What was the longest you've gone without doing a water change?

[cskendrick]

Water changes, whats that. I never do water changes, of course i have fowlr, no corals, but my evaporation rate is high, probably add 3 gallons of water every other day, so thats probably make up for the water changes, i have a 90gal tank with sump running for over a year with no problems. I know a couple of people that doesnt do water changes and they have no problems with there tank neither.

 

[natclanwy]

I have gone as long as 5 months without a water change and I have a mixed reef mostly SPS though. My job has taken me away from home for several weeks at a time and makes it tough to keep on maintenance. I drip kalk to maintain calcium and alk but lately my magnesium has been falling, not sure if that is due to lack of water changes or the accelerated growth I have had since I started dripping kalk or a combination of the two. IMO water changes are beneficial but you do not need to be stressed about doing it every week if you miss a week no big deal. An optimal tank should be setup and maintained to be mostly self reliant where the only function the water change should have to be responsible for is the export of toxins and the replenishment of trace minerals.
Originally Posted by cskendrick
http:///forum/post/2998058
Water changes, whats that. I never do water changes, of course i have fowlr, no corals, but my evaporation rate is high, probably add 3 gallons of water every other day, so thats probably make up for the water changes, i have a 90gal tank with sump running for over a year with no problems. I know a couple of people that doesnt do water changes and they have no problems with there tank neither.
Topoff water doesn't make up for water changes, the function water changes performs is the export of heavy metals and other compounds and the replenishment of trace minerals that are consumed by your livestock. If your using tap water for water changes high evaporation rates can cause toxic materials to build up in your tank very rapidly depending on the water quality.
Originally Posted by NaClH2O Nut
http:///forum/post/2986407
That depends!

There was a post not to long ago about how we could not do them. Others swear by them. I have heard all the numbers 5%,10%,15%, 20%,25%,-50% done weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, etc...
I think it depends on your numbers, tank livestock. If you have a tank set up with no amm., trites, phosp and trates are under 5, calcium at 400 ish, alk @ 12ish, etc... WHY MESS with it. I know this may kick off a rock throwing contest, but if you don't need it why do it?
Yes beginners(like me), overstocked, under maintained will need it.
Read an article about the heavy metals that are in salt, These have no way out of our tanks once they are put in. So the more salt you add the more heavy metals in your part of the ocean.
My thoughts, I am going for a min. amount of water changes.
Help me.........

You will never increase the amount of metals in your tank beyond what is in the salt mix. The reason being you are exporting the same amount of salt and heavy metals as you are importing when you do water changes.

 

[nina&noah]

Okay, I'll play....
I had a tank in high school. When I graduated and went away to college, my mom inherited it, then my sister, then my mom again. Well none of us knew what we were doing and things kept dieing. Long story short, after too much frustration the 75 gallon tank ended up neglected for approximatly 10 years. Thats right, no water changes, no filter cleaning, nothing but top offs when the filter started blowing bubbles in the tank. The only survivor is a clown fish. I bought my mom a nano tank for x-mas so the little survivor has a clean place to live! I call him the cockroach of the sea. He has survived terrible living conditions and keeps on swimming. That little fish is probably
14+ years old!

 

[flower]

There is a guy I know who lives in Lake geneva, he has not done a water change in 16 years. He does not dose his tanks, except to feed his coral.
He has a perfect eco system going. He can go weeks without feeding his fish, they feed off each others eggs and stuff.
I wouldn't do it I am not that good, but it can be done. Hats off to him.

 

[dragonboy]

Well I think if you have a large tank say like 300 gallon once a month is good enough. If your tank is small then you have to keep it up because condition can change very easy in a small tank and be trouble compare to a large tank.

 

[92cg60]

15-20% change once a month works for me

 

[doc308]

2 months
I just top off and add aqualife complete and trace mins and tropical science bacteria. cycle feeding of my hard corals to 5 days on and 2 days off. this is with exception to my flowerpot which gets oyster eggs daily no matter what. i also watch the filter pretty closely.

 

[briand7878]

Well in the last 9 months ive done one but im in Iraq now so I get a pass. My friend is taking care of it and says its doing great. I used to get alot of diatoms as well so i stopped using ro water. They immediately cleared up. Maybe its just me but I think some things in this hobby are just fluff.

 

[small triggers]

before i started adding corals to my tank, i would do a 30g water change every other month on my 150g. now i do a 20 gallon every other week