Great conversation. I am about to start trying NWC on my 200g tank, after a year of monthly water changes (carrying buckets through the house.. ugh) and auto top-up with RODI. I keep mainly softies and about 20 small-medium fish. Running a large Bashsea Skimmer plus Carbon and GFO. Recently got an Apex Controller and now also have the auto-doser. Will keep my parameters in check with the doser and just top up RODI. See what happens. Might try and aim for a water change in three months time.
The no water change revolution!
- Thread starter Murica
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I know you guys mention doing no water changes and all, but I'm wondering what kind of coral you guys are keeping, my softies and lps usually do we ll without water changes. On the other hand, sps seem to brown out over time with no water changes even though I'm dosing 2 part with export of nutrients. Today, I decided to do a water change after about 8 months, my plate corals went crazy and puffed up , haven't seen them that big since I did water changes.
symon_say
Active Member
Have you done a icp test?
DSC_0003
Are you dosing something other than 2 part ? I concluded that in my tank something bad accumulated over time or a minor trace element got too low
najer
Valuable Member
I dose coral essentials coral power grow daily and Iodine every 2 or 3 days.
No water changes in 1.5 years on my 90 gallon. SPS dominant and does great. Dosing AF 3-part. My 15 gallon coral QT is on automated daily water change because I don't want to spend the time to measure and manage the nutrient levels.
U
User1
Guest
@phixman - search on glennf and you will see tanks without water changes. There are others but he has sps, lps, and soft tanks. Even a tank with butterflies eating SPS frags.
ReefTeacher
Active Member
My first ICP test gave me the courage to go without water changes, so about a year ago I started. It is not really a matter of cost, as ICP test are not really cheaper than salt, but it is easier on the back than carrying buckets of water up a flight of stairs. I dose several elements as per ICP instructions, but I make my own additives as it is much cheaper. I cannot imagine it is cheaper at all if you use commercial additives.
Just at the end of the summer I reintroduced about a 5 gal/month water change in my 180 gal display. This is mostly to get rid of detritus. I tried just siphoning into a sock in the sump so no water was lost, but more often than not water ended up on the carpet. Eyes looking over the glasses convinced me to try a different way, so the carpet now stays drier.
My nutrients are higher than I would like and higher than I have maintained in years: NO3 = 25 ppm and PO4 = 0.40 ppm. But I have no hair algae. Go figure! The chaeto in my sump grows wild and I have an occasional dusting of cyano, but no more.
I have always had a mixed tank, but I have struggled with SPS in the long term. Now with ICP and no water changes I have the most successful tank I have ever had. If I buy a frag, I pretty much know it will live and grow now; not the mixed results I had before. My colors are good, not great, but I don't buy really expensive SPS either, due to my history. So it is an improvement for me.
Just at the end of the summer I reintroduced about a 5 gal/month water change in my 180 gal display. This is mostly to get rid of detritus. I tried just siphoning into a sock in the sump so no water was lost, but more often than not water ended up on the carpet. Eyes looking over the glasses convinced me to try a different way, so the carpet now stays drier.
My nutrients are higher than I would like and higher than I have maintained in years: NO3 = 25 ppm and PO4 = 0.40 ppm. But I have no hair algae. Go figure! The chaeto in my sump grows wild and I have an occasional dusting of cyano, but no more.
I have always had a mixed tank, but I have struggled with SPS in the long term. Now with ICP and no water changes I have the most successful tank I have ever had. If I buy a frag, I pretty much know it will live and grow now; not the mixed results I had before. My colors are good, not great, but I don't buy really expensive SPS either, due to my history. So it is an improvement for me.
PapaWhisky
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LOL we've all been there!
Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
I believe it’s entirely possible to calculate nutrient import, nutrient consumption, nutrient export via filtration, and reasonably come up with a feeding plan that will yield roughly no ‘excess’ nutrients and allow for no water changes.
We can even do it using math we learned in 3rd or 4th grade.
I don’t have an issue with that approach. My only issue when engaging in animal husbandry is that I hate cutting things close and micro-managing nutrient import. To me, water changes are beneficial not because I get to ‘change water’, but because it gives me an opportunity to get into the tank and remove organic matter that will ultimately create nutrients.
The average tank that I manage is 200 gal. Typically heavy fish load, and heavy coral load. When I change water on a tank, all I do is get the siphon down into the sand at the base of rocks or in dead spots. I pull out whatever organic matter is in those areas.
200, 300, 400gal...doesn’t matter. I typically only take out 5-10 gal. It’s not necessarily how much you take out, but what you take out.
I can remove 25%, and get the PO4 that’s in that 25%. Or, I can remove 3-4% of detritus and sludge, and get out a whole bunch of material that can ultimately break down into nutrients.
This keeps me ahead of the game and then (with the LSS) I can feed whatever I want to w/o having to think much about nutrient overload.
We can even do it using math we learned in 3rd or 4th grade.
I don’t have an issue with that approach. My only issue when engaging in animal husbandry is that I hate cutting things close and micro-managing nutrient import. To me, water changes are beneficial not because I get to ‘change water’, but because it gives me an opportunity to get into the tank and remove organic matter that will ultimately create nutrients.
The average tank that I manage is 200 gal. Typically heavy fish load, and heavy coral load. When I change water on a tank, all I do is get the siphon down into the sand at the base of rocks or in dead spots. I pull out whatever organic matter is in those areas.
200, 300, 400gal...doesn’t matter. I typically only take out 5-10 gal. It’s not necessarily how much you take out, but what you take out.
I can remove 25%, and get the PO4 that’s in that 25%. Or, I can remove 3-4% of detritus and sludge, and get out a whole bunch of material that can ultimately break down into nutrients.
This keeps me ahead of the game and then (with the LSS) I can feed whatever I want to w/o having to think much about nutrient overload.
Punchanello
Well-Known Member
I don't do water changes as much as I should. My water parameters are within a healthy range and stable but I often wonder if this is the full story. There's still waste and any number of byproducts from the flora and fauna in the tanks and processes we can't see or test for. I can live in a clean well maintained house but I still have to open a window once in a while. I feel the same way about my tank.
tony'stank
Active Member
I find water changes more difficult to do my age. Not like it was 30+years ago when I started reefing. I am using the ATI method primarily because it does not require a large refugium and the dosing is much cheaper and easier to do.
This is my issue. NO3 stayed undetectable until I started dosing it. I don't know if it's the sand bed or my disproportionate amount of live rock to water ratio. But I don't have many fish either...
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