water change or topping off?

[joe123]

My question is if I am constantly adding water to top off my tank(75g and use about 5-10 gallons a week roughly) then Do I need to still do a water change or is this suffecient. after time goes by I add new saltwater about every other water change but i never really take water out and everything seems to be fine but I want to be sure wether this is the right way or wrong way and why?

 

[viper_930]

You still need to top off with freshwater.
If you only add saltwater the SG will continue to get higher and higher.

 

[joe123]

what I am asking is if I moniitor the SG and have to add freshwater all the time and saltwater every other time do I need to do a partial water change? and do I need to remove some established water and put in new saltwater along with fresh ro/di water? what are the pro's and con's?

 

[viper_930]

Oh I see what you're saying now.
You should be adding freshwater daily to make up for evaporation water.
Then every week or every other week you should be doing a water change which would include removing about 10-20% of the established water. This would help remove nitrates, phosphates, and other toxins. Then the new water added will replenish the needed elements and minerals used by the corals.

 

[the sherm]

Originally Posted by JOE123
what I am asking is if I moniitor the SG and have to add freshwater all the time and saltwater every other time do I need to do a partial water change? and do I need to remove some established water and put in new saltwater along with fresh ro/di water? what are the pro's and con's?
LISTEN BRO MAKE LIFE EASY AND BUILD YOUR SELF AN AUTOMATIC TOPP OFF SYSTEM CHECK MY OTHER POSTS ON HOW TO DO IT. ADD KALKWASSER TO THE TOPP OFF WATER ITS GREAT! KEEPS UR PH LEVEL UR SALT LEVEL AND YOU GET FAST COROLIN GROWTH

 

[crox]

Originally Posted by the sherm
LISTEN BRO MAKE LIFE EASY AND BUILD YOUR SELF AN AUTOMATIC TOPP OFF SYSTEM CHECK MY OTHER POSTS ON HOW TO DO IT. ADD KALKWASSER TO THE TOPP OFF WATER ITS GREAT! KEEPS UR PH LEVEL UR SALT LEVEL AND YOU GET FAST COROLIN GROWTH

I don't see the thread you are referring to!!!

 

[the sherm]

Get Yourself A Rubbermaid Bucket Or What Ever You Have Room For To Store The Topp Off Water In. The Bigger The Bucket The More Time You Have To Refill It. I Have A 10 Gallon Next To My Tank Above The Sump Because Its A Gravity Feed. I Refill It About Every 10 Days Or So The Salinity Stays Pretty Steady Plus Wen You Add Kalkwasser To The Topp Off Water Ph Doesn't Drop And You Get Great Purple Algae From It. So Plastic Bucket Drill A Hole 2 Inch's Frome The Bottom For A Shutt Off Valve. Get A Valve That Fits Vinal Tubing Because Rubber Tubing Doesn't Last Long. Get A Float Switch From Hardware Store Looks Like Small Toilet Float. You Will Need To Run The Tubing From The Bucket To The Sump. Drill Hole In The Sump For The Float Switch At The Level Height You Want Your Water To Stay In The Sump. Not Critical Float Can Be Bent For Higher Or Lower Water.use Silicone For Valves And Float Let Dry And Fill With Topp Off Water. Now When Your Water Evaporates The Float Will Go Down And The Bucket Will Let Out Water Untill The Float Comes Back Up And The Water Stops Coming Out Just Like A Toilet.so Your Topp Of Free For At Least A Week And Your Fish Will Love The Steady Salinity In The Tank. If You Don't Have A Reef Tank No Need To Add Kalkwasser Just Add Ph Builder

 

[rcbruce]

Your going to get alot of differing opinions on this as there are alot of ppl out there that refuse to do water changes.
IMO.....there are no shortcuts. Topping off is simply replacing what has evaporated, pure water. All the nitrates, phosphates, and bad stuff doesn't evaporate or just 'disappear'. The only way I to rid these things from the ecosystem is to manually remove them......ie.....water changes! Top off daily to keep salt levels, etc. stabilized, change to remove toxins.

I do a 15% change every 2 weeks. I tried all the 'new and improved(?)' ways I hear about, can't tell you what it has cost me in $ in dead fish and corals, plus pure aggrivation.

 

[joe123]

Originally Posted by RCBruce
Your going to get alot of differing opinions on this as there are alot of ppl out there that refuse to do water changes.
IMO.....there are no shortcuts. Topping off is simply replacing what has evaporated, pure water. All the nitrates, phosphates, and bad stuff doesn't evaporate or just 'disappear'. The only way I to rid these things from the ecosystem is to manually remove them......ie.....water changes! Top off daily to keep salt levels, etc. stabilized, change to remove toxins.

I do a 15% change every 2 weeks. I tried all the 'new and improved(?)' ways I hear about, can't tell you what it has cost me in $ in dead fish and corals, plus pure aggrivation.

makes sense if you have lets say a bucket of dirty water. you have to remove the dirty before you can have clean other wise your making mudd. sounds crazy but to me it makes sense. thanks. any one have a chiller for sale>

 

[hatessushi]

And of course there are other ways to remove nitrates and phosphates other then water changes. A phosphate reactor will remove phosphates and there are may ways to remove nitrates like using Chaetomorpha, Caulerpa and such.
The main reason I perform a water change every week is to replenish trace elements that the protein skimmer removes.