Water changes
 

I just read Randy's article in Reefkeeping about water change frequency. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php

I'm sure this has been debated but I didn't find much on the search. So please humor me. What are you water change schedules? Just how much are you changing per change?
For any of you who do constant/daily water changes, what equipment are you using?

I try to do weekly 20ish gallon WCs sometimes it stretches to 10 days or 2 weeks but try to get at least 15gallons a week changed

I think it's helped me

1) not have to dose anything
2) stability
3) save money on gfo (only have to change it monthly to keep low levels
4) water and corals look super clean


I think a lot of people over look the simplicity of doing water changes and try to over think and dose and add and wonder why or what they can do to make there tank better but if you just increased your WCs I thjnk most tanks wouldn't object

bi-weekly, 50g=25% total volume

weekly-10-15%.Just started doing them this frequently and am pleasantly surprised how well everything has responded. (or maybe its the blue+,purple+, coral+ supplementation)lol

20G weekly on system with bout 300g

For over 10yrs with my old reeftank I did once monthly 25% changes.
Now with my new reef it's 25% twice monthly.
The difference in coloration and coral growth over 8 months is definitely better as I'm sure the fish are healthier and happier too, though they haven't mentioned anything:mrgreen:

5g weekly on 100g system

5g weekly on 40ish gallon system

10% weekly here

45-50 gallons bi-weekly on a 450 gallon (amount of water after displacement and glass thickness removed)

On a roughly 1200glns system with a light load still I do 12% 150glns monthly water changes.
Its a simple turn valve to drain water and a switch to a pump to fill the system.
The more I load my tank eventually the more I will water change.

Water changes
 

In the beginning it was 10%/week of 550g and now it's it's about 6% of 700g every two weeks or 20 days.

A 1% difference in the amount of changed water has a large impact on my total running and upkeep costs. I'm hoping to eventually arrive to a 5% monthly change by the end of this year.

I have a 90 gallon reef with a 50 gallon sump, 90 has approx.70 gallons of actual water along with approx. 22gallons in the sump, been doing a 25% WC twice a month. Seems to be working ok.

10% per week.

total volume about 200g and last few months change ~50g every 2-3 weeks

10 gallons every week on a 140-150 ish system

im starting to think i should do it every two weeks...
due to unnecessary stress from going all out and diving into my tank *giggle*

or every second water change do the totally scrub everything , blow everything off , clean all the equipment.


clean freaks shouldn't own saltwater tanks im starting to think.

*i sometimes give my snails hair cuts*
i had one with a mohawk and one with pony tails kinda ..
when i had algae back in the day

I try to shoot for every two weeks

I change 40 gal every 2 weeks on my 120 With a 40 g sump.

I change 10 - 15 gal weekly on my 72 gal reef

15-20% bi-weekly = 40 to 50 gallons on 210 with 70 g sump

4 gal a week in my 37
18 gal a week in my 90

I had a 370 that I was doing 50 gal a week on.

1.785 gallons every day on a 140-150 ish system.

90 (~ 25%) Gal every week on my salty. 25 (25%) Gal on my fresh. The odd time it goes bi weekly due to my schedule but not often. Running carbon sure helps as well...

I don't have a specific schedule, its minimum once a month of 50% change on my lightly stocked 20G but sometimes more often depending on detritus buildup on the bottom of the tank. Never 100% change as some people do but sometimes upto 75% change.

The fish are happy and healthy and have been with me for 3 years now, so I must be doing something right!:wink:

the 90G F.W tank is 50% biweekly and sometimes 2 50% changes in a row, so closer to 75% changes once a month.

when I started I was doing 10% a week. Then i got more aggressive and did 25% a week. That eventually turned out to be an aggressive schedule for me. I've now settled out to 25% (33g) every two weeks.

If it would only come premixed and ready out of the tap :wink:

If that were the case then I'm pretty sure everyone and their dog would be in this hobby :lol: I think water changes (or lack thereof) is the number 1, or number 2 cause of people leaving the hobby, or deterrent from the hobby.

Expanding on that thought, we should do a poll to see how many use buckets vs. some type of automation. By "we" I mean you.

How do you define "automated" ?? Would my kids hauling buckets for me count ?

Or, pretending to go on vacation and asking Brett to do a water chnage for me while I'm away count ?

Automated would be, to me, no lifting buckets by any party. Brett would be an exception.

So then, is pumping water from the WC station to the tank an automation ?

Sure. I use a hose to siphon to the tub, then move the hose to my barrel and refill the tank while I drink coffee. Automation at it's finest :) I haven't lifted a bucket of water in years.

Me neither. Lifting buckets I'd say is the #3 cause of attrition in this hobby. My water station is in my basement. I pump it from there all the way to my living room with a long hose and plug the pump into a remote controlled socket (you can get from Canadian Tire). Press a button and go surf the web. Same process for pumping water out of the sump. Goes down that hose into the basement drain. I've saved a few reefers by pointing them to the remote switch/socket.

If you can't taste it...it ain't a real water change.

said the bitter man carrying buckets....

hahah you guys crack me up, well played my friend, well played!

This is my single most hated aspect of the hobby, or I should say was, now I attach a hose to the tap head and have it pumped right into a Rubbermaid tub next to the aquarium, I let it sit for a few days and then when I'm ready, I siphon out the water and use a pump (given to me by subman a few years ago (I am still thankful for it subman)) to pump the water up to the aquarium, no more 40 pound water buckets for me....no thanks!

Not only do I no longer throw my shoulders out, I also don't spend an hour cleaning it up and no longer suffer the wrath of the female :twised:.

You know what, despite all my amazing attempts at minimizing mess, I have to agree, I must taste the water every time I change water, whether it be me splashing it into my face or an overzealous fish splashing it into my face or my damn clownfish scaring all things holy out of me by biting me and causing me to splash water all over the place........:censored::censored::censored:

10% every two weeks. Bucket carrying every week, too much!!

10% weekly

Water changes "EASY PEASY"
 

25% every 2 weeks for me, Gravity feed ro water to my mixing barrel next to my tank from the storage barrel mounted over my ensuite tub, add salt & heater then mix for 24 hours using a Hydor 1400 powerhead. Shut down my return pump, skimmer etc. in the sump and pump all the water out of the sump 25 gallons to the kitchen sink drain. Once emptied I pump the new water into the sump from the mixing barrel 25 gallons, making sure the salinity and temp. are good in the new water before it gets pumped to the sump. Done! No bucket carrying for me. :lol: