Water Changes...In a 250 gallon Tank??

[weatherman]

I have a huge, and beautiful, 250 gallon reef tank with several Tangs in it. I have a refugium and a chiller....the whole package sort of speek.
But, anyway, I would like to have any suggestions on HOW MUCH WATER TO CHANGE per week, or every 2 weeks. 20 gallons a week? 30? 40 gallons every 2 weeks? Is it better to make a change every 2 weeks, say 40 gallons, or every week, say 20 gallons? Just curious what other people are doing....
Thanks for any comments.

 

[shista]

i wud do like 40-50 gallons everry 2 to 3 weeks

 

[tangwhispr]

I rarely do water changes in my 240, but I have a very light bio-load. I do maybe 30 gallons a year. I test about 4 times a year, and re calibrate my monitoring equipment. My biggest problem is with all my coral i deplete nutrients, so I have to add mag / calcium via reactor / Iodine / Etc...

 

[weatherman]

Thanks for the information. I have always heard that its 'best' to make changes every week instead of every 2 works. Its not as hard on your animals and won't 'shock' them (perhaps) as with doing a LARGE water change at one time.
But I don't know if it really makes a difference or not.

 

[ifirefight]

I have a 130, with small bio-load....I do 10-20 gallons every other month or 3. A large tank like this with a small load does not need huge volumes of water changed regularly.

 

[isaac]

Hi there.
I have a 125 gal havey reef tank. I DO WATER CHANGE 10% EVERY WEEK. A MUST.
the only think that will happen to your tank is good. Do top of with fresh RO mixed with osmo and every week 10% water change. Once a month I do 25% water chnge.
Good luck.

 

[weatherman]

Thanks, Issac, I was thinking about doing about 20 gallons a week. Even though I have a 250 gallon tank, it is flooded with live rock and beautiful corals. I have to believe there's, at the most, 200 gallons of water in the tank. 20 gallons a week would be about a 10% water change.

 

[tangwhispr]

Originally Posted by Isaac
Hi there.
I have a 125 gal havey reef tank. I DO WATER CHANGE 10% EVERY WEEK. A MUST.
the only think that will happen to your tank is good. Do top of with fresh RO mixed with osmo and every week 10% water change. Once a month I do 25% water chnge.
Good luck.

I do sorta agree, but I think that if you have proper tank inhabitants, biological filtration and can test properly, that frequent watter changes aren't always needed.

 

[ifirefight]

Originally Posted by TangWhispr
I do sorta agree, but I think that if you have proper tank inhabitants, biological filtration and can test properly, that frequent watter changes aren't always needed.
Agreed.

That being said... I dont see any harm in doing more frequent water changes....might not be necessary though.

 

[jrthomas40]

well if it was me and i had a light bioload as you do...i would probably do about 20-30 gallons ever 2-3 weeks...i do about 20 gallons in my 90 every 2 weeks...even before the crash

 

[weatherman]

Yea. I test quite frequently and am a little 'obsessed' at doing this. I think its become a habit..........but I guess not a bad one to get into to. I can tell you one thing though, the inhabitants seem very happy....AND HEALTHY TOO!

 

[jrthomas40]

well that is good....if it is working for you keep it going....i thought i was having good habits but apparently i wasnt because my tank crashed...lol

 

[tangwhispr]

The key is to make sure you are using a good test kit, and testing and reading the results properly. I test via my electronic monitoring devices, and they are very accurate, but only accurate if calibrated properly.

 

[puffer32]

I have a 150 and use to do 30 gal every 2 weeks, but found if i do a 15 or 20 weekly my water stays more stable and i have to add less additives.

 

[ninjamini]

Water changes do 2 things.
Remove excess nutrients like nitrate and phosphate
also
replace nutrients that are consumed from the water.
I like to do 10% every week to every other week. Let your testing be your guide. Where is your nitrates and phosphates. Both should be 0. They wont be but thats the number to go for. That said nitrates at 10 ppm or less phosphates at .1ppm or less. More than that and your going to have an issue with hair and/or bubble algae.