I want to do less water changes

[FlameangelLover]

Hi Guys I’m one year into my reef tank journey !!!!!!

I do weekly water changes mostly to keep nutrients down (my elements stay fairly consistent besides alk but I dose sodium carbonate so we good)

I no longer want to do weekly water changes any tips to get this to every 2 weeks or possibly ever 3 weeks?

I run a HOB filter with carbon cartridges and have 3 fish and don’t plan on getting more. It’s a 40 gal breeder . I also have a HOB skimmer but I honestly don’t think it does much lol

See below for stocking

 

[FlameangelLover]

Also I have Po4 problems a lot lol I tried dialing back feeding but doesn’t help.

 

[Davileet]

I reduced NO3 from 100+ to around 5-10ppm with a sulfur denitrator. Not always recommended, but helped for my large tank.

For PO4 I have been using RowaPhos in a reactor and brought it down from 1.25 to about .25 currently. For RowaPhos I replaced the media when I saw that phosphates were no longer going down, and also found slow flow to be the key to not clogging my reactor.

I would recommend a small doser for ALK, start slow, and just test weekly to make sure it’s keeping up.

I do water changes about once or twice a year.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

First request - provide testing results for chemistry

Alk:
Cal:
Mag:
NO3:
PO4:
Salinity:

Second Request - Type of reef
Third Request - End goals/where you want your tank to be. High nutrients aren't THAT bad, but without understanding what you want to keep, that's hard to answer.
Fourth - Using any supplementation aside the what I think you meant to say Sodium Bicarb? 2 part? 3 part? A/B? Things like this help answering.
Fifth - stocking list aside from fish? What type of fish? What type of corals? Inverts? Having a heavy fish load can increase nitrates. Big fish poop a lot and eat a lot. Having a well stocked selection of corals also helps a TON in keeping your nutrients down as they are a direct consumer.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

There is no reason you can't switch to every other week. That is what I do. IF your nutrients are staying high, you can always try carbon dosing. I use Tropic Marin Elimi NP for that. I prefer that to semi starving my fish to keep nutrients under control.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi Guys I’m one year into my reef tank journey !!!!!!

I do weekly water changes mostly to keep nutrients down (my elements stay fairly consistent besides alk but I dose sodium carbonate so we good)

I no longer want to do weekly water changes any tips to get this to every 2 weeks or possibly ever 3 weeks?

I run a HOB filter with carbon cartridges and have 3 fish and don’t plan on getting more. It’s a 40 gal breeder . I also have a HOB skimmer but I honestly don’t think it does much lol

See below for stocking

Knowing the actual N and P levels would help understand whether that has any bearing on dropping water changes.

Many people think they have an issue, when the levels may be fine.

 

[FlameangelLover]

Hi Guys I’m one year into my reef tank journey !!!!!!

I do weekly water changes mostly to keep nutrients down (my elements stay fairly consistent besides alk but I dose sodium carbonate so we good)

I no longer want to do weekly water changes any tips to get this to every 2 weeks or possibly ever 3 weeks?

I run a HOB filter with carbon cartridges and have 3 fish and don’t plan on getting more. It’s a 40 gal breeder . I also have a HOB skimmer but I honestly don’t think it does much lol

See below for stocking

Knowing the actual N and P levels would help understand whether that has any bearing on dropping water changes.

Many people think they have an issue, when the levels may be fine.

I’ve never seen it go over 0.15 but lately it goes from 0.02-0.10 then it’s water change day by the time it’s 0.10( I use Hannah)

N is non detectable on my salifert test kit

 

[FlameangelLover]

There is no reason you can't switch to every other week. That is what I do. IF your nutrients are staying high, you can always try carbon dosing. I use Tropic Marin Elimi NP for that. I prefer that to semi starving my fish to keep nutrients under control.

Finally someone said it!!!!! Who wants to starve there fish ???? I hate doing that . I wish I had more money for more expensive equipment to help with nutrient export

 

[Davileet]

I’ve never seen it go over 0.15 but lately it goes from 0.02-0.10 then it’s water change day by the time it’s 0.10( I use Hannah)

N is non detectable on my salifert test kit

Ideally you want Nitrates in the 5-10 range for coral, and Phosphates around .2-.3 is pretty widely accepted. That said, I have an SPS dominant tank with nitrates beyond 100 and phosphates beyond 1.0 for a long time.

 

[FlameangelLover]

I reduced NO3 from 100+ to around 5-10ppm with a sulfur denitrator. Not always recommended, but helped for my large tank.

For PO4 I have been using RowaPhos in a reactor and brought it down from 1.25 to about .25 currently. For RowaPhos I replaced the media when I saw that phosphates were no longer going down, and also found slow flow to be the key to not clogging my reactor.

