Are water changes really necessary?

[SeaDweller]

For me, not doing water changes ended up being a hassle and made the tank polluted. Partly cuz I was lazy a couple of years ago after my crash. Now, I don’t let that happen anymore. It’s 1-1.5 hrs/month for a water change (including complete clean up), so why wouldn’t I do it? I use a CaRx check my parameters daily, keep my nutrients in check, but why not replenish part of that old water with new water that has trace elements in it? To me, it’s still a no brainer to do partial water changes, even if monthly.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I'd be interested in knowing the maturity level of the tanks that are running successfully without regular water changes. I see many extraordinary tanks shown as evidence that water changes aren't necessary. It is obvious that once a tank becomes extraordinary, water changes are not necessary to maintain their extraordinary-ness. I wonder if they got that way without regular water changes since day one.

 

[sde1500]

I'd be interested in knowing the maturity level of the tanks that are running successfully without regular water changes. I see many extraordinary tanks shown as evidence that water changes aren't necessary. It is obvious that once a tank becomes extraordinary, water changes are not necessary to maintain their extraordinary-ness. I wonder if they got that way without regular water changes since day one.

I believe FarmerTY said he weaned off water changes on his.

 

[Vahanyos]

I dose ESV B ionic two part, and my parameters have been stable and corals are thriving and growing. I religiously did water changes every week, and still do (i'll admit, sometimes I skip it to once every 2 weeks). But there was a point in time where I stopped doing water changes for nearly a month because I figured "hey, I'm dosing, parameters are stable, etc.."

I did notice a slight decline in coral colors, and polyp extension, and just overall the way the coral looked. It wasn't bad, as in they were dying, but I just didnt see that OOMF in colors like I did when I was doing water changes. My best guess would be that the minor trace elements that water changes were replenishing were obviously not being replenished... My tank just glowed after I started doing water changes again weekly....

Some of you who do more in depth dosing like Triton method, I don't think water changes are necessary because you're actually dosing all elements and not just main ones like CA, MG, ALK, etc... but for anyone dosing just a couple things, I think it's still a good idea to do water changes to replenish those minor elements that also contribute to coral health.

 

[Mical]

I started w/water changes weekly. Then did monthly in both cases corals were slow growing. Read the "trident method" (no socks, minimal water changes, etc..) Went 3 mos no water changes my corals growth exploded vs what they were previously. Long story short, I do a 10% water change about every 4 months to give my tanks a "breath of fresh air" and everything responds positively. IMO it all depends on your feeding habits, inhabitants and your monitoring of parameters. As long as everything in your tank appears healthy and the #'s are in line, stay the course. Stability seems to be the key.

 

[Jon Fishman]

that bubble coral... wow.

Nope.... All of it! WOW.

4 months give or take

Holy..... wha?!? They grow that fast? Shoot.... I should have gotten the one my daughter wanted after-all!

 

[beaslbob]

I'd be interested in knowing the maturity level of the tanks that are running successfully without regular water changes. I see many extraordinary tanks shown as evidence that water changes aren't necessary. It is obvious that once a tank becomes extraordinary, water changes are not necessary to maintain their extraordinary-ness. I wonder if they got that way without regular water changes since day one.

Yes.

By using macro algaes from day on and dosing schemes like the imporved diy two part. I have always started with no water changes from day one.

Instead of the ammonia->nitrite->nitrate spikes you get very very low to no ammonia & nitrItes spikes with a possible nitrate spike that lasts for a few weeks then drops to 0 as aerobic bacteria build up and the macros are forced to use nitrates for nitrogen.

As a test fish I use $2 fw mollies after the first week. And don't add food for another week. then start feeding 1 flake per day. After a few weeks, the tank accepts the more difficult marine only fish.

FWIW no live rock, no live sand, no filter as well as no water changes.

still that's just me and my .02

 

[FiveGallonSea]

To add to your thought of it being unnecessary I freaked out a couple months ago when I got caught by surprise with 40-50 ppm nitrate. So I went on a water change binge. I actually lost some coral. Who can understand all the complexities of our systems. Some thrive only with water changes, others don't. If I were you I would NOT be doing water changes weekly with those parameters. Maybe monthly at the least. I think any reefer can agree- if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I've been dabbling in the hobby for a few years now, currently a 210 gal (250 total vol) DT; mixed reef, fish, live rock, etc. And like any good reefer, I work hard to make my tank thrive.
But this just crossed my mind; if all of my water parameters are stable, what is the sense in doing water changes? I've pretty much spent every other Sunday for the last 3 years doing water changes, but almost think I'm wasting both time & money. If my nitrates are >5 ppm, phosphates >.25 ppm, the nutrients must be in check. And if the Ph, Mg, Cal, Dkh, etc are all within the desired ranges (with assistance from additives), it would seem that the aquarium water is stable and sustainable. So hasn't the introduction of these additives, along with proper filtration kinda replaced the need for regular water changes? I'm eager to hear any and all opinions.

