a year and I only do it that much because I like going to the beach to collect water.

Its even more impressive that you have a full (and healthy) reef going without water changes.
I definitely dont want to do too many water changes if I dont have to. Especially when I only have 4 small fish for a 130 gallon system.

Nice

 

[Tired]

As long as you don't add a lot of corals, yes, you can do small, infrequent water changes. If you had a load of corals using calcium up, you'd have more of a problem with that. You should not do no water changes, though.

 

[Paul B]

Its even more impressive that you have a full (and healthy) reef going without water changes.

I didn't say I don't do water changes, just not to many. I feel too much new water is detrimental to tanks which is one reason new tanks always look lousy. If new water was really good why don't we change 100% of our water to fix problems?

 

[Greg Gdowski]

Wow... there are lot of things people can find time to argue about.

It has already been said by someone here... in a fish-only system the need for water changes depends on how well you are removing phosphates and nitrates. That can be done with a refugium, GFO, or some other methodology. Since there are no corals, you are not going to be depleting any major chemicals at a rapid rate (Ca, Mg, Alk), or even trace elements for that matter. Those are the two primary reasons for water changes to "remove" toxic substances and to "replenish" nutrients. For those of us dosing reef tanks to minimize water changes, like myself, it is all about knowing the rate of depletion of nutrients. If you have a lot of corals and you are not dosing, chances are you are doing a lot of water changes. If you don't have a lot of corals, in all likelihood, your need for dosing is almost non-existent.

 

[brandon429]

why we do water changes other than nitrates:


bc only rip cleaning removes that filthy, muddy detritus leaking the nitrates we thought binders were actually removing but weren't removing the source pumps.

we need siphon action to access the filth we all store up, in some way, so that's typically with a water change.

we do water changes to remove whole waste storage. so if someone had a bare bottom system, not a sandbed full of waste, they wouldnt have to remove whole waste from the dt the currents will carry it out, that might could be a no water change setup given the right dosing.