I was responding to agent462's post
No more water changes for a year guaranteed!!!! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Omen
- Start date
I was responding to agent462's post
By the way, Murray tells me he hardly ever does water changes any more.
I don't have anything against water changes. They are essential in most freshwater tanks in my opinion, and I think there are plenty of good benefits for reef tanks. They are not necessarily the only way to a thriving reef system though, and I simply don't tend to get around to doing them very often. In a perfect world I probably would change more water.
I don't have anything against water changes. They are essential in most freshwater tanks in my opinion, and I think there are plenty of good benefits for reef tanks. They are not necessarily the only way to a thriving reef system though, and I simply don't tend to get around to doing them very often. In a perfect world I probably would change more water.
Though now with our turf scrubber in need of repair, and with a Volcano skimmer sitting around unused we have gone over to the dark side (
) and now, as of last night, have a super - skimmed (overskimmed perhaps?) system.... a 10" diameter Volcano on a roughly 130 gallon system. :eek2:It will be interesting to see what happens....
Already this morning, 12 hours after starting up the Volcano the water is noticeably clearer (and we had been using an ETS skimmer on the tank for some time).
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Same thing with a freshwater system, water changes are not needed but do help with clarity; we ran two ponds in India that went without water changes for over a year; although a water change seemed to improve the look of the tank, I would guess thats due to the city water being treated and filtered.
Neil
Senior Member
Lol, you put a volcano on 130 gallons? Hehe perhaps just a little overskimmed.
I figure we are just going to start feeding like crazy.:biggrin:
We'll see what happens, and we might decide to just run it at night (if for no other reason to reduce noise in the lab when we have classes going on... noise from the tanks is a bit of a problem sometimes). Having an oversized skimmer like this will make running it part time a more viable option.
obviously freshwater can be done without water change and it doesn't really affect the livestock in it. Its just a matter of the "improved look" just like u stated. And from my experience keeping your system clean and clear isn't just for improving the look but also coloration and health of corals in a saltwater environment. Again too each their own and everyone has their own belief in WC or not.
Let's just say that no one will argue with you if you decide to do WC and its 50/50 on the other end.
"Not doing WC in your tanks is just like spraying Febreeze and plugging in air freshners in your house and saying its clean enough." Similiar to the commercial that they blind fold people in.
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The question is, do you think its fresh with fabreze in the air or without.
Yup, lets just say that this is not an argument for or against doing a water change; I just wanted to understand why you thought not doing a water change was ok for softies/lps and not so much for SPS. was'nt offering my judgement plus I'm a novice.. always looking to learn from the experts.
Waterchanges for me, are a way of exporting the nitrates. They are also a way to keep water perimeters under control if the biological filtration is not adequate.
Dalailammy
Amphipod First Class
Eco-Aqualizer does all the above and more.
first off, never try to type on your phone while driving, lol. 2nd, I am no expert or even an intermediate, just sharing my experience from past and current tanks.
Some corals are hardier than other and can "tolerate" certain conditions and still strive. One that rarely do WC will typically do Softies/LPS- i.e. Mushrooms, Zoas, Palys, Leathers, Colts, frogspawn, torch, hammer, candy canes, acans etc. They can adjust to a system that has more *Nutrients* = Organics/Waste. Eventually the buildup of organics in your system will catch up with you and you would need to do a WC or worst case scenerio tank crash. Softies/LPS can start to close up and start to *Thin/Skinny/Shrink* and die off. Even though u replenish with trace elements the organics are still in your system *Live Rock gets clogged and become less porous/filtration as time passes by* That is why I siphon as much debris/free floating organics off rocks and sandbed, unless your bare bottom. Also with nutrient/organic buildup you'll most likely be battling cyano/diatoms all the time.
Also by keeping your water clean and low nutrient *less free floating on your water column* you'll get better light penetration which in turn "feeds" your corals and retain better colors.
I'm not one to use scientific terms and words to sound smart and cut and paste what I see on the net. I just do what I believe is the best practice.
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so does a hollow PVC with magnets
I'll add one more to that, dont drink & drive or drink while driving. I do neither :beerchug:
nelsonmarine
Senior Member
So say I don't have many calcium-needy corals, can I get away with no longer doing my tri-weekly water changes? Maybe do it every 2 months instead? I always check my nutrient levels before my WC's and they always read low or undetected (eg. no ammonia or nitrates, low phosphates).
I hate doing WC's and I need to find an excuse not to have to do it, while having some sense of assurance that my corals will be okay.
I hate doing WC's and I need to find an excuse not to have to do it, while having some sense of assurance that my corals will be okay.
Over the past 20 years in the hobby I had two "periods" where I lost all interest in the hobby. One was 7 years ago while building my current house, and the other was from about a year and a half ago until 4 months ago. I am just coming out of it.
