No water changes

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

I don't supplement magnesium, I

ah, but you do.. your Ca reactor adds Mg.

anyways I don't think anyone is saying they are not necessary, just that they may not be necessary as often as some people think. I know you try for two week intervals but how often do you actually make that schedule. I try for 1 month intervals and I make it about 30 to 50% of the time. On my fresh water tanks I do an 80% change once a month but now that I have some new babies in there I will have to skip it this month till they are a little bigger.

are they necessary, yes, but depending on the equipment you have they may only be necessary every second month. as for money, not an issue, heck people spend more than that on corals in a week.

as for trace elements.... does synthetic salt contain all the trace elements we need? I don't know.

and no it is not rocket science. water maintenance is simply a matter of knowing how to do a test and reading instructions to come to the results. you do not have to pick formulas to work out ionic equations, you don't need a degree. does taking a chem class in school help, ya, but remembering that class is even better it is all simplified so there is not much thinking on our parts, do we read a tone of books.. yes but this is for our personal knowledge and for tips and tricks, most books are nothing more than some ones method that worked for them and for every book that shows one way there are others that say a different way, so by reading these books we are doing nothing more than deciding which way fits our needs.

Steve

[Telford]

Here's the simple question then...other than temperature, salinity, de-chlorination and taking out ammonia. Are there any other tricks, tips, neccessities when doing a water change?

[mark]

All I used to do (using ro/di water) was aerate, match temp and salinity and never seemed to have problems. Only thing I'm doing different now is ensuring the Ca and Mg are also up.

[Pan]

Originally Posted by Telford

Here's the simple question then...other than temperature, salinity, de-chlorination and taking out ammonia. Are there any other tricks, tips, neccessities when doing a water change?

Proper Calcium levels, alk, ph etc etc.. I always test these things after water has sat for a day or two...being mixed and aerated. bad salt has and will happen again. if you are using tap water i would suggest a copper test kit as well.

[Telford]

Originally Posted by 'Ol Nobodaddy

Proper Calcium levels, alk, ph etc etc.. I always test these things after water has sat for a day or two...being mixed and aerated. bad salt has and will happen again. if you are using tap water i would suggest a copper test kit as well.

Is it very important let your water sit for a couple days after mixing it? Do you just manually aerate it or?

[Interior_Reef]

One tip i find good, is if you have to syphon the tank water out, dont swallow it!

I use an airstone in my water tub, and the only reason i let it sit is to allow the heater to get it to the same temperature as the tank, that and to allow the chlorine to evap.

[fishdaddy3]

Originally Posted by Telford

Is it very important let your water sit for a couple days after mixing it? Do you just manually aerate it or?

I read an article once that said it was important to let newly mixed salt water age for a few days because it is very caustic and corrosive when just mixe and it could be hard on livestock AND equipment.

[digital-audiophile]

I usually let my water sit for 24 hours, just to have a chance to mix really well and bring it up to temperature.

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by fishdaddy3

I read an article once that said it was important to let newly mixed salt water age for a few days because it is very caustic and corrosive when just mixe and it could be hard on livestock AND equipment.

That's UNdissolved salt and saltcreep that's corrosive. As long as the water is clear it's fine to use. Using a high powered pump helps hasten help dissolving process. I use a DIY modded maxijet which will blast the water out of my 33 gallon Brute garbage can if I'm not careful.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by fishdaddy3

I read an article once that said it was important to let newly mixed salt water age for a few days because it is very caustic and corrosive when just mixe and it could be hard on livestock AND equipment.

I used a mixer paddle on the end of a drill, mixed it up real good the only time I let it sit for more than an hour is when I felt lazy all of a sudden, but having said that overnight would be good. now I used RO water so I wasn't worried about clorine or anything.


Steve