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The ocean has had the same water for millions of years but I see your point.DO YOUR WATER CHANGES!
Or we can just do water changes and not do all of that other stuff.I know that my view goes against the views of a lot of people and I will now receive a bit of flack but water of a ducks back so to speak. Anyway here goes Water changes to me are a way of trying to hide something, they are a short term measure to try and rectify a problem with your tank. They are an old fashioned way of running a tank that is always never completely resolves the issue. In today's advancements in the hobby we should be keeping the water topped up and stable with the trace elements and major elements our systems use, with the number of companies that are selling these replacement elements this is the path we should be going even the electrics are starting to go that route. Focustronic's new Mastertronic, Powertronic, and Solartronic will take your test results and increase or decrease refugium lighting to suit nutrient control, can adjust the intensity of your leds for par readings, and of course automatically dose the big 3 and the minor elements within them (from Triton, ATI, or the others) . Then by doing regular ICP testing we can top up the minor elements we are using more off. Hit me now.
I've been using a recently set up LM3 with WXM as well doing 1 gallon daily. Agreed that you shouldnt be in this hobby without this piece of equipment at the top of your priority list.1% a day using litermeter 3. Love it ;Happy. Would never setup another tank without AWC...
I do between 1%-2% per day, and it’s been extremely successful for me. Lots of people think it’s inefficient or a waste of money, but arguably everything in this hobby is a waste of money. As for inefficient I spend my time watching my corals grow instead of messing with my tank.
Waste of money is an opinion, but efficiency is an easily quantified fact, and it seems to me to not be an issue.
I show it here:
Water Changes in Reef Aquaria by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Changing 1% daily for 30 days is exactly equivalent to one 26% change. That seems a small efficiency trade off.
The issue only becomes substantial when one considers very large changes (50% +) and few folks do water changes that size except perhaps on tiny aquaria.
I can certainly answer that question with Confidence (from experience and observation)I have my own autoaqua smart awc on the way and have a question for you guys. Has your nitrate control changed since adding your awc system? If you’re doing a 1-2% daily change, have you been able to remove other nitrate removal methods or at least dial them down?
I can certainly answer that question with Confidence (from experience and observation)
I used to do 10-20% water changes every month. Never has my Nitrates been below 25ppm.
I then wanted to do better with SPS so started doing 10-20% every other week. Maybe my Nitrates got close to 20ppm.
Then I installed the Auto Daily Water changer. Nothing else changed. Same Sump, Skimmer, Same Algae Scrubber, etc.
I do approx 1/2% water change per day. (1 Gallon for a 150 Gallon setup=Tank+Sump)
It took many, many months, but things sped up after a while and for the First time Ever in 20+ years, my Nitrate is 2ppm.
But on this Tank First time in last 2.5 years.
It was 5ppm few weeks ago. The 2ppm was just last week, and that was a suprise.
I am watching things a bit more closely, since I don't want to bottom out.
I am pretty sure the Nitrate drop was due to Daily Water changes, since Nothing else was changed.
Just an FYI
If anyone wishes to add an extension to the DC pumps, the wire used needs to have 5.5mm x 2.5mm Barrel (male and female end). Autoaqua does have "official" extenders which are the same thing and cost around 30ish for one of them... or:
Here is a two pack for 8$
2pcs/Pack 3m/9.84ft Black 5.5mm x 2.5mm DC Plug Extension Cable DC Extension Cable Cord with Male to Female 5.5mm x 2.5mm Connectors DC Power 12V 5.5mm x 2.5mm Barrel Male Plug Connector
Just an FYI
If anyone wishes to add an extension to the DC pumps, the wire used needs to have 5.5mm x 2.5mm Barrel (male and female end). Autoaqua does have "official" extenders which are the same thing and cost around 30ish for one of them... or:
Here is a two pack for 8$
2pcs/Pack 3m/9.84ft Black 5.5mm x 2.5mm DC Plug Extension Cable DC Extension Cable Cord with Male to Female 5.5mm x 2.5mm Connectors DC Power 12V 5.5mm x 2.5mm Barrel Male Plug Connector