Just a question

dmill15

dmill15

Member
O.K. lets see how many diffrent opinions I get here....
How often do you guys do water changes?
I have had my tank set up since the beginning of Jan of this year and I have only done 1 five gal change. I add cal.,Iodine,and myo.and stronium suppliments. My corraline growth has been great. I have not lost ONE fish or snail or shrimp. NOTHING! My corals have all doubled in size also. Am i just lucky or do the suppliments really work that well. I have successfully kept freshwater for most of my 31 years and almost never do a water change in those.
My first attempt at sw was about 4 yrs ago and was not a very good one. I did everything right 10% water change weekly kept levels right but the tank crashed frequently. That is why I am skeptical of water changes this time.
ANY opinion is greatly apprecieated.
Dave
 
joerdie

joerdie

Member
with my 150g i have been doing a 10 gallon water change every sat. my reasions are just because i want all of the "not thought of" elements to be replenished. i dose calkwaser, iodine, and betta blocks. this probably takes care of everything anyway but i just got in the habbit and now i cant stop!!!!:p
 
slick

slick

Active Member
I say stick with waht works for you. If your doing fine now why would you want to change anything?
One question though. Do you monitor all the levels of the stuff you add?
 
E

elan

Guest
got a question about you guys dosing iodine... I really dont need to do any waterchanges due to nitrates, but i havent successfully tested for iodine and am hesitant to add it without knowing how much is in my tank.. that is why i am planning on doing a small waterchange once a month in order to replenish any trace elements.....
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
as long as our levels are good I don't worry about wc. this summer (if i'm not in school and working) i'd like to do a wc on both tanks, but that's just so I feel better. I like to do a wc before something goes wrong though, not just after to fix the problem.
Some people never do them, some do them
 
islandgirl

islandgirl

Member
I've been doing 15% water changes for the past 2 weeks due to high nitrates (20ppm). Once my tank is settled...I'll probably do 5% weekly water changes. I do check my water parameters religiously and that will really determine if I need to either cut back to every other week. Like slick said, do what works best for you. Eventually you will know when to do your water changes and how often.
 
dmill15

dmill15

Member
By monitoring what I dose do you mean do I test the water for the elements? I don't have a stronium or Iodine test kit. I just dose about 1/2 the recommended dose on the bottle. I dose calcium fully. My cal stays around 450.
I was just wondering if anyone else here does not do water changes very often. I know that most people do them religously. But I don't see the need if everything is doing well. I am gonna do a small one this weekend because I have to move my tank to another stand. And since I will remove most of the water anyway I will add some new water.
Thanks for the replies. Keep them coming I would like to see more opinions.
Peace,
Dave
 
azeritis

azeritis

Member
A few years ago in my first set up I used to do a 30% water change monthly. In the current set up I change around 10 gallons each week and there is a tremendous difference in my tank. I clean pre-filter pads weekly, I scoop things from my sump weekly.
I am not an expert but I have come to realize that it is far better to do small changes frequently rather than major ones once a month. The equilibrium of the system is not disturbed that much with small frequent changes.
However, I must aggree that you stick to what works for you. In addition different set ups have different needs. I must maintain this schedule since I have these triggers in there.
 
azeritis

azeritis

Member
In addition, it is something that I enjoy doing. I see it sort of like people cleaning their cars on weekends. It looks like a dull and boring thing to do but they are happy when they are done.
 
brinkdrum

brinkdrum

Member
I do about 20% once a month. Right now i'm getting over a cyno bloom and some hair algae doing 10% with RO once a week just until my algae settles down. Starting to look great though!
 
justinx

justinx

Active Member
5% on a weekly basis, which is a change from never. The difference is dramatic in water quality.
Secondly, you should never dose anything that you dont test for.
Third, why waste your money on additives other than calc and alk, when doing regular water chages with a quality salt replenishes all the trace elements your tank needs. MUCH cheaper IMO.
 
slick

slick

Active Member

Originally posted by dmill15
By monitoring what I dose do you mean do I test the water for the elements? I don't have a stronium or Iodine test kit. I just dose about 1/2 the recommended dose on the bottle. I dose calcium fully.
That is exactly what I mean. How do you know all the additives your adding are being used up buy stuff in your tank? You can overdose on these things and that will cause harm to your tank.
 
foulbrew

foulbrew

Member
I wouldn't think 4 months is enough time to validate what Daves doing. I do regular water changes every two weeks, 10%. I consider it buffer against any mistakes I unknowingly make. I do not know and cannot measure most of the elements that make up the water and regular water changes insure me against my parameters getting to far out of line.
Looking at Dave's bio I will be very suprised if he can maintain his nitrate readings let alone water elements without water changes long-term. A full grown tang in a 50 gal tank will generate alot of waste, more than his tank can process efficiently.
 
justchillin

justchillin

Member
i hardly ever do them in mine...personally i think newer tanks should definatly do water changes regularly. same goes if there are problems in the tank...but with mine my readings have been perfect for years, i've got caulpera and pods out the a** and no deaths or disease so i figure if it ain't broke...
 
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