Water Changes

slowest is fastest

slowest is fastest

Member
Just to clarify...
The only tank I do not do water changes in is the 29 gallon. In all my other tanks I do them and nitrates are undectectable.
but he did admit that it could be done.

Yes it could be done by why?? Bottom line is your tank will be healthier with water changes.
Yes it can be done but ReefNut got my point...WHY?
But scooping out water and then pouring in new while your fish duck for cover in the blowing wind is not necessarily what I'd call a peaceful day.
Storms in the ocean cause far more damage and stress than any partial water change could.
SLY...
I think you may be taking this discussion to personally. It is nice to be passionate about a postion but keep an open mind. We all have things to learn and share thats why we are here. I think water changes are very benificial. To keep a tank without them is possible but not IMO optimal. Your tank your decision.
SiF
 
sly

sly

Active Member
What's going on?? All of a sudden the pic of my tank is gone and it's being replaced by the pic of the corraline and my fish "Gra" :notsure:
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member

Originally posted by Sly
I would recommend as few water changes as possible so that you do not disturb your tank. Water changes stress the fish. Do regular water tests and watch for a rise in ammonia, nitrite and especially nitrate. If your ammonia levels are high and won't come down, you probably have either not enough filtering, or too many fish, take your pick. If your Nitrite levels are too high, same thing.
One of the hardest things to remove from the aquarium is nitrate. Unless you have a system that is designed to remove nitrates, it will just accumulate because it is the last step in the nitrogen cycle.
Monitor your nitrate levels, when they get to a level that's higher than you want, then do a water change. This effectively removes the nitrate, cleaning the system and preparing it for the next rise in nitrate.
So in other words, let your nitrate levels be the judge of when you need to do a water change.
I personally don't do water changes, but I have a system that removes nitrates. I may change out some water once every year or so without any problems.
Sly you did state that water changes do stress fish
 
sly

sly

Active Member

Originally posted by acrylic51
Sly you did state that water changes do stress fish
Yes I did and I still say that. But I replied by saying
I didn't say that you would stress your fish and kill them by doing a water change
I see now how that wording came across. What I was trying to say in my response is that I don't believe that doing a water change wlil necessarily instantly kill your fish, but that disturbing the tank still stresses the fish, even if it's not enough to kill them.
What I should have said is that "I didn't say that you would stress your fish to the point of killing them by doing a water change."
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
For anyone following this post......
Don't worry about stressing the fish by doing a water change. Having an unhealthy tank will be much more stressful. Match the tank's salinity, temp, aerate the new water for 24 hours and THEY WILL BE FINE.
I picked up the method I mentioned above because it's the easiest way for me... what ever is easy for you, do it. It's nonsense to justify not doing water changes because of this.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Stressing fish is not why I don't do water changes. I just added that point because it is true even if the stress caused is insignificant. I don't do water changes because I don't have to. I could explain the setup I have again but most likely it would just start another war of posts by people telling me that it can't be done and an admin. will just lock it again.
I will say that for most people, you should do water changes. But IMO, you shouldn't do anymore than is necessary. I think doing one every week is drastic overkill unless your filter is THAT undersized for your tank. The general rule for a waterchange every 2 weeks is similar to the general rule that says "only 2 inches of fish per gallon". Tanks vary, filters vary and fishkeeper's dedication to maintenance varies. So do water changes according to what YOUR tank needs. If it doesn't need it every 2 weeks, then why do it? Only do what is necessary to keep your tank healthy. Too often, people over do it and not only stress their fish, but waste more money and increase the chances that they will make a mistake and kill everything.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Yes. I used to do water changes every 2 weeks when I first started. I always had high nitrates and the water changes would keep them under control. When I fixed my crushed coral setup, added a big skimmer and a refugium with more living rock, my parameters stabilized. I reduced the water changes gradually until I noticed that there was no adverse effect from me ending them. I haven't done a water change in over a year and my amon, nitrite, nitrate, etc. are all 0. My calc, alk and SG readings are good also.
I wouldn't have quit doing water changes if I still needed to. It's just that the tank is easily handeling my bioload and none of the inverts are suffering but are actually growing. All this and I have no nussiance algae in the tank either. :joy:
[edit] I still do water changes on my 10 gal tank. It's filter system is not good enough to keep everything under control and so I change the water every 2 weeks on it because it needs it.
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
IMO In mature systems water changes are not done to lower or maintain ammonia and nitrates. Nitrates and ammonia are easily maintained in a well set up matured system. I don't even test for nitrates any more... it's waste of time because they are always non-detectable. PO4s is they same story. They are very useful in young systems for maintaining nitrates though!!
Water changes are done to remove heavy metals, chemicals, and other pollutants we can not test for. One year... Two years... how long before these elements buildup?? who knows. Five years seems to be the mile stone... after five years then success can be declared.
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
I have read that also the older your tank gets the less amount of water you have to change. It gets down to like 5% when your tank is as far is it is gonna mature.
 
skrimpz

skrimpz

Member
Think about if you had to live in a room say the size of your bedroom for a month. At the end of the month after eating, drinking, and defecating (i.e. w/o a bathroom) in that same room for a month it would be pretty gross. Even if you had a good compost pile in that room for your waste that would take the role of a clean up crew wouldn’t you think that if you have to live in that room that you would want to clean it out completely every once in a while. That the theory that some one once gave me I know that they worded it a lot better but sorry I am not the greatest at writing.
But I do understand with Sly I mean on my freshwater tank, which I know doesn’t require as much attention I haven’t done a water change since I have had it up since last summer
:happyfish :happyfish :happyfish :happyfish
 
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