water change

[dougzfresh]

currently i’m doing a 25 gallon water change every 2 weeks on my 125 predator tank.
Thoughts if i push it to every 3 weeks 30-35 gallons?

 

[azreefer93]

I think that’s reasonable but depends on your nutrients level. You can even push it further if NO3 and PO4 stays in check.

 

[dougzfresh]

I think that’s reasonable but depends on your nutrients level. You can even push it further if NO3 and PO4 stays in check.

so just nitrates since this is a fwlr predator? lol what level u thinking after 3 weeks?

 

[SeaWolf95]

Fish can handle a surprising amount of NO3. Before my sulfur reactor my tank always hovered around 150-200+. I got tired of wasting my time and money on salt with water changes and converted calcium reactor to sulfur and its been fun watching the NO3 dropping daily for once.

 

[dougzfresh]

Fish can handle a surprising amount of NO3. Before my sulfur reactor my tank always hovered around 150-200+. I got tired of wasting my time and money on salt with water changes and converted calcium reactor to sulfur and its been fun watching the NO3 dropping daily for once.

this is my exact point !

 

[dougzfresh]

Fish can handle a surprising amount of NO3. Before my sulfur reactor my tank always hovered around 150-200+. I got tired of wasting my time and money on salt with water changes and converted calcium reactor to sulfur and its been fun watching the NO3 dropping daily for once.

can u tell me more about the sulfur reactor ?

 

[SeaWolf95]

can u tell me more about the sulfur reactor ?

Sure, sulfur reactors break NO3 down to NO2 and then harmless N2 gas which the reactor gasses off. Nothing beats the these guys in sheer brute force of NO3 stripping power. Depending on tank size you use about .5L of sulfur per 50 gallons then the rest you need some crushed coral to buffer the alk lose /ph hit. I'm runnng outside line and my PH day and night is around 8.2 . They take a few weeks to cycle in and you have to drip into a bucket during the NO2 phase as it will be skyhigh , once that is done you set the basic drip starting at around 1 /sec aiming for about 2-5 NO3 out of the effuent and bump the speed if it zeros out

The biggest con of them is if get clogged which a recirculating pump helps prevent it could cause H2S gas and that they work too well in stripping NO3 down to nothing. ATS and carbon dosing while they are "safer" they cant hold a torch to sulfur (depending on bioload) . But basically if you arent lazy and check to make sure its not clogged and you didnt starve your system of NO3 which is very possible. Others have ran them for years and will only run a tank with them. After I seen the performance I will never upgrade or start another tank without one.

Forgot to add Sulfur lasts 2-3 years before needing replacement so once its running very low operating cost. You may have to replace the crushed coral about 6 months to a year.

 

[SantaMonica]

Fish-only tanks are pretty forgiving when it comes to water changes / nutrients.