water change question

[Myka]

With SPS in particular, stability is key. So the less more often schedule would theoretically be better. There are successful SPS reefs with all sorts of waterchange schedules, including things like 4 times per year. Crazy talk! Haha

[Dearth]

Go onto any salt water forum and you will find this is a hot button topic with many different answers and as far as I am concerned there is no right or wrong answer to this question. There are people who do a water change every 3 days to those who haven't done a water change in a year or more regardless of tank size

If what your doing for water changes is working for your tank then keep on trucking but if you want to try something different try 3-6 months of a different water change schedule and take pictures once or twice a month to compare to see if what your doing is working for you or not.

As with anything if you notice deterioration of corals stop and go back to what was working for you.

I made the decision not to have sps coral and went softie tank and I do one water change a month on average but it's what works for me.

Remember it's your tank do what you think is best for your tank all we do is provide guidelines or what works for us

[SoloSK71]

Originally Posted by Dearth

If what your doing for water changes is working for your tank then keep on

That is the definition successful reef keeping.

Charles

[Amadod2]

Well currently I'm trying to go back to the basics as I never successfully had an sps tank. That's why I'm gauging what everyone else is doing. I want to be able to get the best results

[tang daddy]

Keeping a successful sps tank is not easy, while some have no problems others struggle.

The general rule is weekly or biweekly water changes 10-20%.

Try that out while watching your sps and see if they are growing or not.
Test alk weekly to make sure it is stable while ca and mg too.

I find if I have high po4 my sps stop growing regardless of the big 3 being on the higher side.

It's a balance but sps like clean water, lots of flow and lots of food.

If you can keep your params stable long enough you will see faster growth.

[Amadod2]

Chris do you base your water change amount on tank total water volume or just volume with the live rock?

[tang daddy]

Originally Posted by Amadod2

Chris do you base your water change amount on tank total water volume or just volume with the live rock?

Danny I run a bare bottom, the frequency of my water changes is determined on the detritous that collects on the bottom in the back, which is now every 3-4 days and that's why I do 5g every 3-4days. The 25 g Bi weekly wc was because I was dosing meds and high po4 from heavy feedings and found that doing larger wc there is a noticeable growth and colour up for the sps.

Sps like clean water and lots of food like I said above so it's a fine balance. But because I have lots of fish I try to feed a lot to keep them happy in turn they feed my corals with the fish poop and produce a lot of waste.