Both times I slowly let the tank go and both times I did not do water changes for nearly a year. This last time was after acro bugs decimated my tank and I was so disgusted I did not do a water change for a almost a year.
I did have a 75 gallon refugium full of chaeto that I would cut out 5 gallons worth of chaeto a month. Other than that, didn't even scrape the glass. Everything lived including SPS and all of my fish thrived.
Even having that experience I now do 20% water changes every Sunday after church. It is a routine that I quite enjoy. Everything is automated to it is just a matter of plugging in a couple pumps. I also clean my skimmer cup, algae scrub my glass, and just generally check everything over. Takes about an hour of leisurely work.
I guess my point is there are 1000 ways to skin the cat, do what works best for you and gives you the results you are looking for.
I have found that buying 200g worth of salt for 39.99 shipped that is 20 cents a gallon in salt. 30 gallon water change costs $6.00. I do not have to worry about dosing trace elements. Heck, I probably wouldn't have to dose 2 part for that matter but I do. My PH stays consistent and I can feed heavy and not have to worry about algae blooms.
This works well for me and I find that it is an inexpensive way to maintain my reef. Maybe overkill but it is also great piece of mind.
Both times I slowly let the tank go and both times I did not do water changes for nearly a year. This last time was after acro bugs decimated my tank and I was so disgusted I did not do a water change for a almost a year.
I did have a 75 gallon refugium full of chaeto that I would cut out 5 gallons worth of chaeto a month. Other than that, didn't even scrape the glass. Everything lived including SPS and all of my fish thrived.
Even having that experience I now do 20% water changes every Sunday after church. It is a routine that I quite enjoy. Everything is automated to it is just a matter of plugging in a couple pumps. I also clean my skimmer cup, algae scrub my glass, and just generally check everything over. Takes about an hour of leisurely work.
I guess my point is there are 1000 ways to skin the cat, do what works best for you and gives you the results you are looking for.
I have found that buying 200g worth of salt for 39.99 shipped that is 20 cents a gallon in salt. 30 gallon water change costs $6.00. I do not have to worry about dosing trace elements. Heck, I probably wouldn't have to dose 2 part for that matter but I do. My PH stays consistent and I can feed heavy and not have to worry about algae blooms.
This works well for me and I find that it is an inexpensive way to maintain my reef. Maybe overkill but it is also great piece of mind.
Good point Adam G; your clear mention of the refugium stands out! I guess a DSB/RDSB would help too.
Like you I went without water changes for a while as I just had other priorities; nothing died or lost color.. but then I never aimed for that specific baby hot pink color with a twist of lime green.
I guess we need to add lights to the equation for color :micro:
Disclaimer: There is no intent in this or other posts to suggest that WC or the lack of it is good for your tank. Just offering a counter view from experience. I still do water changes every 2-3 weeks when possible largely for the clarity and to get rid of the ocean odor.
Like you I went without water changes for a while as I just had other priorities; nothing died or lost color.. but then I never aimed for that specific baby hot pink color with a twist of lime green.
I guess we need to add lights to the equation for color :micro:
Disclaimer: There is no intent in this or other posts to suggest that WC or the lack of it is good for your tank. Just offering a counter view from experience. I still do water changes every 2-3 weeks when possible largely for the clarity and to get rid of the ocean odor.
Stoneyj33
Senior Member
I had my best luck in sps with as much natural filtration as possible. It was a 75 gallon tank with 125 gallons of sump, full with different types of macro algea, live rock, sponges and scallops, and a huge skimmer. All of which where in separate tanks. Long story short I realized I was just minimizing the spikes with this effort which gave me better results. The same theory exists with frequent water changes, the more frequently (to a degree) you change water the more consistent your tank. In other words, You never let the parameters become to low or get out of hand.
The route of my 75 allowed my life to vary and become lazy with the tank without seeing the impacts. My recent 57 was the opposite and crashed (once to power) the other because I became lazy on the tank. The tank wasn't set up to handle it on it's own for periods of time.
Long story short you can be successful without wc, but make sure your system is setup to handle the peaks and valleys it will go through.
The route of my 75 allowed my life to vary and become lazy with the tank without seeing the impacts. My recent 57 was the opposite and crashed (once to power) the other because I became lazy on the tank. The tank wasn't set up to handle it on it's own for periods of time.
Long story short you can be successful without wc, but make sure your system is setup to handle the peaks and valleys it will go through.
I decided to be a guinea pig and try this. It's been a week and no noticable difference in Nitrates or phosphates. Nobody died so far. At least I only wasted $40 I'll post back here if I ever see any difference.
I'll post back here if I ever see any difference.