no need for water changes

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dshin1

Guest
I’ve been experimenting with my 55 gal tank and not doing any water changes, just filling it up with r/o water as it evaporates and it’s been over a year and it seems to be doing well. I have lots of live rock and good water movement and a fluval 404 and a hang on protein skimmer. Why are we told to do so many water changes? I have corals, clams and even anenomes. I’ve cut my monthly cost dramatically. So please why r we told to do so many non essential money wasting tasks?
 
teen

teen

Active Member
Originally Posted by ifirefight
Post your water parameters...That will answer your own question.
not neccessarily. he can not do water changes and still keep perfect water parameters.
i bet if he sent his water into a lab though, most trace elements would be next to non-existent.
and i think hes using the word "experiment" in place of "being lazy".
 
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dshin1

Guest
my water param is not perfect but my corals, clams and anenomes are doing great. and for trace elements i use this water dispenser that is suppose to put the trace elements back. the water drips though all the different elements and gathers in a dispenser.
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
it really depends on what corals u r keeping. if u keeping just 3-4 softies or zoos, then its quite possible. personally, i like to chng water to keep things fresh for the livestocks. all i can say is u hv nice ecosystem going.
 
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dshin1

Guest
teen
there is no need to get hostile. i'm posting this because if it worked for me it might work for others and save some money. and i have another 120 gal that i change water with for your info
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
its good to know that in some cases, no water chng is possible to maintain a reef tank. we r all here to learn and exchng info here.
 
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dshin1

Guest
i read about it in a German mag on a plane. i don't keep any hard corals in there now but later on this week I'm gonna put an acropora in there and see how it goes.
 
7

75bownut

Guest
First Id like to ask how long have you gone without a waterchange?
Second Id like to say that It maybe true you can do this, but I have yet to see any tank last longer than 2 years without a waterchange.
IMO waterchanges are the single most important thing anyone can do, when considering how much money you have invested in everything including all your livestock, your telling me you can't afford to due waterchanges?
Sorry but I just disagree,
 
jonthefishguy

jonthefishguy

Active Member
Actually I have been doing no water changes in my system since it has been set up. I take that back. I took 10 gallons total out because I was sucking up small debris that had fallen loose from the live rock. I feed very heavily and my parimeters are perfect. I should mention that the filteration system consists of 15 mangroves and a deep refugium and of course skimming. Additives are constantly added to keep up with the demand. It is possible but if you dont have all the equipment and product at hand to make this possible, it isnt wise. I recommend everyone do a water change. I dont follow because I have all the means necessary to correct a problem should one arise. Here are my parimeters Nitrates 0, nitrites 0, ammonia 0, ph 8.6, calcium 450. Additives magnesium, iodine,iron.calcium reactor as well as kalkwasser. I would also like to note that I have set up other tanks that I had sold that were running for more than two years and never had issues doing the same thing.
 
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dshin1

Guest
i have the pvc pipe (holes drilled in it) hooked up to a pump so the food won't settle on the floor.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Actually, you are doing water changes. Just very small ones. When ever you clean you canister filter, you remove some water. Also, your skimmer removes some whenever it skims. You can go a long way like that. If your system is set up well, you can keep pretty good chemistry. However, I would recomend every now and then doing a large water change. I just did about a 25 gl. change on my 65. About 1/3 total volume. I do this about every 6 mo.s on this tank. Also I'm intentailly not very careful about wasting water on my maintenance. Just realize, if your tank suddenly crashes for some unexplained reason, you wont be able to rule out not doing water changes as the cause. Not that you necessarilly will be able to conclude that it was the cause, but wont be able to rule out that it was.
 
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dshin1

Guest
this was an experiment on my 55 gal. i do water changes with my 120 every week and a half. its been just over a year and i'll do a 20% water change pretty soon. i thought this was interesting and wanted to let people know that water changes don't have to be done every week as i was told.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
So ...complete the experiment and start doing weekly water changes on it. Then see if you notice a difference. I bet you will. I know everything seems to do better just after doing a change. The diatoms surely arent as prevelant.
 
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dshin1

Guest
i'm gonna move some of my live stock to a 20 gal tank and do water changes in the 20 and compare over the coming year. i fraged my button polyp and compare their growth.
 
triga22

triga22

Active Member
Think, the ocean is a very very large body of water so a small change isnt going to affect anything becuase of the large massive amount of water in it. But your tank is just a teardrop compared to the ocean. One little thing wrong and the whole thing is finished.Like with water changes its just a way of replenishing the old dirty water with new healthy water that our tanks dont get. What Im trying to say is that waterchanges keep phosphates and other bad elements on the dl. Becuase our tanks are so small this is how we replenish everything. The ocean is so large that a problem isnt going to affect it.
 
jonthefishguy

jonthefishguy

Active Member
Originally Posted by ViPeR_930
Do you assume your tank is doing better now without water changes than it would with water changes?
I would say without water changes and doing what it is I am doing, I am quite happy with the result considering I have had substantial growth in everything I have put in there.


 
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