How Often/How Much do you change Water?

[al mc]

In a well established reef tank with 'happy fish and inverts'...good water parameters...nitrogen cycle, calcium, magnesium, pH, alk, and S.G do you change water and how much?

I know that there are other trace elements that dissipate, but does anyone go months without water changes if everything tests OK and all 'looks good'?

 

[zeroc]

not in a reef with corals. when i had fish only i'd go a month or two and do 25% changes but now with my reef i do 10 to 15% every week.

 

[nycbob]

i change 10-15% weekly and its a reef.

 

[kingfish8302]

Originally Posted by nycbob
i change 10-15% weekly.
dido since i have a reef tank.

 

[trippkid]

I change 20 gal./week in my 120 reef, religiously.

Matt

 

[al mc]

And do you all change water because some of your tested for parameters indicate you need to or just because it is what you do or what you have heard to do. Not being a jek, just want to know the reasoning? Thanks

 

[petjunkie]

I do weekly large 15-20% water changes, mainly because it's the only time I will bother to mess with the tank, if I didn't do it weekly I would never clean, test, feed or anything. I'm lazy. Also because I have all lps, mushrooms and leathers so I worry about chemical warfare but don't run carbon, I figure the water changes will take some of it out.

 

[flricordia]

i have gotten to changing when the corals are looking like they are pooping out a little, usually every week to week and half. then they perk right up again. mostly ricordias so have gotten kind of used to the signs they give concerning water param.

 

[nycbob]

water change is important, bc it replenishes whatever trace elements that might hv been used up by corals and inverts.

 

[al mc]

Nycbob..Again, just a question. I am not disputing your notion....what trace elements? Can I/or we as hobbyist test for them and supplement. I have a shelf full or iodine, Magnesium, Calcium, Strontium supplements that I add according to the bottle directions. But do I need them?
I was doing tremendous amount of water changing, mostly to control something I could test for..nitrates...but once I added large sump/reugiums. emote deep sand beds and chaeto/mangrove plants all the nitrogen cycle parameters are great. So do I need to do water changes on a consistent basis? Is there something I should/can test for (the science way) that would be a good indicator that my water is 'stale'? Or do I do as Flricordia indicates (the visual /gut feeling way) and just change water when it appears that I need to based on knowledge of the inhabitant of the tank? I really don't know..just asking all the reefers

 

[candycane]

I do 30-40% weekly, bi-weekly water changes and somewhere around 75-80% quarterly water changes. This could easily throw a tank into a new cycle though, I just have never had it happen. The way that I look at it, is that I don't know if it is good or bad to have a bunch of carbonates sitting in your sand bed. I feel that you start with about 420ppm of calcium, and are really only introducing 10% of that back to the tank if you do 10% weekly water changes- unless you are using additives.

 

[nycbob]

i personally dont dose supplements. my levels r good w regular water change. i just feel if it aint broke, dont fix it.

 

[m0nk]

I change out 10-15% weekly because over all the time that things have been running, this is the most successful schedule for my setup, and I don't dose so all trace elements are added by the water changes. I think the water changes should be based on what works in your tank, not someone else's. You can test for calcium, iodine, magnesium, alkalinity, pH, strontium, etc, and you'll know what works out best for you. The test kits will tell you how to read your results, tell what's acceptable, and over time, with varying your schedule and testing each step of the way, you'll figure out what works best on your tank. Of course, you could just dose or change water until you see a visual result, but testing seems a good way to be sure you've got it all accurate; especially since you don't really want to see calcium/iodine get too high.

 

[topfins-mj]

Water changes are based on your bio-load and ensures consistency in your parameters and trace elements. Some find it that a weekly water change benefits the corals more, and some like it every two weeks etc.
I did an experiment and did not change my water for 3 weeks and noticed that my ricordias shrank a little and my brian coral started to poop more.
I inmediately did a 25% water change, and within 24 hours, things started to spruce up.
The more frequent the water change of course the more salt you use.
If you keep a pretty healthy environment by not overfeeding, you can say a two weeks time is good for water changes.

 

[ksujason]

I do a 10% change every month, and that seems to work fine for me. I only have 6 fish and a large group of mushrooms in a 75 gallon tank. I also have 150 pounds of live rock.

 

[shark bait]

I have a huge tank, and a 10% 30 gal or so is to hard, and after 10 gal the over flow stops. So at best i do 10-15% a month change, and add 5 gal a week with salt for evap. I was doing a dose with a top off but it needs to be mixed up so I just hand dose any trace or iodine. I test, ad, and re test in 24 hours. just to hard with my tank to do a water change like that. Plus I have an over kill sump and it is broken in a long time now and this works for the tank.
My brain is the best at telling me if i need to do work in the tank, my clams and BTA,s never tend to change much as temp and ph are controled to a T.
JUST find out what keeps your levels the same and do what works.

 

[drtito]

I live in the extrem southwest and I lose a 1/2 inch of water a day from the dry air and heat even in the winter. How will removing water help me if it keeps evaperating? Sould I still change my water?

 

[addicted2]

10 to 15% every week..once in awhile I skip a week..but not often..

 

[jrthomas40]

i do about 15% bi weekly...but that is only to clean up the sand bed cuz i dont have snails or another sand sifter yet and i may not have enough hermits...so i do it to stir up the sand bed and remove whatever i stir up

 

[dennis210]

210 gal reef running two years, zero ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I perform a 20 to 25 gallon water change monthly. Additions of kents turbo calcium, super buffer, and Reef Complete weekly. Once consumption rate was figured out things got much easier.