Are water changes over rated?

[iReefer12]

Chalk Bass

Thanks Paul, looks great, never really looked at bass before, but this made me consider.

 

[VintageReefer]

LOL, I only keep LPS and soft corals now. For many years I kept SPS and difficult corals but I am past that. I also had a phase when I would raise fish, also past that.

When the hobby started in 1971 I and many people had predator tanks with eels, triggers, lionfish etc. Also past that. Eventually we resign and just want to keep what makes us happy so we can spend more time watching them.

I do almost nothing on my tank as it is just a hobby and something I keep for my own enjoyment and not meant to impress anyone except myself. And Maybe my Grand Kids.

I started viewing sps as weeds, growing too fast, something always needed to be trimmed or fragged. When they are small the growth is small, when they branch multiple directions, then they grow in all directions and it’s more noticeable.

Guess I always kept tanks of weeds lol to each their own


Here’s my second frag of COE Ring of Fire Lobo healing and growing

And here’s the first healed and recovered and grown out to sellable

And here’s the parent

And my BSA Madracis

And my BSA Game Over Alveopora, started as a few tiny polyps

And my black/green goniopora which started as a single frag, became a colony, and now i have 4 large frags.

You can’t even buy black Goni anywhere. Go try. I’m the only one. I manipulated the color on my original frag from experimenting with placement and it morphed, and then I was able to acclimate slowly back into medium lighting slowly and retain the new color

People can call it what they want, but my weeds are unique, in demand, and bring me joy

And I have plenty more weeds, but I’m spammed enough

Like this one, $700+ for 2” frag. If it grew like a weed it wouldn’t sell for that

 

[schooncw]

Water change is too much work, so I chose a different strategy. IMO, WC is the #1 reason why people do not survive the hobby. My tank has been around for over three years: no WC, ICP, or moonshiners. I do add trace elements from TM and Potassium. I regularly test Alk, Ca, Mg, PO4, NO3, PH, and K.

With due respect, your corals don’t look that happy to me and even your leathers are closed up.
I don’t get the WC’s are “too much work” either but to each his own and the important thing is that you are satisfied with your system and methodology

 

[Koty]

You are very observant but completely wrong. The video was taken in the evenIng to avoid reflection so corals are not at full extension. The leather in my tank can be defined as pest it grows rapidly and multiplies so that every few months I have to cut it out.

 

[Big E]

I sold them to make space, I was getting severely overcrowded. Growing out frags is something I take enjoyment of, and when they get medium to large I sell them, trade them, or frag them again. That’s a reason this tank has multiple racks and frags - it’s a display with grown out pieces on the back half and frags in the front on racks. In the past 2 months I’ve sold over $3000 in coral from this tank, and you can’t even tell. It still is full…of the next generation of frags I’m growing out

Anyway I can pick up on your vibe. I’m showing a colorful tank filled with healthy corals, several of them high end and costly due to their slow growth or sensitivity. I don’t suspect your familiar some of my items, or overlook how long it takes to get a Cynarina to double in size, or for a sliced 3/4” lobe from a $2000 lobophyllia colony to survive and heal and regrow into a circular shape to become sellable. Growing a insanity plate from a pinkie nail size into a parent that’s fragable, and making my own pinkie nail slices and growing them into pieces that sell for 500 an inch. An inch of growth is a big deal for certain corals, both acros and lps.

You look down on lps and I’m not going to change your mind. They are weeds

I can post acropora growth and you’ll just say oh that’s milli or oh that’s just a stag and they grow like weeds also.

Nothing more to say here. Tank is doing great and using same water as I filled it 10 years ago. Have zero algae issues, sandbed is bright and clean, fish happy and coral happy.

This was my water change free system with everything grown from 1-2” frags and then I had new frags in the front sandbed that I made from the colonies in the back

And this is the same tank, using the same water sand and rock, and maintenance methods

Both these systems take less than 10 min a week from me. Usually around 5 min a week, excluding feeding.

While some may need water changes for success, and I do think they are important for many, I have learned how to keep successful reefs without them, and have been using these methods for the last 12+ years. I have better ways to spend my time and money.

Document some growth pictures............I'm not here to rip on your tank. It will be much more convincing than what you write or just posting a bunch of pictures.

 

[Troylee]

As much as I don’t like his over saturated photos I agree with him 100% on everything in this video!

 

[Koty]

With due respect, your corals don’t look that happy to me and even your leathers are closed up.
I don’t get the WC’s are “too much work” either but to each his own and the important thing is that you are satisfied with your system and methodology

I think my corals are happy, at least in the morning

 

[Koty]

How happy can a coral get ?

 

[Koty]

As much as I don’t like his over saturated photos I agree with him 100% on everything in this video!

That is a classic case IMO where more analysis and less hard labor changing water and money spent on salt and rodi equipment is a way better strategy. Already at the beginning it has a slight scent of an advertisement. No water change may have some challenging aspects , but it’s allows a steeper and more profound learning curve of your system.

