Water changes

[MiZuboov]

Hi!
Why do you make water changes and how many percentages per week? Or maybe in two weeks? Or don't you do it at all?
I can do even 100% twice a week, but I’d like to do it more consciously.What is your main goal of doing water changes?
Thank you.

 

[Reefer Matt]

The main reason I do water changes is for nutrient removal. But something else may be a benefit too, but I have no proof. I have a tank that I sometimes slack on water changes, and the tanks that get the water change always look better. 40% once a month.

 

[Magic031707]

I do them to lower nutrients as I do feed on the heavy side. I do 10-15% weekly

 

[Jjmg]

I do 10ish% weekly. I think it delutes anything that may build up that we don't test for while replacing some of the minor elements. Plus my tanks all look better after a water change.

 

[CMMorgan]

Water change = subtract nutrients, replace elements. The how and when tends to be a bit of personal choice and you will get a hundred anecdotal stories supporting one choice over another. Some dose, some skip, some are very vigilant. the bigger question is how big is your tank and what is your bioload?
I just downsized to an IM SR80. Easy peasy to do a 10% water change every 7-10 days. It's also much easier to change the media. No socks! Your whole goal in running a successful tank is to keep it healthy. Keep your socks clean, test your water and control your nutrients. If you have a big tank, it may be easier to do a larger exchange once a month.
Do what works for you, your tank and your schedule. It needs to be a routine that you can maintain. Ignoring a tank because it's inconvenient will lead to bad things down the road.
Wishing you much success!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I've always thought of it as like opening the window and letting nice fresh air into my home. My fish and corals all seem to respond positively to receiving new crisp clean water. After all, they do live in their own pee and poo.

 

[MiZuboov]

I do them to lower nutrients as I do feed on the heavy side. I do 10-15% weekly

Does it really help to reduce the amount of nutrients? How much do nitrate and phosphate decrease? I have high nitrates and phosphates, but only pellets and

 

[Magic031707]

In about a weeks time my nitrates gets up to around 15-17ppm. The 10% water change gets me back down to 10ppm. Doesn't do much for phosphates, but have seen it drop .01 or .02ppm from time to time

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Water Changes in Reef Aquaria by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Conclusion
Water changes are a good way to help control certain processes that serve to drive reef aquarium water away from its starting purity. Some things build up in certain situations (organics, certain metals, sodium, chloride, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, etc.), and some things become depleted (calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, strontium, silica, etc.). Water changes can serve to help correct these imbalances, and in some cases may be the best way to deal with them. Water changes of 15-30% per month (whether carried out once a month, daily or continuously) have been shown in the graphs above to be useful in moderating the drift of these different seawater components from starting levels. For most reef aquaria, I recommend such changes as good aquarium husbandry. In general, the more the better, if carried out appropriately, and if the new salt water is of appropriate quality.

Calcium and alkalinity, being rapidly depleted in most reef aquaria, are not well controlled, or even significantly impacted by such small water changes. In order to maintain them with no other supplements, changes on the order of 30-50% PER DAY would be required. Nevertheless, that option may still be a good choice for very small aquaria, especially if the changes are slow and automatic.

 

[Not_Erick]

I do 12% a week ~5 gallons

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Hi!
Why do you make water changes and how many percentages per week? Or maybe in two weeks? Or don't you do it at all?
I can do even 100% twice a week, but I’d like to do it more consciously.What is your main goal of doing water changes?
Thank you.

20 % every other week, for nutrient removal

 

[Dom]

Hi!
Why do you make water changes and how many percentages per week? Or maybe in two weeks? Or don't you do it at all?
I can do even 100% twice a week, but I’d like to do it more consciously.What is your main goal of doing water changes?
Thank you.

We do water changes for two reasons:

Reason 1: To export nutrients from the tank.
Reason 2: To replenish elements consumed by tank inhabitants.

Water changes need to be done FAITHFULLY on a WEEKLY basis. They should be 20% of the total tank volume (tank and sump). ON a 100 gallon tank, that would be 20 gallons.

Dom

 

[Zeeter]

Never did a water change since start-up in November other than about 10 gallons to fix a plumbing issue in early December.

As of two days ago (last test) my nitrates were at 2.26 and phosphates at .083. I've been feeding a bit more in order to get my nitrates up which is probably why my phosphates are slightly higher than they should be.

I dose 20ml each of Tropic Marin A- and K+ elements per day, though I'm working on getting some additional testing kits to dial this in.

On top of this, I run carbon, GFO, and biopellets (probably why my nitrates won't go up).

Corals are growing and have nice color. Fish are doing fish stuff.

 

[crappie]

5 gallons every 2 weeks in my 40 breeder because I think the new water looks better then the old.

 

[TX_REEF]

12.5% a week - only because 10 gallons is an easy 2 buckets and 10/80 gallons is 12.5%.

 

[Dom]

Hi!
Why do you make water changes and how many percentages per week? Or maybe in two weeks? Or don't you do it at all?
I can do even 100% twice a week, but I’d like to do it more consciously.What is your main goal of doing water changes?
Thank you.

If it were my tank, I would do 20% of the total volume weekly. In a tank that size, it will help to replenish elements consumed by the tank.

 

[Dom]

12.5% a week - only because 10 gallons is an easy 2 buckets and 10/80 gallons is 12.5%.

I feel it may be wise to increase the number of water changes, if they are going to be small changes, maybe 2 10% water changes weekly?

 

[TX_REEF]

I feel it may be wise to increase the number of water changes, if they are going to be small changes, maybe 2 10% water changes weekly?

depends on the system I guess - I have had issues with low organic nutrients, so try not to over-do it on water changes so my corals have N and P to enjoy.

 

[helmsreef]

Every system is going to be different, but the take away is that it is usually going to be beneficial unless you are dealing a very specific dino issue. With that being said I haven't done a water change on my tank in a 4 months, my system is 90% acro and I use a calcium reactor and trace elements for supplementation. I haven't done a water change because I am anti water change, just life gets busy but thankfully my nutrients stay in check really well with my coral uptake and not pushing the bioload capabilities. This is 140 gal system. I also perform an ICP about every 4 months.

 

[cjtabares]

I feel it may be wise to increase the number of water changes, if they are going to be small changes, maybe 2 10% water changes weekly?

Why would you suggest more? I usually see 40% monthly suggested. Do you think that’s not enough?