I stopped regular water changes and everything is thriving.

[waverider]

My 65 Gallon with about 50 pounds of quality aged live rock is about 7 months old now. I have about 20 soft corals and LPS. 3 Clowns, a Neon Dottyback and a 18 inch snake eel. I feed about 3x per week. Im running a Skimmer, a Cannister Filter, heavy flow and a constant air stone.

I had been doing 10-15 gallon water changes every 2 weeks. Now its over 5 weeks since I have done a water change and my tank is *Thriving*. Soft Corals and LPS are fat and just thriving. I am dosing Ca/Dkh regularly and occasionally adding Magnesium. Ca =400+, DkH stable 9-10, Mg= 1450-1500

I last week I spotted a single growth of 1 inch hair algae in one little spot and began to wonder maybe time for a water change.

Tonight after inspecting the tank, its gone! I did nothing. Nothing but dose and feed the fish. -And rather heavily.

Is my tank hitting its "stride" ???

Its really amazing that this system with no sump seems to have become so stable at 7 months.

I have 30 gallons of fresh saltwater mixed up that has been in aerating and cycling for about 2 weeks now waiting on tap.

Just Im wondering how far I can go without a water change.

Comments greatly appreciated = )

 

[ZoWhat]

I do THREE major WCs a year

But I nightly dose 64ozs of home brewed tetraselmis phytoplankton

.

 

[G Santana]

I do THREE major WCs a year

But I nightly dose 64ozs of home brewed tetraselmis phytoplankton

.

64 ounces nightly? WOW

 

[ZoWhat]

64 ounces nightly? WOW

Yep half gallon

It's a 6ft 180g DT with a 100g sump in the basement.

The 64oz phyto gets gobbled up in around 6hrs

NO3 around 5
PO4 around .01 - .5
with heavy feedings

I really only do WCs to replenish minor and trace elements

 

[DarthChaos]

Been running my main reef tank - Red Sea 350 for almost a year, not a single water change. Tank is full of big, healthy corals. I feed 2x a day, plus dose 20ml of AB+ everyday.

I have another setup (drilled 29g BioCube) with just pipefish, mandarin and some gobies - running since December - not a single water change. This tank....gets fed only once a week, maybe? For the soft corals....all are big and healthy.

If you setup your tank properly - to allow the system to manage nutrient export, and are dosing minerals and elements back in.....a reef tank can literally, run itself.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

My 65 Gallon with about 50 pounds of quality aged live rock is about 7 months old now. I have about 20 soft corals and LPS. 3 Clowns, a Neon Dottyback and a 18 inch snake eel. I feed about 3x per week. Im running a Skimmer, a Cannister Filter, heavy flow and a constant air stone.

I had been doing 10-15 gallon water changes every 2 weeks. Now its over 5 weeks since I have done a water change and my tank is *Thriving*. Soft Corals and LPS are fat and just thriving. I am dosing Ca/Dkh regularly and occasionally adding Magnesium. Ca =400+, DkH stable 9-10, Mg= 1450-1500

I last week I spotted a single growth of 1 inch hair algae in one little spot and began to wonder maybe time for a water change.

Tonight after inspecting the tank, its gone! I did nothing. Nothing but dose and feed the fish. -And rather heavily.

Is my tank hitting its "stride" ???

Its really amazing that this system with no sump seems to have become so stable at 7 months.

I have 30 gallons of fresh saltwater mixed up that has been in aerating and cycling for about 2 weeks now waiting on tap.

Just Im wondering how far I can go without a water change.

Comments greatly appreciated = )

I've gone 7 months.

 

[blasterman]

20 gal crammed full of so much SPS its scary....about a year with no water changes.. No sump ...no skimmer. Tank eats just a bit less than a full teaspoon of baking soda daily.

You do water changes to export nutrients or DOCs. If you don't have an issue with these water changes arent required.

As for the trace element claim, Coors Light has as much validity claiming healthy trace elements as salt mixes.

 

[BadSquishy]

That’s awesome but careful! I was in a similar boat a couple months ago with the one tiny tuft of hair algae that would appear, then disappear, then reappear, then whither and die, and then one day.. BAM! Hair algae explosion. It was insane. Been battling it back ever since.. I think I’m winning the fight but if I had known it would be like this I would’ve destroyed that small tuft immediately. If you see it again- kill it! Kill it with fire!

