Why should i do water changes?

[LesPoissons]

Personally I think water changes are a good idea. Things build up that we don’t test for or don’t have accurate tests for, and imo even with all the testing and dosing- I think everything in the tank benefits from Fresh water. Having said that, there are plenty of refers who utilize a low or no water change method (ie Dutch method etc) and dont do water changes for years and have flourishing tanks. If your tank is doing well and no issues, it’s totally your call. “If it ain’t broke” type situation. I have a 220g that I avoided doing water changes on for about 3 months bc it’s such a huge pain in the tail- but then got an outbreak of ich and cyano and things stared going downhill. my tank seems to do best with at least monthly water changes- much to my dismay. As equipment and additives and dosing methods improve, eventually we can probably reef with lasers enabled to scan tanks and adjust chemicals and destroy parasites etc. Until then, do what works for you and your tank!

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

I think imma do a water change anyway. I just scraped all the coraline off my side panels and its everywhere now

 

[fishguy242]

and that's a bad thing

 

[Fourstars]

If we’re talking stability, then water changes are best done automatically, and slowly over time.

 

[fishguy242]

just saying chips of coralline are awesome to spread on rocks

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

just saying chips of coralline are awesome to spread on rocks

It not bad at all! It's just mounded in my sandbed on my mushroom garden lol I did a 15% water change.

 

[fishguy242]

cool

 

[JLynn]

If you’re feeling paranoid about it, get an ICP test done just to make sure it’s all good. Assuming everything from that comes back good, you can safely conclude you don’t need to be doing regular water changes on this tank. (But periodic ICP tests if you aren’t doing any water changes might be a good idea.)

 

[Punchanello]

I havent done water changes in a long time and noticed my corals and color werent there and after the ABCD program everything got back to normal so there is that.

Even Redsea recommend 10% water changes weekly. IMO, this is the only protection against 'trace' elements that are at a useful or benign level and trace elements that suddenly become toxic at higher levels. Dilution.

 

[Vincent Azzano]

So on both of my nano tanks I have been avoiding water changes for some time now. Maybe one every month or so I'll do a water change but i have no idea why i am doing so lol.
I dose seachem 2 part which keeps my alk, calcium and magnesium where it needs to be. Also from my understanding the 2 part has trace elements in it.
I run skimmers and refugium so my nitrates and phosphate is low my corals seem to be happy and colorful so my big question is. Why should I be doing water changes during this time?
If theres a big reason to be doing water changes I'll be increasing my water change frequency!

It helps keeps your corals healthy and stronger. Make sure you’re doing amazing regular routine of water changes

 

[Salt & Peper]

If your dosing what your tank uses and your parameters are in check. a water change is a waste of time and money. imo!

 

[BryanD]

Depending on what you have, a lot of people buy supplements to add to their tank water. Why? Just do regular water changes, you get the supplements you need, you remove waste, and add "fresh" water. If you have tangs and don't want to run carbon because of HLLE, you also remove organics and other things dissolved in the water that you don't want. I will never understand the no water changes crowd. Been doing this for a long time, first piece of advice I give a new aquarist is don't set up your tank and immediately throw living creatures in it. The second bit of advice is water changes, water changes, water changes. Fresh or salt, you can never go wrong doing regular, proper water changes.