debate about water changes

[yote]

Maybe I shouldnt post this,but it IS something to think about.
Do you ever get the feeling that maybe our tanks would do a little better if we'd just leave them alone and just dosed what was low?
I know my corals seem to be doing better since I got a lazy about doing water changes.

 

[biodarwin]

I agree 100%. We are trained when we first get our tanks that we must do this and that and then we continue to do this and that without understanding why. From my limited experience calcium seems to be one of the most over used supplements. Unless your really cutting down on your water changes or have a ton of SPS you probably do not need to dose it especially since most salt has a decent calcium content and is mostly replenished with the water changes.

 

[runningrandy04]

In my opinion, if your gonna dose you need to do it right. Test levels and calculate depletion rates for everything monthly and dose accordingly in your top-off water. Most of us don't have the time or equipment to do this so water changes become necessary. Come on, would you rather spend a few hours a week changing out that 10% or spend a whole day each month doing complicated tests and math to make your magic concoction that keeps your tank at the right levels. Who wouldn't want to spend a few hours every Sunday getting a nice workout and putting back a few beers. Now if those water changes become more than 100 gallons a week, I might spend that pretty penny and jump to fully automated.

 

[Altohombre]

I haven't done a water change in over a month and my corals have grown and my fish are doing great. Only problem is algae everywhere and I guess I gotta live with that if I am gonna be lazy.

 

[yote]

In my opinion, if your gonna dose you need to do it right. Test levels and calculate depletion rates for everything monthly and dose accordingly in your top-off water. Most of us don't have the time or equipment to do this so water changes become necessary. Come on, would you rather spend a few hours a week changing out that 10% or spend a whole day each month doing complicated tests and math to make your magic concoction that keeps your tank at the right levels. Who wouldn't want to spend a few hours every Sunday getting a nice workout and putting back a few beers. Now if those water changes become more than 100 gallons a week, I might spend that pretty penny and jump to fully automated.

To keep stable parameters,daily testing and dosing(as needed) does great.Of course there are hobbiest who just dont have time to do that.So for them weekly WCs would be the best option.

 

[ccCapt]

Why solve the debate with opinions? Empirical evidence

Just in case no one checked out that link....
Water Changes in Reef Aquaria by Randy Holmes-Farley

"Water changes are a good way to help control certain processes that serve to drive reef aquarium water away from its starting purity. Some things build up in certain situations (organics, certain metals, sodium, chloride, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, etc.), and some things become depleted (calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, strontium, silica, etc.). Water changes can serve to help correct these imbalances, and in some cases may be the best way to deal with them. Water changes of 15-30% per month (whether carried out once a month, daily or continuously) have been shown in the graphs above to be useful in moderating the drift of these different seawater components from starting levels. For most reef aquaria, I recommend such changes as good aquarium husbandry. In general, the more the better, if carried out appropriately, and if the new salt water is of appropriate quality.
Calcium and alkalinity, being rapidly depleted in most reef aquaria, are not well controlled, or even significantly impacted by such small water changes. In order to maintain them with no other supplements, changes on the order of 30-50% PER DAY would be required. Nevertheless, that option may still be a good choice for very small aquaria, especially if the changes are slow and automatic."

 

[Navarchus]

Okay, let's get to the bottom of this. Why do we change water? I think the answer is this: (1) we want to remove bad stuff, (2) we want to add good stuff. I think that is it. Am I missing anything?

If we perform water changes only to achieve these two goals, and if there are other ways to achieve those goals, then it follows that we do not need to change water.

So the ultimate question is not “do we need water changes” but “are there ways to remove the bad stuff and to add the good stuff?”

There are ways to remove the bad stuff (protein skimmers, algae scrubbers, refugiums, carbon, mechanical filtration, etc.) and there are ways to add the good stuff (calcium reactors, kalk drips, dosing trace elements, etc.).

I think it comes down to this: Each tank is different, and requires different care. If you are able to adequately remove bad stuff and add good stuff, I really see no need for water changes. However, if you have a small skimmer that cant keep up with the nitrates, then you probably need to change water to reduce nitrates. If you have a large SPS tank and no calcium reactor, then you may want to perform water changes to add trace elements. (you probably still need to dose Ca+ though.

