Do you do water changes?

[Mark Bradley]

I do a 15% water change religiously every week. Dosing alk and calcium and keep phosphates at bay using rowaphos. ICP tests are near perfect. This husbandry has worked well for me for over 2 years now so seems to be my solution.

 

[KLandry]

No water charges unless my tests say I need one or if something else gets out of wack. I do 1-2 gallon changes to start if that doesn’t work I do 4-5 on a 75 mixed reef. I go weeks to months w/o a single water change. Perimeters stay stable and water is super clear!

 

[Saltyanimals]

I try not to WC because of the effort for a large system, but there's a bit of satisfaction from seeing the brown water full of gunk from vacuuming the sand. For those that do the 'water exchange' from maybe DT through a sock back to the sump to basically mechanical filter the sand... is this just a basic 1 micron sock enough to get all the big stuff leaving the smaller DOCs for the skimmer?

I’m replying to myself 3 years ago! =). I’ve changed my ways… a little bit.

I went call it 2 years without a WC. No issues, but I did notice a significant amount of organics in the sand that clearly doesn’t go anywhere. It’s the fine dusty cloud that stirs up when you move the sand. I assume it’s largely benign as it doesn’t do anything to my water parameter when I do the occasional stir. However it drives me nuts to see the white sand in a light gray color because of the built up organic. Only physical removal is possible. I did a 20% (40 gallon) WC this week. Felt “nice” to do albeit laborious. I think I’ll do one every year just to physically remove the detritus otherwise taking care of water is still less effort if one is able to keep parameters in check. This supports the earlier comment that total water volume is important in this discussion. 5 gallons I would do much more frequently than 40 gallons.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m replying to myself 3 years ago! =). I’ve changed my ways… a little bit.

I went call it 2 years without a WC. No issues, but I did notice a significant amount of organics in the sand that clearly doesn’t go anywhere. It’s the fine dusty cloud that stirs up when you move the sand. I assume it’s largely benign as it doesn’t do anything to my water parameter when I do the occasional stir. However it drives me nuts to see the white sand in a light gray color because of the built up organic. Only physical removal is possible. I did a 20% (40 gallon) WC this week. Felt “nice” to do albeit laborious. I think I’ll do one every year just to physically remove the detritus otherwise taking care of water is still less effort if one is able to keep parameters in check. This supports the earlier comment that total water volume is important in this discussion. 5 gallons I would do much more frequently than 40 gallons.

Any organisms in the tank respond to the water change?

 

[Saltyanimals]

Any organisms in the tank respond to the water change?

They probably have a smile on their coral faces but I can’t tell. :). Nothing obvious like more PE or anything clear.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

They probably have a smile on their coral faces but I can’t tell. :). Nothing obvious like more PE or anything clear.

Thanks. :)