Diluting Your Mistakes: How often are you changing out your water?

[ShepherdReefer]

I do water change, total water system is about 70 gallons and about 10 - 15 gallons two times a month for water changes. I have a fish only tank for now...corals in a few months.

 

[brandon429]

fifty eight friends in private message agree that for all nano reefs, pairing water changes + heavy feedings right before is literally the bodybuilding of corals for competition quality disease resistance

no muscle growth without tear down

no coral growth without mass export, and feed in, above normal for + mass growth

its not that complex filtration schemes can't offset the input for making reef tank gains

its that for nano reefs nothing is more convenient



this means for a large segment of the hobby, nano reefs, actively changing water is so you can pump more feed in than your friend next to you with wilty bleaching corals. its to create friendly fragging competition. there isn't any mistakes being created in the active fringing reef model behavior. just because someone tells you to tidepool it doesn't mean you have to listen. the method doesn't have to run forever, it uses a lot of water. you can use it like steroid cycles lol in the reef/ take winters off

a side benefit to steady water change feed in/out is flushing out organics which carry competing heterotrophic bacteria which also clogs surface area. its not that a nice filter and flow system can't replicate it, its that for nano reefs its one way of not needing to buy such a setup...you can just use calories burned in feed in/out intervals to double coral mass but have a relatively normal filtration scheme running most days.

a new aquarist is advised to begin reefing this way, and back off months later...opposite of classic advice.

 

[themcnertney]

I don't dose.
I do weekly water changes aka Water Change Wednesday.
30 gallons per week on my 220 gallon tank.

 

[volcano1]

Roughly 10% a week. 525 water volume main system, 90 gallon frag system.

 

[Acskippy]

Absolutely it dilutes mistakes IMO.... just like running a 300gal vs a 30gal.... it keeps your mistakes from crashing a tank and killing livestock... TO A POINT. It also allows a novice keeper to keep a tank running WHILE continuing to research... I think diluting mistakes is ok just dont let it dilute your RESEARCH! You will inevitably make mistakes.... But the biggest one you can make is not honing your skills!

 

[NewYorkReefer1988]

I always looked at it as a good insurance policy. Just in case. There’s so many variables that can happen it’s just a good idea to change that water out imo. I do 15% once a week and really don’t mind doing it. Takes 15-20 minutes a week. No biggie.

 

[Lasse]

No WC here if not needed. Last time I need to do a WC was January 2018. 2 years and 2 months ago.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Alistairn1]

Changing out your water on consistent basis is a good practice for the long term health of your saltwater reef aquarium. It's like "refreshing" your tank! Refreshing your tank water is good on multiple levels like replenishing trace elements, reducing nutrients, etc. But another important factor in changing out your water is the fact that you can dilute your mistakes. Right?

I had a conversation yesterday with Ryan from BRS about water changes and he brought up the fact that with regular water changes you can dilute your mistakes and over time that could really add up! So I thought we could talk about it today. More than just the common benefits of changing out your water how do you feel about "diluting your mistakes?"

1. Do you believe that one of the good long term benefits of changing out your water is diluting your mistakes?

2. Currently how often are you changing out your water?

I’m currently running the EA1200 and I “refresh” approx 20% per week I only dose Magnesium and running Kalkwasser through a reactor, I’ve always tried to take the most natural approach to my reef as possible, as dilution is exactly what Mother Nature does daily with the help of many bacteria, pods, large scale CUC! Yes my corals are slow growing but I’m not force feeding to sell ! I’m just creating a mini reef that I have the comfort within my own home. I fully appreciate all the effort people go to to produce such amazing results As well as farming great quantities but nature is all about finding that balance, I can remember reading a article in Marine magazine regards the amount of substitutes, chemicals and animal care being in plastic bottles which is contradictory to what the oceans suffer from the most of! So my basic approach to using just water and salt to keep my reef works well for me !

 

[Doctorgori]

I’ve tried going w/o H2O changes... it worked until it didn’t ...
So anymore 15%- 20% every 2-3 weeks seems to freshen things up a bit and is waaaay cheaper than Chemiclean or Vibrant or most additives (I do use them but....)
So yes H2O changes cover my mistakes...its done for that very reason

 

[725196]

I do a 5 gallon change every Friday on a 70g, total water volume, system. Roughly an 8% change. I know this is not going to fix any huge problems, but I don’t do it for that. I do believe it will help (HELP) remove some stuff to the tank and butt a bit of fresh...er... water to the system. The real reason I do the water change is not to fix the water quality but it gives me the opportunity to blow the detritus off the rock work and suck it into a bucket to be removed. Once I started doing this, in conjunction with other algae fighting practices, my algae problems went away.

