Water evaperation

Nope.  The crud that is in the water that you want to replace with a water change is still in there.

not o mention, the other part of a water change is to replenish nutrients.

Small percentage weekly, 5 to 10%, and then once a month larger, 15% to 25%.  Thats the range from all the sites and books I have read.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparty059 

How often do you have to do a water change? Would once a month work fine?

I do about 15% every other week in all my  tanks....except the 10G...LOL....I change 10-15% weekly....cause I make water one week for the 29G and the 54G...and the next week forthe 225G...so I steal 1.5gs for the little tank

It is important to top off with fresh water daily, water evaporates, salt does not, so through evaporation your SG will raise.  Topping off daily avoids alot of swings in your SG and provides stability.

I recommend weekly water changes, I try to change 10% but if in a rush, have only changed 5%.  If you are doing weekly changes, you don't need to do a larger monthly change.  I think most likely the books are offering you an either/or, either 10% weekly or a 25% monthly.  I suggest weekly, also for stabilty.

The only time I would do more frequent or larger changes would be if I had something going on with the tank.  For examply recently, I took in a dying nem to try and save it and instead it died.  I was changing 5% each day for several days to stay on top of the spikes caused by the death.  When my water stabilized, I went back to normal weekly changes.

Oy, this water changing stuff sounds like it's going to be a task.

Or go lazy like me and never do one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdc 

Or go lazy like me and never do one.

LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdc 

Or go lazy like me and never do one.

If you have a REALLY good clean up crew can't you get away with once a month water changes?  And also doesn't it depend on the stock of your tank?  If I have only 5 fish to start out in a 125g can't I go anywhere from 1-2 months without really having to do a big water change on it?

You dont need to do it weekly you can do it monthly its just a bigger water change but just as effective

I only have 5 fish in a 120 and mostly coral.  I don't overfeed and I monitor my parameters all the time.  I do have a heavy clean up crew also.  I won't advise people not to do water changes but this is what I am doing.  Some folks may say it will crash one day but that has already happened to me once when I was doing bo-weekly water changes.  Go figure.

Ok, that sounds a little bit better... I can do with monthly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdc 

I only have 5 fish in a 120 and mostly coral.  I don't overfeed and I monitor my parameters all the time.  I do have a heavy clean up crew also.  I won't advise people not to do water changes but this is what I am doing.  Some folks may say it will crash one day but that has already happened to me once when I was doing bo-weekly water changes.  Go figure.

That sounds even better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparty059 

Ok, that sounds a little bit better... I can do with monthly.

Sparty.....Sparty....Sparty

tsk tsk....already looking for short cuts...LOL

Keep in mind that one large purpose of a water change is to replenish essential elements that get lost.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by meowzer 

Sparty.....Sparty....Sparty

 

tsk tsk....already looking for short cuts...LOL

 

Keep in mind that one large purpose of a water change is to replenish essential elements that get lost.....

Oy vey... I knew you were gonig to chime in!  Fiiine, I can work on doing bi-weekly.

I do 10% a week.

makes it super easy becuase you don't have to move large amounts of water. it takes less than 10 minutes a week, done deal. not only that but when you do small frequent water changes you don't even have to heat the water. if you have a 100g tank and you take out 10 gallons and add back in 10 gallons of 60 degree water my heater doesnt even come on. less electricity by not having to eha tthe water. allthough the powerhead runs longer that I use for saltwater circulation in the tub.

If you can't handle 10 - 20 mins of maintenance a week you might look for another hobby

Well mine is a 125 gallon, and my RO/DI is a 75GPD... so I'll be getting about 3 gallons per hour and if I do 10% every week I'll be looking at a 4 hour's a week for making water... that is... unless I do what meowzer does and just have spare water on the side... which might be the better idea, so I'll probably start working towards doing that and just keeping an extra bucket in the basement and lugging 13 gallons up the stairs once a week

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparty059 

Well mine is a 125 gallon, and my RO/DI is a 75GPD... so I'll be getting about 3 gallons per hour and if I do 10% every week I'll be looking at a 4 hour's a week for making water... that is... unless I do what meowzer does and just have spare water on the side... which might be the better idea, so I'll probably start working towards doing that and just keeping an extra bucket in the basement and lugging 13 gallons up the stairs once a week

IMO...You should always have some spare water on the side for daily top offs...