Water Changes

[One_Divided]

I haven't done one in over 2 months and I am doing one tonight... I wonder if anything will be different tomorrow... Probably not..


I agree water changes are essencial, but less so in larger systems..

[Jack]

In my opinion you should do water changes. Seems that people do water changes after something goes bad (hair algae, cyno, diatoms, livestock deaths, etc). I try to avoid these problems by regular two week 10% water changes. Overkill? I'm not sure but I haven't had any problems and I'd like to keep it that way.

Better to avoid problems than hassling yourself with fixing problems, right?

[Aquattro]

All of this is coercing me into doing a water change. But I already did one this year!! I'll do another this week for fun

Seriously, I think for people less lazy than I, bi-weekly water changes would be a good plan.

[sumpfinfishe]

Excellant reply's everyone, it's great to hear all your different views

I would say IMO that water changes are essential for all reefers to perform. Different strokes for different folks however- for example if I had a larger stable tank such as Steve mentioned then maybe I would be inclined to still do a waterchange but just of a lesser volume. Also like Beverly mentioned I would do more frequent waterchanges if I had a smaller tank that was not as stable.

With that said I still believe that water changes are indeed a must for any tank. I premix my new water for about 3 days before changing 15% of my total volume, allowing PH and Alkilinty to reach tank levels, and also to provide good aeration.

cheers, Rich

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by sumpfinfishe

Also like Beverly mentioned I would do more frequent waterchanges if I had a smaller tank that was not as stable.

When we had our 180 gal reef, I still did weekly water changes of 25 gals. Plus the skimmer was cleaned weekly and the foam in the Hagen 802 prefilters were cleaned.

Weekly, weekly, weekly - no matter how big or small a tank is. All tanks benefit from the new water's trace elements that the corals, macroalgae, etc. remove over the course of a week. The bigger the tank, the more corals, fish, inverts it has and all remove trace elements from the water.

[sumpfinfishe]

Beverly wrote

Weekly, weekly, weekly - no matter how big or small a tank is. All tanks benefit from the new water's trace elements that the corals, macroalgae, etc. remove over the course of a week. The bigger the tank, the more corals, fish, inverts it has and all remove trace elements from the water

I think this would prove true if all larger tanks always contained more inhabitants. However I have a 27gl that's fully stocked, yet I know of friends who have 72gl and 120gl with alot less inhabitants within there reefs. So I would disagree with Beverly and instead look at the overall water volume as well as the overall inhabitant volume before performing extra waterchanges if they really are not required.

This is just my opinion based on my success however, and if weekly waterchanges are working for your reef then there's no reason to stop

[MitchM]

If you want to get serious about trace element replenishment, you have to do constant testing and be ready to add supplements, if required. It depends on your livestock, of course. Even relatively frequent 50% water changes will not keep up with calcium needs of a high volume SPS/clam/halimeda macroalgae tank. (and water changes of that size are hard on your inhabitants, too) You'll need some sort of reactor or constant B-ionic type additions. You'll never keep up with Iodine, either. It gets consumed too fast.
If you want to keep on top of an excess nutrient problem, slow down on feedings, don't rely on water changes.

I think that water changes are more of a feel-good thing for us than anything........and don't get me wrong - I feel better too when I do one....

I would classify water changes as a bit of a "cushion" at best for any over-dosing or over feeding that we may tend to do.
But observation of the health of your corals and fish, water testing and appropriately adjusting the feeding/trace element supplementation is the best way, IMO, to keep your water quality at it's highest.

Here's some fun reading and charts, if you're interested.

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/tb_wctext.html

http://www.reefs.org/library/article...ll_wcdata.html

Mitch

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Beverly

All tanks benefit from the new water's trace elements that the corals, macroalgae, etc. remove over the course of a week. The bigger the tank, the more corals, fish, inverts it has and all remove trace elements from the water.

Um, so why are we using Ca reactors and such to put the trace elements back in? I don't think you should use a blanket statment like this because it will not hold true in all cases.. for nanos and such sure.. for skimmerless and such.. sure.. but if you spend a lot of money to get equipment that removes "nasties" and other equipment that replenishes "trace elements" then overdoing water changes is actualy counter productive.. take my tank for Eg.. I maintain my Ca at 465 as of now and my Alk at 13.2. fresh Salt soultion mixes up at a Ca of 360 and a alk of 6 or 7, so by doing water changes I actualy drop my levels. so my equipment has to work to bring them back up..

If you look at a container of ARM by Carbsea it is listed as "complete" material restoring trace elements as well as the main ones..

so I will stand by my original statement "it entirely depends on the tank and the equipment you have one it as to how frequent and how large of water changes you should do..

Steve

[MitchM]

What would be helpful is if someone could post some studies or research that shows how water changes are necessary.


Mitch

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Carpentersreef

What would be helpful is if someone could post some studies or research that shows how water changes are necessary.


Mitch

Mitch, I can't see any doubt that they ARE necessary; I think the question is always about frequency.