 

[VintageReefer]

That is a classic case IMO where more analysis and less hard labor changing water and money spent on salt and rodi equipment is a way better strategy. Already at the beginning it has a slight scent of an advertisement. No water change may have some challenging aspects , but it’s allows a steeper and more profound learning curve of your system.

When in doubt just replace 75% of the water lol ok yea if I run a lucrative coral business and can keep hundreds of gallons of water on hand and write it off as business expenses for my taxes, maybe I’d consider that also

 

[Subsea]

When in doubt just replace 75% of the water lol ok yea if I run a lucrative coral business and can keep hundreds of gallons of water on hand and write it off as business expenses for my taxes, maybe I’d consider that also

I don’t regularly change water and think that the
EPA is woefully ignorant when their motto is
“ The solution to pollution is dilution”.

 

[GARRIGA]

Was a time the world was flat and we hid under tables to avoid bombs until it wasn't. The masses aren't confirmation of something being valid.

Granted this hobby has always evolved off anecdotal assumptions (pretty sure most do) based on this happened therefore this must be why that happened yet haven't found scientific proof that water changes aren't about removing what shouldn't persist such as coral warfare and perhaps items such as copper from that fed or tin due to rusty something. Without proper analysis then one just assumes clean water was needed vs filtering that already existing. I get the dilution helps but nothing more than a band aid and not a fix.

Water changes DO NOT re-balance trace elements.

Perhaps were more effort made to identify that which shouldn't be there one day we will filter contaminants as we do with ammonia and nitrites. Was a time water changes also solved that. Ever have a Goldfish or Betta and don't get me started on discus keepers where some change 100% daily and some twice a day because it's done in Malaysia where it's cost effective for large breeders having access to clean acidic water similar to native rivers.

 

[VintageReefer]

When someone says “whenever I have a problem I just change 75% of the water” all I hear is “I have a problem keeping my tanks stable and I don’t know how to fix it”

It’s like. Whenever my computer starts to run slow, I just reinstall windows.

 

[keithw283]

I very much dislike when people say something along the lines of, “my tank is 10 years old. I haven’t done a water change for 6. Therefore they aren’t needed.” Yeah you probably had a semi consistent schedule for 4 years and your tank matured and is now able to take care of itself.

 

[Paul B]

I don't think I need to do water changes, I just do so I have something to write about.

 

[DaScubaSteve]

Been watching a lot of reef builders and that kid who studies bio tech, salem clemens, has a lot to say about biome, and Dissolved.organic carbon that builds up from no water changes. Skimmer only removes about 20%. That DOC feeds bad bacteria. He doesn't believe in any of the bassilus bacterias in the bottles or UV or carbon dosing. he's a proponent for live bio sand, forget the product name sand, but the sand company does a bacteria DNA test.

I had been battling a bad cyano, couldn't even get phosphates up. So I chemicleaned, which I know he would be against. But I bought some Aquaforest life source mud and plan to repopulate my biome with the good bacteria in that.

He talks alot about rotifers eating the bacteria and then corals eat the rotifers, may be worth dosing rotifers. He makes it sound like we are 10 to 20 years away from really understanding bacteria biome and how it may shift the way we reef.

Check out his youtube vids, I have really been enjoying his perspective on the hobby.

 

[Knucker]

Honestly I was thinking about this. To have a tank that uses algae to remove the Nitrates and phosphates. And just dose elements to keep the parameters stable.

 

[Dr. D]

I have a 100ft hose reel in my garage where my storage tanks are and rodi. It works great! It takes all 100ft to reach my tank.

Troylee,

Would you be willing to share details on your hose reel solution? I also have nearly a 100’ distance to cover. Do you use separate hoses for RO/DI and salt water?

 

[Troylee]

Troylee,

Would you be willing to share details on your hose reel solution? I also have nearly a 100’ distance to cover. Do you use separate hoses for RO/DI and salt water?

I forgot the name of it.. I’ll get you a picture when I get home. I use the same hose for both fresh and salt.

 

[DHill6]

I started viewing sps as weeds, growing too fast, something always needed to be trimmed or fragged. When they are small the growth is small, when they branch multiple directions, then they grow in all directions and it’s more noticeable.

Guess I always kept tanks of weeds lol to each their own


Here’s my second frag of COE Ring of Fire Lobo healing and growing

And here’s the first healed and recovered and grown out to sellable

And here’s the parent

And my BSA Madracis

And my BSA Game Over Alveopora, started as a few tiny polyps

And my black/green goniopora which started as a single frag, became a colony, and now i have 4 large frags.

You can’t even buy black Goni anywhere. Go try. I’m the only one. I manipulated the color on my original frag from experimenting with placement and it morphed, and then I was able to acclimate slowly back into medium lighting slowly and retain the new color

People can call it what they want, but my weeds are unique, in demand, and bring me joy

And I have plenty more weeds, but I’m spammed enough

Like this one, $700+ for 2” frag. If it grew like a weed it wouldn’t sell for that

WOW! Love those weeds!!!