No WC,DT is 6mo, babies everywhere and some

 

[Christopher Davis]

Nope.... All of it! WOW.



Holy..... wha?!? They grow that fast? Shoot.... I should have gotten the one my daughter wanted after-all!

Thanks! :) If you want to see more check out my build thread!

 

[Christopher Davis]

They grow decently fast I feed and run 3 types of lighting! MH, LED and T5

Nope.... All of it! WOW.



Holy..... wha?!? They grow that fast? Shoot.... I should have gotten the one my daughter wanted after-all!

 

[Joe Rice]

While I don't do water changes myself, I see two possible advantages:

1. If water changes are the only way you replenish trace elements you'll never overdose a trace element. Depending on how often you do a water change, water changes might suffice to maintain a proper level of trace elements. My guess is you'd have to do them pretty often since some trace elements, like iodine and iron are depleted fairly rapidly. If you wind up dosing trace elements anyway, this advantage is negated.
2. It's possible something nasty could accumulate in the water that our export methods aren't catching and a water change would be the only way to reduce it. ICP testing doesn't test for everything and only tells us levels of elements, not chemical compounds. Since I use a two-part dosing system that gradually raises salinity, I will occasionally remove a few liters of water and replace with RO/DI water to keep the salinity from rising too high, but I worry that that might not be enough.

 

[Sallstrom]

Beautiful tank!

I see both sides of the debate. The ‘no water changes’ approach works fine. Works better the more advanced you are in this endeavor. Works even better once you’ve achieved the coral and other invert biomass that is evident in your pic.

When I do water changes, I don’t do them to change water, per se, but rather to export a bunch of solids that I would just as soon have out of the system and not have to account for. But even when I do water changes, it’s usually only in the 2-4% range.

Having said that, I will once in a while do a substantial water change. I don’t know for sure that bio-chemically there is some massive advantage, but I do notice there is some extra pep out of the corals afterward. Whether that’s from the change itself or just stirring up a bunch of junk in the process, it’s noticeable.

Now, having said that, I’ve never really seen the necessity of doing water changes to ‘clean’ the water in the tank. Plenty of filtration and chem media that can do that.

Thanks!

I agree. It's no competition on who can run the longest without a water change. It's trial and error, see what works for the tank in question.
In the case with the tank on the picture we need to add nutrients, so I don't see a point of cleaning the sand for example. But I would do it if I thought the sand needed to be vacuumed.
This tank is old, so we stopped WC when it was already mature. Just started two new systems so we'll see how it goes. I'm not planning on doing WC but will do if needed.

And IMO you need to keep good track on many parameters if you're not doing WC. We do regular ICP test at Triton for example. And dose a bunch of additives to correct the parameters. I enjoy playing around with chemicals and water chemistry:)

 

[Simon Cushing]

Here's a picture from a tank at my work. It was five years since we did our last water change :)

So I agree on "why change water if the water is good".
We use Triton additives, calcium reactors and do ICP tests to track our parameters.

I don't test or dose anything. I just do water changes. Some people test and dose every day and never do water changes.
Some people do half and half.
There is no one right way. There is a spectrum of things that can work and it depends on what you have in your tank what you need to do.

Here's a picture from a tank at my work. It was five years since we did our last water change :)

So I agree on "why change water if the water is good".
We use Triton additives, calcium reactors and do ICP tests to track our parameters.

Reading along those lines I should think you have answered your own question, the Triton method and the ICP testing Method etc.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Thanks!

I agree. It's no competition on who can run the longest without a water change. It's trial and error, see what works for the tank in question.
In the case with the tank on the picture we need to add nutrients, so I don't see a point of cleaning the sand for example. But I would do it if I thought the sand needed to be vacuumed.
This tank is old, so we stopped WC when it was already mature. Just started two new systems so we'll see how it goes. I'm not planning on doing WC but will do if needed.

And IMO you need to keep good track on many parameters if you're not doing WC. We do regular ICP test at Triton for example. And dose a bunch of additives to correct the parameters. I enjoy playing around with chemicals and water chemistry:)

We won't name names but there's some members here they have all the Core7 in the world, no wonder they don't need to do water changes. see picture

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Did I mention 47 oysters they pre filter the water they remove nitrates ammonia phosphate Etc got to love them Pacific oysters. no water changes for me. They're in the refugium