Moving 29 gal Biocube

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by gobytron

The article on large water changes likely has accomplished aquarists who do test and calibrate their water before doing a large water change.

I actually didn't see that line until right now. I should clarify, the two cases in which I've seen people using 50-100% water changes on large systems were using actual sea water, pulled from the ocean using a pump. They both live basically on the ocean in Australia, so this is possible for them, and the only thing they need to worry about it keeping the water the right temp. However, in the case of the 95% water change system, it's an SPS LOADED tank, and I don't think he doses anything (thought I can't confirm that anywhere that I've seen), so his alk, mag, and calcium levels are going to be quite depleted by the time he does the replacement. The guy who's doing 50% weekly water changes is dosing something to maintain alkalinity, but as far as I know that's it. I would happily do 100% water changes on my big system using high quality salt , but I have neither the logistical capacity, or the money to sustain that in Calgary.

I'm running a little experiment with my pico now if you want to look at it. I tested all the levels and the ammonia right before and after a 100% water change yesterday, then fed the corals in that tank about 25% more food than that tank ever usually gets in a single feeding. I tested the ammonia again today, and will test every day for the next week. I will also feed again around Wednesday. If I've done something to the capacity of the bacteria in the tank to process waste, I should see a spike in ammonia in the tank.