 

[Patman]

My 65 Gallon with about 50 pounds of quality aged live rock is about 7 months old now. I have about 20 soft corals and LPS. 3 Clowns, a Neon Dottyback and a 18 inch snake eel. I feed about 3x per week. Im running a Skimmer, a Cannister Filter, heavy flow and a constant air stone.

I had been doing 10-15 gallon water changes every 2 weeks. Now its over 5 weeks since I have done a water change and my tank is *Thriving*. Soft Corals and LPS are fat and just thriving. I am dosing Ca/Dkh regularly and occasionally adding Magnesium. Ca =400+, DkH stable 9-10, Mg= 1450-1500

I last week I spotted a single growth of 1 inch hair algae in one little spot and began to wonder maybe time for a water change.

Tonight after inspecting the tank, its gone! I did nothing. Nothing but dose and feed the fish. -And rather heavily.

Is my tank hitting its "stride" ???

Its really amazing that this system with no sump seems to have become so stable at 7 months.

I have 30 gallons of fresh saltwater mixed up that has been in aerating and cycling for about 2 weeks now waiting on tap.

Just Im wondering how far I can go without a water change.

Comments greatly appreciated = )

How have the No3 and Po4 reacted over the last few weeks don't see them mentioned.

 

[najer]

No water changes and no mechanical filtration live phyto and liquid food for the corals daily, about 2 years old as the last one decided to no longer contain water.

 

[dactylo]

Water changes are not needed for some soft corals or even some hardy SPS and LPS corals to thrive. My tank is 6 years old and I have changed 20% water a year. I recognize that some corals benefit from water changes but if the nutrients balance is good, water changes are not needed. Some frag size soft corals grew to 10" in 6 months in this tank.

 

[TanksJB]

My 65 Gallon with about 50 pounds of quality aged live rock is about 7 months old now. I have about 20 soft corals and LPS. 3 Clowns, a Neon Dottyback and a 18 inch snake eel. I feed about 3x per week. Im running a Skimmer, a Cannister Filter, heavy flow and a constant air stone.

I had been doing 10-15 gallon water changes every 2 weeks. Now its over 5 weeks since I have done a water change and my tank is *Thriving*. Soft Corals and LPS are fat and just thriving. I am dosing Ca/Dkh regularly and occasionally adding Magnesium. Ca =400+, DkH stable 9-10, Mg= 1450-1500

I last week I spotted a single growth of 1 inch hair algae in one little spot and began to wonder maybe time for a water change.

Tonight after inspecting the tank, its gone! I did nothing. Nothing but dose and feed the fish. -And rather heavily.

Is my tank hitting its "stride" ???

Its really amazing that this system with no sump seems to have become so stable at 7 months.

I have 30 gallons of fresh saltwater mixed up that has been in aerating and cycling for about 2 weeks now waiting on tap.

Just Im wondering how far I can go without a water change.

Comments greatly appreciated = )

How are your nitrates? My tank is about the same age and my fish load and feeding is smaller than yours but I had to take my lps out because my nitrates got high. I have lots of live rock and some of it is direct from the ocean. All numbers are fine except my nitrates started going up.

 

[Alexrotta]

So what do you guys do to manage Nutrients ? Because I need to feed my fish too.
My Nitrate does not drop below 25 and Phosphate below .1

 

[las]

tagging along

 

[Susan Edwards]

My tank is now 1 month old. No water changes yet. Mixed reef with fish and corals from another tank-upgraded. Used all new rock except sump and rock with corals. Right now it is super clean. I have to dose a bit of neophos every day to keep it at .07. No3 at a steady 5. I feed 2x's a day. Heavy in part due to the numbers, and so all fish get food (goby/shrimp pair. Food has to come to them.)

I plan to hook up an auto water change. Was planning 3 gal a day (225 total water) but I may change that to half gal a day or just wait on it.

Dosing AB+ in with food (a condiment dispenser with frozen, some coral food and a bit of ab+. Mix 2 days worth). I also add AB+ in larger amts a couple times a week and the Red Sea 4 trace colors 3 times a week. Also dose phyto

Also adding a small amt of nopox and once a week a small amt of MB7

 

[waverider]

OP here... A follow up on this post which I posted back in May 21st.

