Water changes!

[Aqua-Digital]

Hiya

glad i could help.

To expand on this slightly, and pointing to your tank, if your tank has been running for a year and the parameters are spot on then really you should be looking at a maximum of once a month, but i appreciate this takes a lot of trust in your system to take such a step. So in this case, do as you say, swap to bi weekly I suggest maybe for two months and then for sure swap to monthly, this will give you the opportunity to see how your tank reacts and also your tank bio rythm a chance to adjust.

Always remember you are playing with nature, no mater how smaller portion of nature that may be, but what ever size, nature hates change.

Hope that makes some sort of sense this time of night

best wishes
Michael
www.aqua-digital.com

[Redrover]

What size tank, not that makes a difference, I would disagree on monthly water changes...Don't forget the trace elements in doing water changes.
Your lucky not having any spikes, as most reefers I've talked to have gone through theses spikes...Not just one time, a number. I've had many tanks over the years , starting as a young lad [ freshwater ] now a senior, decided five years ago to try saltwater, after a number of tank I'm still learning.
Like I said if it's not broke don't fix it. I'll stay with what works for me [ once a week ]

Good Luck :RJ

[christyf5]

I have a barebottom tank and my fish produce crap like nobodys business so I do a waterchange weekly mostly to siphon all the fish poop out and various other detritus. I do 15 gallons mostly because I know where the 15 gallon level is in my garbage bucket and was too lazy to do any less. It only takes about 10 gallons to get all the detritus out and suck out any other crud off the rock etc. I suppose I could do it every second week but I hate to see it build up in there and I have a very watery green thumb when it comes to growing algae

[Aqua-Digital]

It all comes down to what you feel comfortable with really.

I started keeping fish back in 1976 and have built up my own stratagies on what has worked for me in this time, mainly keeping marines, and in the Uk having a 6,000 gallon koi pond.

With regards to trace elements, this is a very important factor and should be added weekly irrelevant of water changes, especially where salt water is concerned, this is in the main due to the massive difference in salt quality from manufacturer and from bucket to bucket, which again brings me back to disturbing the natural eco and bio system that you tank has built up. And also remember modern RO units take every single trace element out of the water you are putting in your tank, so if you are keeping fresh water especially, you are actually in part removing a lot of goodies from your system and replacing it with raw water, so the addition of trace elements becomes an even greater importance.

But with this debate must always come one important thing, and that is you do what you feel comfortable with.

Bets wishes
Michael
www.aqua-digital.com

[cooper]

Originally Posted by Aqua-Digital

It all comes down to what you feel comfortable with really.

I started keeping fish back in 1976 and have built up my own stratagies on what has worked for me in this time, mainly keeping marines, and in the Uk having a 6,000 gallon koi pond.

With regards to trace elements, this is a very important factor and should be added weekly irrelevant of water changes, especially where salt water is concerned, this is in the main due to the massive difference in salt quality from manufacturer and from bucket to bucket, which again brings me back to disturbing the natural eco and bio system that you tank has built up. And also remember modern RO units take every single trace element out of the water you are putting in your tank, so if you are keeping fresh water especially, you are actually in part removing a lot of goodies from your system and replacing it with raw water, so the addition of trace elements becomes an even greater importance.

But with this debate must always come one important thing, and that is you do what you feel comfortable with.

Bets wishes
Michael
www.aqua-digital.com

I guess I should have mentioned earlier that I have been using tap water since day one. Am sure a lot of people are not going to agree with using tap water but so far it has worked for me! Never had an algae outbreak, not even when I first set up my tank. I don't add any additives , none whatsoever. Some people add Calcium, or other stuff to their tanks but I have never done any of that.

[mark]

The reason you haven't been supplementing is you've been keeping things up with the water changes, if you spread them out you might need to start depending on you tanks demands.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by mark

depending on you tanks demands.

This is a very important consideration. If you have a huge amount of coral growth each month, monthly changes might not be enough. If you only have moderate to slow growth, then monthly might be perfect. This is where experience and getting to know YOUR tank comes into play. What works for everyone else may or may not work for you.
I did bi-weekly changes simply because I had a day off every two weeks and I had some spare time. Doing weekly could become a chore after a few years, so play around a bit and see what the tank needs.