I would recommend a small doser for ALK, start slow, and just test weekly to make sure it’s keeping up.

I do water changes about once or twice a year.

Wow I will actually research this and consider it! Mind if I DM you questions?

Also if I can keep Po4 under control I def think I can cut back on the amount of water changes I do a month

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Finally someone said it!!!!! Who wants to starve there fish ???? I hate doing that . I wish I had more money for more expensive equipment to help with nutrient export

You don't need expensive equipment, just a budget and some good knowledge. My 90 gallon tank is mostly old school. I too use an HOB filter along with a canister filter and an HOB skimmer.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Ideally you want Nitrates in the 5-10 range for coral, and Phosphates around .2-.3 is pretty widely accepted. That said, I have an SPS dominant tank with nitrates beyond 100 and phosphates beyond 1.0 for a long time.

My tanks nitrates stay between 25 and 40 ppm, and phosphate between .03 and .1, and my sps are growing like crazy.

 

[FlameangelLover]

First request - provide testing results for chemistry

Alk:
Cal:
Mag:
NO3:
PO4:
Salinity:

Second Request - Type of reef
Third Request - End goals/where you want your tank to be. High nutrients aren't THAT bad, but without understanding what you want to keep, that's hard to answer.
Fourth - Using any supplementation aside the what I think you meant to say Sodium Bicarb? 2 part? 3 part? A/B? Things like this help answering.
Fifth - stocking list aside from fish? What type of fish? What type of corals? Inverts? Having a heavy fish load can increase nitrates. Big fish poop a lot and eat a lot. Having a well stocked selection of corals also helps a TON in keeping your nutrients down as they are a direct consumer.

First request - provide testing results for chemistry

Calcium 400

Po4 0.01-0-10 maybe 0.15 if I overfeed a week (Hannah)

Nitrate undetectable on salifert

Magnesium 1335

ALK 8.9
Salinity:35ppt

Second Request - big soft corals and torches!! A bunch of things that move !!!!


Third Request - I want my tank to be a flowy place with a bunch of torches and toadstools and colors !! And a big anemone!!!! Pretty much everything I have now but larger


Fourth - nope only sodium bicarbonate
Fifth - you can see this in the video I posted but it’s 2 clowns and a flame angel . The video shows all the corals

 

[FlameangelLover]

My tanks nitrates stay between 25 and 40 ppm, and phosphate between .03 and .1, and my sps are growing like crazy.

Hmm so maybe stretching out to every other week won’t be bad at all

 

[FlameangelLover]

You don't need expensive equipment, just a budget and some good knowledge. My 90 gallon tank is mostly old school. I too use an HOB filter along with a canister filter and an HOB skimmer.

You got any pics??? I would love to see

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

I’ve never seen it go over 0.15 but lately it goes from 0.02-0.10 then it’s water change day by the time it’s 0.10( I use Hannah)

N is non detectable on my salifert test kit

Seriously?

First request - provide testing results for chemistry

Calcium 400

Po4 0.01-0-10 maybe 0.15 if I overfeed a week (Hannah)

Nitrate undetectable on salifert

Magnesium 1335

ALK 8.9
Salinity:35ppt

Second Request - big soft corals and torches!! A bunch of things that move !!!!


Third Request - I want my tank to be a flowy place with a bunch of torches and toadstools and colors !! And a big anemone!!!! Pretty much everything I have now but larger


Fourth - nope only sodium bicarbonate
Fifth - you can see this in the video I posted but it’s 2 clowns and a flame angel . The video shows all the corals

Your chemistry is perfect and you don't need to change anything other than probably getting your Nitrate UP off of zero and into the 10-15ppm range. You don't need to do such frequent water changes.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Hmm so maybe stretching out to every other week won’t be bad at all

Go look at my tank thread. I will try to post a new one tonight here as well

 

[FlameangelLover]

Seriously?

Your chemistry is perfect and you don't need to change anything other than probably getting your Nitrate UP off of zero and into the 10-15ppm range. You don't need to do such frequent water changes.

Okay cool so you thinking every other week is fine ?

I just can’t keep doing weekly. My job is starting to ramp up and I don’t have the mental capacity for that

 

[Reefer Matt]

How does the tank look? Are there any actual problems with livestock, or are you chasing “desired” numbers?

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Okay cool so you thinking every other week is fine ?

I just can’t keep doing weekly. My job is starting to ramp up and I don’t have the mental capacity for that

You could probably go a month without as long as you are monitoring your chemistry. I haven't done a WC in my acro dominant tank in 1.5 years (but I also do something very unique for my water chemistry).