I love the idea of the no water change system but to me it just does not seem like a wise course of action.

I should add that the water you use to make a change is important to test before you make a change. I never do a WC without knowing what the new water is like. That can damage a system too.

 

[siggy]

Just like Fuges, Socks and Marine-pur (ceramic-media) Opinion seems to change almost daily as we follow the leaders.
I have gone months without but I always see a noticeable improvement when I do a WC, everything just perks right up.
I recently did a large WC when I cleaned out the sump, about 40% of system, that had a negative result, sps frags that were doing well for 3 months quickly protested, so i couldn't WC my way out of that.
WC's are like a multi vitamin for your tank, too much is not good either.

 

[Ralph]

Used to be randomly because I didn't like breaking out all the buckets. Then it was 1% daily as I hooked up a system to do it automatically. Now it hasn't happened in some months as I work to transition my tank over to no water changes at all.

Do you have any references on how to make an auto water changer. beginner language please.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

5 gallons a week changed in my 75g tank. I feel it helps keeps the balance of elements in the tank that get depleted or thrown ouf of balance by dosing. I went 3 months with no water change and onlunkqlk dosing during a dino bloom. I sent an ICP test before doing a larger water change and a few things had gotten low or outnof balance but it was not too bad and manageable.

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

I normally normally do a 20% water change on my 400ltr tank every 2 weeks but just lately doing 20% weekly trying to get my Nitrates down I am dosing Nopox for the last 2 weeks started low dosing than the recommend dosage I started with 3ml first week and 5ml after and nitrate reading got it to 20ppm from 40ppm I am dosing now at 9ml as it rose to 40ppm don’t know why as I even reduced feeding amount for fish and corals so in away I may have to do a bigger water change which might help and correct in my case a nitrate mistake.

 

[sde1500]

Do you have any references on how to make an auto water changer. beginner language please.

Sure, I bought this pump, hooked it up down in my basement. Drilled a hole in the bottom of my brute can for saltwater, slip union and some other fittings to connect the "in" side of one head to, the "out" side of the head ran up through the floor to my sump. The other head "in" is in my sump, pumping water out of the sump, and "out" is connected to a drain line. Plugged into a timer that turned on 30 min daily. Each head is 50 GPD, so 30 min got me right around 1 gallon pumped. It was not perfect, it removed more than it added. I mixed up NSW at 1.03 and it maintained salinity perfectly. Connection is seen below:

 

[Terrill305]

I do a 25% WC every 3 weeks. My params stay consistent. All my fish and coral surviving and thriving. Water changes probably does correct whatever I mess up during that time tho. I test every Sunday
A.K.A. Sunday Test Day

 

[KeystoneMalone]

From the time my tank was cycled (only 5 months at this point) I do appx a 25% change every week (5 gallon bucket, im Nuvo 20) and knock on wood, I’ve had great success so far. I think it really helped shorten my “ugly phase” and I’ve yet to deal with any major algae problems or anything dying on me. Needless to say, I’m a big supporter of water changes, plus it gives me something to do.

 

[Arabyps]

Generally 20% weekly with substrate siphon makes for a happy home for my fish and coral.

 

[Mkus]

Changing out your water on consistent basis is a good practice for the long term health of your saltwater reef aquarium. It's like "refreshing" your tank! Refreshing your tank water is good on multiple levels like replenishing trace elements, reducing nutrients, etc. But another important factor in changing out your water is the fact that you can dilute your mistakes. Right?

I had a conversation yesterday with Ryan from BRS about water changes and he brought up the fact that with regular water changes you can dilute your mistakes and over time that could really add up! So I thought we could talk about it today. More than just the common benefits of changing out your water how do you feel about "diluting your mistakes?"

1. Do you believe that one of the good long term benefits of changing out your water is diluting your mistakes?

2. Currently how often are you changing out your water?

Same salt I use best salt! I have a 24 gal AIO I do a 2-3 gal water change a week no skimmer just a fuge in the back middle chamber my tanks been up and running 12 years .

 

[Proteus Meep]

1. Definately (dilution and replenishment)

2. 10% weekly for me with a sand syphon at the same time