This debate will last through eternity! But it's 2020 and have things changed?

[Joedubyk]

So all the vendors who grow and color up coral as fast as possible for a living all do weekly and regular water changes, are wrong? Nonsense

Unless you have a 4-5 year old tank, WC are essential for maximum coral health. The folks who say otherwise either have a tank of softies or are just lazy.

I also hate "if the corals looks good! bla blah." By the time your corals STOP looking ood the problem has been in the weeks, perhaps months in the making. Do *not* wait for your corals to look bad, it's likely too late.

 

[zachtos]

I have not changed any water in 25 months now (2 years, and all this coral is only about 2.5 years old). I have a 300G SPS and do bi-monthly ICP tests from ATI labs. I then modify my minerals as needed and make all my own supplements from scratch. With amazon an some basic chemistry unit conversion, you can keep everything in this system alive for years for under $50/year in chemicals and $300/year in tests. Cheaper than 20% water changes, much less labor, and MUCH MUCH better results. Why throw good water down the drain just because it's a bit low in Vanadium?

Currently, I dose weekly DIY solutions (iron, vanadium, iodine, zinc, strontium).
Monthly, I add much larger doses of other minerals (barium, flouride, manganese).
As needed (molybdate, calcium, boron, magnesium).
My tank does not seem to need any other minerals added, but soon I may need to start adding potassium if the potassium iodide doesn't keep up.

It's all much easier than it sounds. 10 minute a day of feed/visual check, and 1-2 hours a month of testing, dosing, maintenance. I have had much better luck with this method vs. 10 years ago doing bi-weekly water changes.

 

[SMB]

As long as we maintain living organisms in a closed system, water changes will be beneficial; at least until new data or better filtration becomes available.
This system gets water changes continuously and looks pretty good...

 

[MnFish1]

I have not changed any water in 25 months now (2 years). I have a 300G SPS and do bi-monthly ICP tests from ATI labs. I then modify my minerals as needed and make all my own supplements from scratch. With amazon an some basic chemistry unit conversion, you can keep everything in this system alive for years for under $50/year in chemicals and $300/year in tests. Cheaper than 20% water changes, much less labor, and MUCH MUCH better results. Why throw good water down the drain just because it's a bit low in Vanadium?

Currently, I dose weekly DIY solutions (iron, vanadium, iodine, zinc, strontium).
Monthly, I add much larger doses of other minerals (barium, flouride, manganese).
As needed (molybdate, calcium, boron, magnesium).
My tank does not seem to need any other minerals added, but soon I may need to start adding potassium if the potassium iodide doesn't keep up.

It's all much easier than it sounds. 10 minute a day of feed/visual check, and 1-2 hours a month of testing, dosing, maintenance. I have had much better luck with this method vs. 10 years ago doing bi-weekly water changes.

Nice tank - what other filtration/sump, etc do you have? BTW - do you have a skimmer - how do you replace evaporation? Because all of those things are also 'water changes' right? Also curious - what is your nitrate ? Have you found ICP testing useful - ever had anything 'high' and if so what do you do?

 

[Valhalla Reefer]

I used to perform water changes every week, like clockwork. I would change 28g on my 180g system. I did this because I was NOT dosing two part. I used the water change as a way to bring alk and calcium back up. My tank was using about .75dkh (mostly LPS) over the week, so the swing in alk wasn't that large.

When I started dosing two part, water changes have become less frequent, and for different reasons. I now primarily do water changes to vacuum the sand bend and remove detritus.

I don't think it's water changes that allow tanks to thrive, but the act of doing water changes allows one consistent time to view and observe the tank.

. That’s EXACTLY me.
You saved me some typing. Cheers

 

[X-37B]

1 yes
2 no
3 I have done 2 in 15 months since startup.
If you have a plan and follow it they are not needed, imo

 

[jvegazo]

1. YES water changes are beneficial or NO water changes are not beneficial to a reef?



IMO, if done properly water changes can only be beneficial to an aquarium. Are they always the better option though? I think water changes for newly set up systems definitely improves our success rate of achieving fundamental goals in the beginning.



