Water changes. . . . What is your method?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Im assuming one doser takes water out and the other in?

Yes. The one adding water is downstream in the sump system from the taking water out to minimize wasted new water.

The old water goes to a sink drain in a different room of the basement. The new water one draws from just a few feet away. My new salt water storage is about 85 gallons, so it lasts a good while.

I have it run for 3 x 1 h periods spread out to let the pumps and tubing not get overworked.

 

[BetterJake]

Nothing crazy to add...

Bi weekly 10G/38L water changes for my Reefer 250. Currently hook up an RODI to a temp connection on my sink, fill up the ATO container and then proceed to fill two buckets and mix the salt using a small pump. I let the water heat up overnight and then manually siphon out and pour the new water in.

Automatic water changes is a goal for sure, limited what I can do in a townhome right now.

 

[Griev]

Once every two years whether it needs it or not.

 

[downerhouse]

My method is I don't do water changes. Unless there is a reason to do so.

I've done 1 x 200l change this year in my 1000l system after doing a medication treatment.

I don't plan to do another one any time soon.

 

[reeferID]

Approximately 1.4 gal/day via AWC. 88 gallon display-30 gallon sump-92 gallons actual water volume. (Split into 8 small changes-1 every 3 hours).

AWCs helped me decide to return to reefing. I always hated doing water charges.

 

[AlpenReefCorals]

I change 1% daily by automatic water change.

Same. 1% with hydros AWC schedule.

 

[BriDroid]

I have been doing one gallon a week on Fridays in my nano. Now that I’m moving everything over to Hydros, I’m going to have an AWC that changes about 540ml a day (about 1 gallon per week).

I will say that this little funnel is the greatest invention ever for nano tanks! You can dump the water in really fast without sand going everywhere! The rim is even wide enough to hang on a 5 gallon bucket.

 

[RC_Reefer]

150g total volume
Young reef developing into an SPS dominant system.
WC every other week at 33g. I never skip a WC.
Po4 - .06ppm (even after a WC)
No3 - 5ppm (even after WC)
I dose trace elements along with Alkalinity, magnesium and calcium.
ICP came back this week and it was nearly perfect!
Find what works for your system and stick to it. Make only small changes if necessary. Test regularly.
I use Red Sea Blue Bag @ 1.025 sg
2 hour of mixing then pump it into the sump while filling the DT.

 

[edsbeaker]

I do 3.5 gallons per day using a Neptune DOS on roughly 170 gallon system. I guess I’m not really doing it. Thank you DOS!!! Love you!

 

[Gelinas101]

I used to do weekly 10%, but now I struggle to have Nitrate and Phos, now it’s more like 5-10% 3-4 months apart, having Alk/Cal/Mag/Phos/Nitrate on dosing pumps + red sea A/B/C/D trace.

I am carbon dosing to have the nutrients lower dose is minimal but corals and nems are happy so I keep the routine.

 

[JGT]

Created scenes in Kasa. Activate on my phone. Start by turning every thing off. Once tank has drained fully into sump. Turn on pump in sump which pumps out 50 gals to utility sink. When done, turn off sump pump and turn on pump in FSW bin and pump water back to sump. When done turn off FSW pump and turn everything back on. Very easy and reliable. Takes 15 mins tops to change 50 gallons.

 

[Kingsley_Reef]

I have been religiously doing 20% bi weekly water changes I have a ball valve on my manifold that fills a brute and my mixing station refills it with the flip of a switch but past few months nitrate has been super low in a attempt to raise them i stopped water changes and to my surprise everything is happier/doing better nitrate still low…..thats reefing I guess

 

[Jay Hemdal]

As we all know, one of the requirements for owning a reef aquarium is the need for maintenance including water changes, at least for most of us.
Some of us simply siphon the water while many also utilize automatic water change units and some simply replenish lost water from Evaporation.

How often do you perform water changes and by what means?
What is your frequency of water changes?

