I do a 1 gallon water change once a week on my 5 gallon tank

340 gallon system. 45 Gallon Automated Change weekly.

10% water change and gravel clean every week.

would 30% water change weekly be way to much?? your opinions welcome.

my opinion is that it all depends on bioload... my tank have a very high bioload so i am opted to do this, and i think it might be the cheapest way to maintain a heavily stock reeftank in the long run. considering we are enjoying some nice prices on salt mixes in calgary.

Almost never.

In 3-1/2 years I have changed maybe my tank volume (120 gallons) once in total.

I keep meaning to set up a system with a garbage can and pump to do monthly 20 gallon water changes but I never get around to it.

Mostly everything is doing OK though with nitrates varying from zero to barely measurable.

I like doing the one big water change every 3 months compared to the small water changes every 2 weeks or monthly. Last water change was late September, then I just did a huge one this weekend. Originally planned on doing 90g on a 210g reef, by draining water from the fowlr, siphoning reefwater into the fowlr & then topping up the reef with new water. Unfortunately, I miscalculated & ended up draining too much out of the fowlr which caused me to have a near empty sump so I had to make up another 40 gallons for the reef. So, in total, just did a 130g water change on the 210g reef with 75g sump (total water volume minus LR & LS etc. is probably 180-190g).

On the other hand, I run a RS250 skimmer, Phosban reactor, semi-remote deep sand bed, micron sock, and grow lots of macroalgae in the refugium/sump so the water quality was still surprisingly good despite a long time between water changes and a high bioload/feeding regimen. The corals look the same (very good) before & after the water change, whereas in the past, usually they look a lot happier after a water change. Hmmmmm.

I'm not recommending this water change schedule for everybody, just posting up what works for me.

Anthony

ZEOvit users are instructed to do a 6% water change every week. My system consists of 425G + sump and I do 30G every 3 to 4 weeks.

Tom R

I want an automated water change system. :lol: Take the lazy mans way out. :mrgreen:

Go
 

I took the lazy way out and plumbed 3 tanks into a common sump so I could use a single ATO. Makes water changes a lot easier. I siphon crap out of the bottom of the tanks, then move my top-off pump from the ATO pail to my water change pail.

When I turn the ATO back on it refills my tanks and stops when done. I just need to remember to move the pump back into the top-up pail of fresh water when done.


80 gal total system. 5 gal change weekly
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girlfriend pic

water change
 

i do 5 gal every 12days!
56 gal tank 20 gal sump. 90lbs rock
lots of zoos lps and some sps.
7 fish.