My system is now a year old.

At the time I posted this thread back on May 21st I had let my reef run for 5 weeks without a water change -Which in hindsight is a minimal period of time. I continued to let the system run for a full 3 months before finally doing a water change of 20%. -And it ran fine through the full 3 months. Bear in mind I keep only soft corals and LPS.

**But I am now back to regular monthly waterchanges and convinced that periodic water changes are the way to go (I can hear alot of people thinking "duh!" right about now):

I have come to find that my reef just looks better with periodic fresh saltwater. My corals are brighter, my coraline algae is brighter and thrives, my fish look brighter.

I know I can go months without water changes -were I to get lazy. But monthly maintenance is about an hour and enjoyable. Maintaining and tinkering with my system on a monthly basis is just right. -I spend less time with my hands in the tank, and everything is on cruise control.

So, I've come full circle with regards to water changes.

 

[waverider]

My tank is now 1 month old. No water changes yet. Mixed reef with fish and corals from another tank-upgraded. Used all new rock except sump and rock with corals. Right now it is super clean. I have to dose a bit of neophos every day to keep it at .07. No3 at a steady 5. I feed 2x's a day. Heavy in part due to the numbers, and so all fish get food (goby/shrimp pair. Food has to come to them.)

I plan to hook up an auto water change. Was planning 3 gal a day (225 total water) but I may change that to half gal a day or just wait on it.

Dosing AB+ in with food (a condiment dispenser with frozen, some coral food and a bit of ab+. Mix 2 days worth). I also add AB+ in larger amts a couple times a week and the Red Sea 4 trace colors 3 times a week. Also dose phyto

Also adding a small amt of nopox and once a week a small amt of MB7

Looks great. Sounds like your on top of everything in detail. How many gallons is that? Also are you keeping SPS? If so that would explain great attention to water quality, as LPS and Soft Coral are far more forgiving of water parameters. All my tanks are Soft Coral and LPS so I tend to feed them heavily and let my nitrates and phosphates go a bit

 

[Susan Edwards]

Looks great. Sounds like your on top of everything in detail. How many gallons is that? Also are you keeping SPS? If so that would explain great attention to water quality, as LPS and Soft Coral are far more forgiving of water parameters. All my tanks are Soft Coral and LPS so I tend to feed them heavily and let my nitrates and phosphates go a bit

The system is 240 gal. 192 display/48 sump. For the first time since my first tank, I can keep sps and lps. Discovered with tank 2 my problem was a monsterous toadstool killing everything except zoas/palys/mushrooms with toxins. Got rid of the toadstool, got some cheap test corals and voila! Moved them to new tank and all doing well. I have 2 types of pavona (orange and green), alveo, goni, possible frogspawn, galaxia, tiny frags of bird's nest, poccilipora, and a purple stylophora. And then my paly hill, rhodactis and zoas.

My main coral goal is LPS. Esp. wavy corals like euphillia and elegance and more gonis, but no more leathers lol's. exception might be a true japanese willow (but could put it in the observation tank if it gives me fits). Prob. no nems either. Hubby likes the sticks, so need to balance nutrients.

 

[Susan Edwards]

OP here... A follow up on this post which I posted back in May 21st.

My system is now a year old.

At the time I posted this thread back on May 21st I had let my reef run for 5 weeks without a water change -Which in hindsight is a minimal period of time. I continued to let the system run for a full 3 months before finally doing a water change of 20%. -And it ran fine through the full 3 months. Bear in mind I keep only soft corals and LPS.

**But I am now back to regular monthly waterchanges and convinced that periodic water changes are the way to go (I can hear alot of people thinking "duh!" right about now):

I have come to find that my reef just looks better with periodic fresh saltwater. My corals are brighter, my coraline algae is brighter and thrives, my fish look brighter.

I know I can go months without water changes -were I to get lazy. But monthly maintenance is about an hour and enjoyable. Maintaining and tinkering with my system on a monthly basis is just right. -I spend less time with my hands in the tank, and everything is on cruise control.

So, I've come full circle with regards to water changes.

Nice update. Something to be said for needing some hands on and that closer attention to details. I had a manifold added, so I need to figure out how to use to do a larger water change if I want or need too. It has the barbs. I guess just clamp on the hose.

 

[Susan Edwards]

never notice this was an older thread lol's