2. YES water changes are necessary or NO water changes are not necessary for long term health of a reef aquarium?



For established reefs with the proper biological filtration water changes can be optional if all organisms in the tank have been acclimated throughout time. In some cases it is necessary though. In order to remove pests and build up on the sand bed. Also the size of the setup can be a factor. In smaller setups up to 50 gallons or so water changes can be much easier and a better option for maintaining a healthy reef throughout time.



3. Do you perform regular water changes on your reef aquarium?



Don’t have one yet but will be very soon! Have been studying the hobby for a few months now with hopes of successfully maintaining a reef of my own.

 

[Scorpius]

Water changes are needed as there is no 100% accurate way to test that every trace element is where it needs to be. Water changes are like insurance.

 

[zachtos]

Nice tank - what other filtration/sump, etc do you have? BTW - do you have a skimmer - how do you replace evaporation? Because all of those things are also 'water changes' right? Also curious - what is your nitrate ? Have you found ICP testing useful - ever had anything 'high' and if so what do you do?

Nitrate is usually 0.1ppm or less, phosphate, 0.01 or less. Probably a bit too low lately.

Water 50G from evaporation every 2 week, this doesn't count as a water change because no minerals change other than adding kalkwasser to help the carx keep up.

If a parameter is too high, I just let it go until it drops over time. I've only overdosed a few times and they drop on their own. Boron, molybdate, magnesium, I OD'd on those a few times, maybe bad calculations. Can't seem to keep Iodine, Vanadium, Iron and Zinc levels in my tank drop very fast. Then magnesium strontium, manganese, flouride, barium for next round of fast depleters.

In order of importance:

1. T5 w/ LED mix for lighting
2. gyres x 4, best flow ever, no powerheads
3. -ATS //uses up excess nutrients, icecap medium size
4. Bi-monthly ICP test and manual dosing as needed
5. -calcium reactor (8" x 20" I think, holds 2 gallons of media), burn through 1 gallon of media per 2 month
6. -auto doser for calc reactor (exactly 70ml/min), a DIY project, but they sell these now, very important IMO
7. -kalk wasser top off water, automatic, 1.5 cups per 50 gallon, last about 2 weeks, helps calc reactor keep up
8. 2 small return pumps, minimal sump
9. apex fusion system on everything, helps, but not needed
10. gas hot water loop for temperature control //also not needed
11. -coral growth //uses up most nutrients
12. -GFO //helps with a bit of silica I have too much of, and keeping phosphate in balance with nitrate 2 cup/8wk
13. -carbon //4 cups bi-weekly helps with water clarity from ATS yellowing of water
14. -live rock //maybe 300lbs?
15. -ceramic rock //2 big blocks that fill a 5G bucket with high flow, supposedly helps with anerobic bacteria to lower nitrate
16. -Skimmer //seems to really not do much, skimmate production is up and down all the time, annoying
17. -15G frag tank, coral and nasty algae in there, kinda forgot about this thing honestly, it keeps backups of colonies only.

I put my recipes below for my 300G water volume.

 

[ScubaFish802]

I do weekly ~10% changes

 

[Rich Klein]

3. Do you perform regular water changes on your reef aquarium? - Yes, since I prefer a substrate to bare-bottom I do a weekly water change where I vacuum the sand to remove detritus.

 

[ReefLab]

I do a weekly 10% water change. its easy enough on a 100 gallon system and cheaper than an ICP test

for people that do water changes just to clean their sand, just make a siphon from your tank into a filter sock in the sump. I do this every 2 or three weeks. easier than being rushed to do it before your bucket fills up

 

[Treefer32]

I've read a few of people's comments here and I agree with all of them. All great points and nothing to dispute. I run a larger system of 340 gallon display and 75 gallon sump. We're trying to simulate nature.

