Water Change Thoughts

[tdburchett]

Since starting my tank, I have never missed a weekly water change and have stable parameters with nitrates below 2.5 ppm and healthy coral growth. I noticed after each change, I would get a little cyano growth on my rocks that would quickly go away, so I decided to skip a water change to see how the tank reacted. It did great- corals are super happy, fewer bad stuff (I don’t have much to start with), and now my nitrates are even lower two weeks after the last water change (0.2 ppm). I dose All-for-Reef and have stable parameters (Alk, Calc, Mag, PH, salinity). Is there any reason to do a water change now at two weeks? Any reason not to extend my water change interval to three weeks considering everything is so stable and I had such good results at two weeks? It seems like I can extend to three weeks and it would actually be a positive thing, but I wanted to check with the experienced folks here to make sure I’m not missing anything. For the experienced folks, do you do something besides the weekly water change? Thanks!

Salinity- 35 ppt
pH- 8.1
Alk- 8.6 dkh
Calc- 410 ppm
Mag- 1290 ppm
Temp- 78 deg
Nitrates- 0.2 - 2.5 ppm
Phosphate- 0.01 ppm

 

[BrotatoSalad]

The common statement is weekly water change, or bi-weekly. With that being said, you know your tank better than all of us here. I like to go heavy on cleaning my sand and rocks typically but if your tank is better without then that’s the ticket until something changes.

 

[blaxsun]

The main reason for water changes is to remove waste and replenish lost elements, so generally for smaller tanks where the filtration may not be as advanced or comprehensive as larger tanks - it's a good regiment to follow.

I don't know what the size of your tank is, but generally speaking a water change every 2 weeks is perfectly fine as long as your nitrates and phosphates continue to remain at your target levels. Depending on your setup you can even go without water changes, but this generally isn't recommended unless you're really prepared to stay on top of things with testing, etc.

I perform a 10% water change maybe every 4-6 months (again, this is what I do - it works for me - but isn't necessarily something I'd recommend for everyone).