Conclusion: As many have already stated, if you tank is doing well without H2O changes, then you may not need them.

 

[yote]

I think we all agree that water changes remove dissolved organics.We also agree that water changes add major,minor,and trace elements.
Now heres one other reason to do water changes.I dont about y'all,but I enjoy playing around and working on my tank.When I have time,I actually enjoy doing water changes.When I can take my time and actually spend the time to completely clean all my pumps and powerheads.

 

[cthegame]

IMO nothing compares to water changes. No skimmer, no fuge, etc. can do the job as well and as quickly as a water change. Smaller but more frequent water changes to me is a way of keeping the levels stable and consistent.

Not only that but if your parameters are off the chart, what would options do you have? your skimmer is not going to stabilize the situation fast enough.

Larger tanks might get away with not doing water changes for a while but IMO its just a matter of time until problems catch up. In the ocean, there is an unlimited supply of water but in our tanks the only way to keep it from going south, more frequent & smaller water changes would be my best guess in simulating the ocean water quality. just my :twocents:

 

[sen5241b]

I do 2 changes a month. A 20% and occasionally a 40% percent. I've heard it said that most of the beneficial bacteria live in the sand and rock so a big change out will not deplete bacteria that much. I've never seen any adverse effects after a 40% change.

 

[BigH55]

I think as a tank matures it becomes less important to do water changes. Most of us can tell by our tanks when it is time to do a change. Im with yote the less I mess with it the better stuff grows. Remember a watched pot never boils.

 

[Ironman]

Im a firm believer in a 25% water change per month. It does have alot to do with the tank though. If you are keeping softies and LPS you can be forgiven alot more than with SPS. As far as frequencey, the more often you can do it the better. So if you had the time a small water change every day would be better than one 25% each month. what you dont want to do is larger water changes more frequently. I do either 15% every two weeks or if Im lazy 30% each month. And I have a skimmer rated 3 times my tank capacity. I dont feel there is anything that can compete with water changes when it comes to water quality.

 

[dustin_P74]

yeah the good thing about having a good skimmer rated for 3-5 times your tank size is if you skim wet it will take a lot of saltwater out so if you replace your water with a low level salt water to replace evap and the removed saltwater from the skimmer then you just did a water change because of your skimmer

 

[BigH55]

Good point about the LPS and Softies. Thats what my whole tank is so I guess im not as lazy as i thought. I run Ozone so that helps me too.

 

[Bifferwine]

yeah the good thing about having a good skimmer rated for 3-5 times your tank size is if you skim wet it will take a lot of saltwater out so if you replace your water with a low level salt water to replace evap and the removed saltwater from the skimmer then you just did a water change because of your skimmer

Good point. I think I'll start telling people that when they ask about my water change schedules.

 

[ltljoker]

Wow it looks like the wife and I opened up pandoras box with this question. :shock:. There sure is alot of great advice. But now im just as confused as ever, cause i canot claim victory :frustrat:with everyones diffrent opinion. But is sure is fun keeping an eye on all the diffrent types of ways we care for our tanks. But it looks as if our saltwater hobby makes us lazy. We just want to watch them and rarely clean them. Myself included, I try to get the schedule of cleaning the tanks on my rotation with work so im not home. :grumble:

 

[Navarchus]

ltljoker, have you not learned yet. The wife is ALWAYS right.

 

[ltljoker]

Actually I have learned the wife is always right:bowdown:. I just havent learned which battles to leave alone. awww :pooh: (poop)

 

[lightcs4]

I had been doing 10% a week, but things seemed to do worse right after each water change. I added a skimmer and now do 10 percent every 2-3 weeks. The corals seem much happier that way.

 

[biodarwin]

I had been doing 10% a week, but things seemed to do worse right after each water change. I added a skimmer and now do 10 percent every 2-3 weeks. The corals seem much happier that way.

Run some tests on the water you are putting in after a water change. Particularly pH.