I do a 2-3 gallon water change every other day and my reasoning is to keep phos and nitrate in check while maintaining traces and elements. It was a method used by a few aquarist friends in the industry and I've seen a huge difference with both fish and coral health

I'm lazy, so for my office tank, I change 50% of the water every 6 weeks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My method is I don't do water changes. Unless there is a reason to do so.

I've done 1 x 200l change this year in my 1000l system after doing a medication treatment.

I don't plan to do another one any time soon.

I went this toute for 3 years but see a huge difference with bi0daily water change

 

[downerhouse]

My method is I don't do water changes. Unless there is a reason to do so.

I've done 1 x 200l change this year in my 1000l system after doing a medication treatment.

I don't plan to do another one any time soon.

I went this toute for 3 years but see a huge difference with bi0daily water change

That's great. Everyone has a different approach.

My philosophy is that the most important thing in a reef is stability. A water change introduces a massive spike in that.

E.g. red sea pro salt has a DKH of 12. Most of us keep our systems at 8 or similar number. A water change will introduce a large variation in alkalinity, as well as other elements.

For me, the most compelling reason for water change is nutrient export. To reduce nitrates, phosphates etc. In my 1000 litre system, my nitrates run at around 20ppm. So I need to do a 500l change to reduce them to 10ppm.

A much better solution is manage unwanted nutrients with large refugium, decent skimmer etc.

My phosphates and nitrates remain pretty static at levels my corals love.

So as I said, unless there is a compelling reason to perform a water change I don't bother. Only deserving cases in my book are due to medication, or I get nutrients I can't manage.

All other elements and trace elements are managed through dosing.

 

[MPCReefer]

For those of you who have auto-water changes could you elaborate on how you accomplish those?

My challenge is needing to turn off the return pumps as there is very little water available for the return chamber. Dosing pumps would be too slow.

I set up the Liter/Meter system on my now - 9 month old 220 gal system. I change about a gallon each day spread throughout a 24 hr period. One pump pumps from the sump to a Brute in my office closet where my tank is, the other pumps in the same amount from pre mixed saltwater 55 gal drum in the same closet. I recently dialed down the daily change amount as I have struggled to keep nitrates and phosphates in acceptable ranges. Have to empty the 20gal Brute waste water container (on a roller) about once every 2-3 weeks and just fill the fresh saltwater container as I have time. Really easy, low hassle solution with no need to worry about water levels.
https://spectrapure.com/collections/litermeter

 

[vetteguy53081]

That's great. Everyone has a different approach.

My philosophy is that the most important thing in a reef is stability. A water change introduces a massive spike in that.

E.g. red sea pro salt has a DKH of 12. Most of us keep our systems at 8 or similar number. A water change will introduce a large variation in alkalinity, as well as other elements.

For me, the most compelling reason for water change is nutrient export. To reduce nitrates, phosphates etc. In my 1000 litre system, my nitrates run at around 20ppm. So I need to do a 500l change to reduce them to 10ppm.

A much better solution is manage unwanted nutrients with large refugium, decent skimmer etc.

My phosphates and nitrates remain pretty static at levels my corals love.

So as I said, unless there is a compelling reason to perform a water change I don't bother. Only deserving cases in my book are due to medication, or I get nutrients I can't manage.

All other elements and trace elements are managed through dosing.

As you said- everyone has a different approach and one which best sustains their system. I have a fuge and also run a very large algae scrubber

 

[EricR]

Currently trying to stick to about 10% weekly.
Have done anywhere from weekly to about 25% monthly and, honestly, don't notice much difference (in simple/basic 40 gallon soft coral tank).
*weekly at least keeps me a little more up-to-date on cleaning/maintaining equipment

 

[gsxrshane]

Weekly 10% water changes like it’s a religion (I have a nano )

 

[HELLCO]

15 gallons bi-weekly on 170g water volume.
Been on Moon Shiners for a couple of months now, things are leveling out pretty good, may just start backing off the frequency of water changes until something like nitrates or phosphates start climbing.