How do you avoid water changes?

[CJO]

OK, here's the breakdown on my pail of Seachem Salinity. Only the first four actually had test results:
pH= 8.4
Alk= 3.4 meq/L
Ca= 417ppm
Mg= 1,373ppm
stontium= 8.2
bicarbonate= 208-220
Borate= 14.5-15.5
Bromide= 63.0-67.0
Chloride= 18,430-19,570
Iodide= 0.05820-0.06180
Sulfate= 2,575-2,735
Potassium= 369-391
Sodium= 10,185-10,815
Cobalt= 0.00039-0.00041
Copper= 0.00029-0.00031
Iron= 0.00970-0.01030
Manganese= 0.00194-0.00206
Molybdenum= 0.00970-0.01030
Rubidium= 0.11640-0.12360
Zinc= 0.00970-0.01030

CJ

 

[beaslbob]

IMHO water change will limit changes in conditions but not eliminate them. Which is why we have to dose calcium/alk/magnesium even when doing weekly water changes.

With or without water changes the single most important thing is to balance out and stabilize operations so that the tank maintaines itself. This can be done with macro algaes or truf algaes completing the cycles and recycling waste products into fish food. Plus as stated above buffering/dosing things that are being used up.

With that system all water changes can actually do is degrade the tank.

my .02

 

[Troylee]

I like the way you think beaslebob.... Ahahahahahah lol

 

[patent]

With or without water changes the single most important thing is to balance out and stabilize operations so that the tank maintaines itself. This can be done with macro algaes or truf algaes completing the cycles and recycling waste products into fish food. Plus as stated above buffering/dosing things that are being used up.

With that system all water changes can actually do is degrade the tank.
2

You would have to dose a fair number of things to fully keep up with everything the corals and fish actually use. Doing a water change is far easier than testing for and dosing all the trace elements that they can use at times.

 

[pickupman66]

I may get flamed for chiming in here, but what the heck.

for the last 10 years, I kept a very successful tank with very minimal water changes and minimal husbandry. the tank was a 75 that for at least the last 4 years, didnt have any water changes. all that was added was top off to replinish evap, and the occasional salt dose to keep salinity correct. for the last 2 years, no skimmer was used either. I did not dose except to use a Sealab #28 cube, and that was stopped in teh last two years as well. the only additional equipment used on the tank aside from normal pumps and sump, was a homemade Denitrator coil. this coil removed the nitrates naturally from the tank. I experienced Incredible growth out of Leathers, LPS and SPS regularly fragging and selling them to local reef members.

the tank was broken down in April 2010 due to a job change and move. the rock from this tank is still in use today in my new tank. while I am doing a few things differently on this one due to it size and overall setup, I am going to attempt to run it similarly to the other system.

now that I look back at my old system some key factors:
1. the biological system in it was 10 years old (setup in the spring of 2000 originally)
2. the nutrients in teh system fed the corals. I kept three small tangs, a GSM pair and some other small fish.
3. fed one daily to every other day
4. there was a period of time when it looked like _ _ _ _ . this was due to the water going into the system. after switching to RO/DI at year 5, years 6-10 were INCREDIBLE.
5. I let the system tell me what it needed. observing the corals and their attributes were my test kits.

Some Photos of the last few years.

 

[CJO]

That's a beautiful tank. I was wondering how you had almost all pink corals, but in the last pic it looks like it was just a white balance issue :)

CJ

 

[pickupman66]

Yea. Cheap point and shoot camera. Lots of pinks too. One of my favorites was the pick valida with purple tips. That cap was very orange.