Nature has what? Export processes: bacteria, foaming of the waves (skimmate), algae - plankton, macro micro and other types of algae that all consume nutrients, corals that consume different nutrients, fish that eat the corals and plankton, and keep it all in check so that more nutrients can be consumed and exported. Water then either freezes (at the poles), or is brought to land by hurricanes, winds, waves, etc - doing mass water changes.. New water comes in from rivers and streams. (a form of water change).

In short, our processes are emulating nature. I believe if nature does it, then we probably need to find a way to do it also. My export mechanisms include: Growing algae (ATS), Skimming, Nu-clear cannister filter, and water changes to remove dirty water and replace with fresh water with new nutrients.

I dose Soda ash and calcium chloride, plus 10-20% water changes per week. My corals and fish even look refreshed after a water change. Maybe it's just me, but things just seem happier after a fresh batch of new IO water. I don't want to get into dosing trace elements. They're called trace for a reason, too much of any of the trace elements could hurt living creatures. So, I have a tough time picking up trace elements and dosing them without knowing the impact. I hope the salts are balanced to contain basic trace elements that by replacing 20% of the water every week I'm putting enough trace elements back in to keep things healthy.

Are changes necessary? My response is Nature does it... I would think our closed systems need to as well, but, I don't know what happens if no new trace elements are introduced to an aquarium with a mixed reef of soft, LPS, and SPS corals will be impacted.

 

[Mhart032]

I tried the no water change Triton Method for several months, i never saw good results. that with dosing the triton big 3/3A&B well the 4 base elements, Dosed the triton trace elements religiously. i my tank still struggled. when i switched to KZ with 10-15% weekly everything took off. I was a big advocate for ULM tanks and thought it was the way to go.. but im back on the water change bandwagon for life.

I never had these kinds of results with color and growth, with no water changes. I'm only 5ish months off Triton with no water changes.

 

[saltnut]

Lazy reefer here. No testing and no dosing. little 20 gallon tank with sand and moderate to heavy feeding so 10% - 20% WC weekly keeps the sand decent, far from clean but reasonable. I love seeing and then dumping that dirty old water down the drain.

 

[Ardeus]

1. YES water changes are beneficial or NO water changes are not beneficial to a reef aquarium?

Yes

Let's go a step further....

2. YES water changes are necessary or NO water changes are not necessary for long term health of a reef aquarium?

It depends on the tank type and how it's maintained.

3. Do you perform regular water changes on your reef aquarium?

No.

 

[Seabiscuit]

My water changes are based on parameters. I'd say I'm averaging water changes of 15% per month.

 

[WvAquatics]

1. YES water changes are beneficial or NO water changes are not beneficial to a reef aquarium?
Yes it is a way of controlling build up nutrients especially in newer systems.

2. YES water changes are necessary or NO water changes are not necessary for long term health of a reef aquarium?
Long term I thing we should be changing water. Maybe not as frequently but it will never hurt.


3. Do you perform regular water changes on your reef aquarium?
Yes I do bi-weekly 20% water changes. My tank is only 5 months old. I'm battling the cyanobacteria and hair algea. It gets better week by week. I'm now 10 days between the sand clumping with cyanobacteria. Was in 3 days. Maybe later I will start doing larger month changes. Or just keep on my 20% bi-weekly.

 

[attilak]

Water changes for sure. I got lazy a few months ago and kept skipping water changes on my smaller reef tank. I can tell you that I lost some corals and things didn't look good. I still dose 2 part, Mag and TM A and K elements. With dosing I do water changes. It is like clock work for me - a pain, yes - but worth it knowing the expense in corals.

I do have an AWC on my 210 gal FOWLR and wasn't consistent with water changes on that one either before investing in an AWC method. I can tell you that Nitrates are near 1 - 2 ppm now.

I am still shocked at the amount of folks in the hobby questioning water changes. If you invest in a decent AWC setup - you will be a happy reefer

 

[BigRedReefer MT]

Unless you can afford full dosing of trace elements, primary elements, nitrate reactors, etc.,etc.. Then water changes will always be a key step to a healthy and stable reef.