Doing super frequent water changes.. what can go wrong?

kien · #1 10-27-2009, 09:49 PM

Update: No more super frequent water changes. I was changing out %15 every couple of days, then every 3 days, then I was back to my regular weekly water changes

That just ended up being WAY too much work and wasted water for me..

Next up for me, vodka dosing

Delphinus · #2 10-27-2009, 09:53 PM

Wow, I totally didn't see that one coming.

kien · #3 10-27-2009, 10:23 PM

I gave it the 'ol college try! :P You know, I was wondering the other day, for those people who live on the coast, have you thought about using ocean water for your water changes? Just get a bucket of ocean water, heat it up to tropical temps, dump it into your tank. What could go wrong?? :-)

christyf5 · #4 10-27-2009, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kien

I gave it the 'ol college try! :P You know, I was wondering the other day, for those people who live on the coast, have you thought about using ocean water for your water changes? Just get a bucket of ocean water, heat it up to tropical temps, dump it into your tank. What could go wrong?? :-)

LOL, yeah I tried that. You have to get it really deep. With all the seagoing traffic around here theres lots of "extras" in the water, not to mention all the nutrients. At one point I was using pasteurized seawater filtered to 1 micron and it grew the most lush green hair algae ever!

Delphinus · #5 10-27-2009, 10:57 PM

The public aquariums do it..

but yeah, the collection points are way out there.

Down in the L.A. area I noticed the LFS's were selling a product called "Catalina water." Same idea, just huge vats of it so you could buy 40 gallons at a time if you wanted. They take a boat out towards Catalina Island, suck up huge amounts of water, take it back to the LFS's for selling. I never really understood what the benefit was though, for the cost of salt compared to the cost of anything else for the hobby, it seems like a lot of work. (This was ten years ago though that I was down there, maybe they don't do it any longer.)

When I was reading up on Balling method (the "true" Balling method, not the 2-part/3-part automated dosing we tend to do in North America that we just call Balling), the added salts put into the aquarium cause the SG to rise and so water needs to be taken out of the tank and replaced with RO/DI to maintain a steady SG over time. All done with slow peristaltic pumps so it's a more or less steady state situation. Anyhow I sort of wonder how this compares to a "continuous water change" too.

Kien have you considered Zeo a go at all?

kien · #6 10-27-2009, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

The public aquariums do it..

but yeah, the collection points are way out there.

Down in the L.A. area I noticed the LFS's were selling a product called "Catalina water." Same idea, just huge vats of it so you could buy 40 gallons at a time if you wanted. They take a boat out towards Catalina Island, suck up huge amounts of water, take it back to the LFS's for selling. I never really understood what the benefit was though, for the cost of salt compared to the cost of anything else for the hobby, it seems like a lot of work. (This was ten years ago though that I was down there, maybe they don't do it any longer.)

When I was reading up on Balling method (the "true" Balling method, not the 2-part/3-part automated dosing we tend to do in North America that we just call Balling), the added salts put into the aquarium cause the SG to rise and so water needs to be taken out of the tank and replaced with RO/DI to maintain a steady SG over time. All done with slow peristaltic pumps so it's a more or less steady state situation. Anyhow I sort of wonder how this compares to a "continuous water change" too.

Kien have you considered Zeo a go at all?

Yes, Zeo is on my list to tackle after Vodka :-D I don't know if you've noticed but I'm trying to find the easiest way out (or in, depending on how you look at it) for me. Yes yes,I know there is no "easy" answer. I'm just looking for something that is "easy" and cost effective for me (not for others or in general). I thought that the water changes would be easy enough.. NOT! For some maybe (who can just flip switches). Vodka seems easy enough as there's only one thing to dump into the tank. Although I have read some bad reports so I'm still on the fence. Then there's zeo which makes my head spin every time I venture over to the zeo site. I know it can be as simple or complex as you want to make it but I still need to learn what each of the additives do.

Now, I don't really have a nutrient problem, Phosphate and Nitrates aren't picked up by my test kits but I know they are there. I get a film algae on my glass every couple of days and 14 feet of glass is a lot to magfloat! I run chaeto in my 'fuge and rowaphos which is helping with that I suspect. I'm just looking for that added punch of nutrient export.

And yes, I know I have lots of fish and I probably over feed so there are those options (ie, less fish/less feeding, etc) but that's not what I'm after.

Delphinus · #7 10-27-2009, 11:29 PM

No worries, what fun is less fish and less feeding anyhow??

Hope you find the groove.

sphelps · #8 10-27-2009, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

The public aquariums do it..

but yeah, the collection points are way out there.

Down in the L.A. area I noticed the LFS's were selling a product called "Catalina water." Same idea, just huge vats of it so you could buy 40 gallons at a time if you wanted. They take a boat out towards Catalina Island, suck up huge amounts of water, take it back to the LFS's for selling. I never really understood what the benefit was though, for the cost of salt compared to the cost of anything else for the hobby, it seems like a lot of work. (This was ten years ago though that I was down there, maybe they don't do it any longer.)

When I was in Vancouver Aquarium the guy who maintains the reef tank was trying to convince me that they import the water for that tank directly from the red sea, not just the salt but the actual water. He also said it was the most expensive tank to maintain including the dolphin and whale tanks. I didn't really buy any of that though, but I guess you never know.

Delphinus · #9 10-27-2009, 11:33 PM

Really ?? Wow if that's true that's .. uh.. well, it seems sub-optimal. But what do I know!!!

sphelps · #10 10-27-2009, 10:24 PM

Yeah that's why I recommended daily automated/semi-automated water changes. Makes very little sense to do water changes often if you're doing them manually, the whole point is based on automation.