Are we being peddled BS?

[Alexander1312]

Stop doing water changes for 4 weeks and see how things going.

After that determine how much you really need to change. I would aim for 5% unless nutrients creep up significantly.

Look into dosing all for reef or ready to reef if you get more corals.

 

[OriginalUserName]

You just need some more time. We often see people setup insta tanks by using live sand, gulf rock etc. but I suspect that is not the norm. My current tank is just now hitting it's stride at a little over a year, and I used some rock from my old tank, "live" carib sea sand, and some actual live sand and rock rubble from the gulf. Mostly it was dry marco rock though and it's clear that it takes a long time to really be stable. I'm not sure if it's just the bacteria/organisms that need the time, or if the rock absorbs or leaches things, but it's about time.

WCs for me are insurance and keep me on my routine. I like to know that whatever inputs are going in that the WCs will moderate those to some level and won't rise above that. Worth noting that if you are having algae outbreaks etc. then low nitrates/phosphates may not mean much. Algae can eat it up very quickly and make it look like you don't have a nutrient issue when you actually do.

If your corals and fish aren't dying then you are on the right path. IMO if you are solid with your routine you will be successful.

 

[Peer.Boerner]

I can’t give more than my subjective opinion, but whenever I do a water change, typically 10% each week, everything in the tank just looks better. That’s not a provable scientific statement, I know, but until I see evidence indicating weekly water changes are bad, I’m going to keep doing them.

 

[tbrown]

I can’t give more than my subjective opinion, but whenever I do a water change, typically 10% each week, everything in the tank just looks better. That’s not a provable scientific statement, I know, but until I see evidence indicating weekly water changes are bad, I’m going to keep doing them.

I don't think anyone ever said weekly water changes are bad. More frequent water changes encourage stability by refreshing/replenishing the minerals that are depleted over time. The more frequent they are, the more stable our water stays. Nutrients build up, minerals deplete, water changes bring the nutrients back down and the minerals back up.

The statement/question that started the conversation as I understand it was more of a "Are water changes actually required?"

 

[Peer.Boerner]

I can’t give more than my subjective opinion, but whenever I do a water change, typically 10% each week, everything in the tank just looks better. That’s not a provable scientific statement, I know, but until I see evidence indicating weekly water changes are bad, I’m going to keep doing them.

I don't think anyone ever said weekly water changes are bad. More frequent water changes encourage stability by refreshing/replenishing the minerals that are depleted over time. The more frequent they are, the more stable our water stays. Nutrients build up, minerals deplete, water changes bring the nutrients back down and the minerals back up.

The statement/question that started the conversation as I understand it was more of a "Are water changes actually required?"

Agree. I think my post sounded a little terse which wasn’t my intent.

 

[tbrown]

Agree. I think my post sounded a little terse which wasn’t my intent.

I didn't take it that way.

 

[landlubber]

not sure we're being "peddled" by the industry but I think it'd be far more help than hurt for every new tank to include at least 1 piece of established liverock from a mature tank.

 

[maroun.c]

Not seing hair alga in the picture you posted however this algae appearance is a sign that tank is still not very mature, which is why many recommend up to a year before adding corals.
YEs chemistry in our tanks is not as clear as many try to make it look, Hair algae as bad as it is can zero your nutrients and starve out your corals by acting like an in tank fuge. with time you find your sweet spot with water changes/ Filtration and nutrient import in the tank via feeding or dosing.
As tank fills up more with corals nutrient management becomes easier as well as corals consume nutrients.
so basically a this stage yes I would do water changes but will make sure water used is indeed 0TDS! i;ll run carbon and change it every couple weeks and ill make sure my skimmer is very well tuned this would help lower the nutrients. Any algae you can manually remove will help break the cycle as even dying algae as good of a sign as it is will decompose in the water and release nutrients which will feed other alga in a cascading cycle of mishaps till the tank loses the problematic nutrients, manual removal of algae, filtre socks changing and other mechanical filtration will help, so will skimmer and carbon.
hope you get it under control as i realize it can be very frustrating Good luck

 

[Freenow54]

Hello everyone. My reef tank is currently 7 months old and I still feel like I haven’t gotten any stability yet. Last month my nitrates were at 11ppm and currently they are sitting at 1.1ppm. Phosphate fluctuates just as much. I’ve had nothing but problems with brown hair algae, Dino’s, cyano, you name it. Believe it or not my husbandry is clock work. A weekly 10% water change and a glass cleaning is all I do. Also changing out my filter floss when necessary. Am I lacking a basic understanding of reef chemistry here? This stuff is beyond frustrating. Am I being peddled complete BS with the weekly water changes. Who knows? If anyone can chime in here I’d love their opinion. My coral seems decently happy however my nutrients can’t seem to balance out. I’ve had better luck balancing a seesaw! Dropping a picture of my tank for reference. Thank you for reading

BS is a part of Life . Its up to us to chose our path

 

[Jasonak]

The statement/question that started the conversation as I understand it was more of a "Are water changes actually required?"

Are they required, I would say no but its a very easy cheap way to keep your trace elements in line. If I lived by the ocean id have water be exchanged all day long :)