substitute water changes?

[seahorsecu]

I have a second tank that will soon hold seahorses!

Although, the nitrite level is a little high. Now don't get me wrong I'm not lazy, but I was wondering if I could just get nitrite lowering animals like seaweed or a cleaner clam instead of constantly changing my water. Any suggestions?

 

[sagxman]

I assume you mean nitrates? Chaeto and clams will help reduce trates, but keep in mind that by doing water changes, you are also adding depleted nutrients back into your tank. I wouldn't stop doing water changes altogether. You might be able to get away with being a bit more "lazy" though. I know others have done it succesfully.

 

[rustyj]

Originally Posted by SaGxMAN
I assume you mean nitrates? Chaeto and clams will help reduce trates, but keep in mind that by doing water changes, you are also adding depleted nutrients back into your tank. I wouldn't stop doing water changes altogether. You might be able to get away with being a bit more "lazy" though. I know others have done it succesfully.

I agree but nitrates arent the only problem, you have to beware of phosphates and maintain your PH which the water changes do. I am not sure how ofter you change your water but you should consider a making a batch that you can use for a week and just make small water changes every couple of days, that way it is easy and doesnt take up too much time and you can spread the work load over the full week instead of spending an hour doing one on the weekend. The recomended amount is 1% per day. Thats only a half gallon a day for a 55gal tank. You will find that if you do more frequent smaller water changes you will avoid ALOT of other major problems that come with larger fluctuations in nitrate phosphate and PH levels.

 

[my way]

My opinion is, there is absolutely no substitute for water changes. If there were, the majority of people would not waste their time doing them. If you polled 100 people who are dedicated and have successful tanks with good, (not Acceptable, but good) water parameters, I bet less than 1% would say water changes are overated.

 

[cjml]

There is no substitute for water changes.Imho.. Frequency really depends on the type of tank you have-how many inhabitants--how much you feed etc...We have a 150sw with a fair amount of fish-feed daily-we do changes at least every two weeks 10-15%-ro/di water-seems to be good for our tank.
ML

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by Seahorsecu
I have a second tank that will soon hold seahorses!

Although, the nitrite level is a little high. Now don't get me wrong I'm not lazy, but I was wondering if I could just get nitrite lowering animals like seaweed or a cleaner clam instead of constantly changing my water. Any suggestions?
I agree with what the others are saying. How high are your nitrates, and how often do you do water changes? It is possible that we can reduce the number of water changes if they are unusually frequent, but watching feeding, adding macroalgae, etc.
But otherwise?
Water changes

 

[cjml]

You do not want any nitrites or ammonia--deadly to fish....
ML