# Water Changes



## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

Hi Guys it's weekend and let's talk ��
I would like to know how often and how much percentage do you do water changes on your system and what are the benefits v/s the cons? How does it effect the stability of your water parameters? There is a common understanding that we should Perform 10% water changes every week to remove nutrients and replenish trace elements however if you are using Phosphate and Biopellet reactors along with carbon aren't they removing the nutrients/organic waste anyways and hence you can get away with a Biweekly or a 20-30% monthly water change to replenish trace elements? Maintaining a healthy reef setup is all about stability but I think (I hope I am wrong) that performing weekly water changes destabilize your parameters? I would appreciate if you could share your experiences and who knows we might hear something new? Have you ever made comparisons of weekly v/s biweekly or Monthly water changes and its effect on corals particularly sps? Do they look healthy and happy with better growth etc? Happy Reefing.


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

Any one yet?


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## badmedicine (Oct 27, 2012)

Much about this hobby is opinion and speculation based on passed experiences both from others as well ourselves. 

This is my opinion without any scientific reasoning.

the saltwater in our tank is much like the blood in our body. It circulates around providing good nutrients and also removes expired wastes. How often it needs to do this is similar to have often we need to water changes. Ideally it would be continuous (excretory system of our bodies OR drawing water from the ocean like what the aquarium in Bermuda does). 

I think the way we do water changes for our aquarium is more similar to RENAL DIALYSIS. We are trying to catch up to the wastes before they become too toxic and create systemic problems. The more often you do this, will reduce the chemistry swings (suddenly high to suddenly low)

SHORT ANSWER:
I don't think that you can over-do water changes however constantly doing water changes is impractical. Most people feel that once a week is a good, safe practice. Some people find that their bio load can handle it once a month (and a larger volume changed).


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

It really depends on your maintenance schedule and how you are running your tank. I don't do water changes on my system. My nutrients are exported through a very oversized skimmer and a combination of large amounts of biomedia and carbon dosing. I also run a carbon reactor, which I change every 3 weeks and a GFO reactor I change every 5 weeks. I replace the 1-2 gallons the skimmer takes out a week with saltwater. Feels like a personal choice based on my distaste for water changes, but my nutrient levels are great and I haven't had any bad experiences.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

WC also import an part of restoring chemicals which were consumed by corals. With regular WC you can avoid dosing (depends how much your tank consume)

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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

goobafish said:


> It really depends on your maintenance schedule and how you are running your tank. I don't do water changes on my system. My nutrients are exported through a very oversized skimmer and a combination of large amounts of biomedia and carbon dosing. I also run a carbon reactor, which I change every 3 weeks and a GFO reactor I change every 5 weeks. I replace the 1- the skimmer takes out a week with saltwater. Feels like a personal choice based on my distaste for water changes, but my nutrient levels are great and I haven't had any bad experiences.


You also are dosing trace elements as well and constantly testing your water parameter correct? I think water changes are the easiest way for noobs like me to maintain good water quality and keep everything happy and healthy.

I have a nano and do 25% a week and feed every other day about a quarter size piece of LRF


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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

TBemba said:


> You also are dosing trace elements as well and constantly testing your water parameter correct? I think water changes are the easiest way for noobs like me to maintain good water quality and keep everything happy and healthy.
> 
> I have a nano and do 25% a week and feed every other day about a quarter size piece of LRF


Yes, I have an auto-doser, as well as dose manually to replace trace elements. I test my water frequently and keep things very stable. Water changes are for sure the most straightforward way of keeping both nutrients in check and ensuring you have the right trace elements, its just not as convenient as never having to do it for me. If you can keep your system stable consistently without the water changes, I think your system will benefit more than only having its nutrients exported and elements imported once a week or once every two weeks.

I also feed less processed foods in my 120 gallon system than you do in your nano. It's much easier to reliably export if you have much less waste.


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

goobafish said:


> It really depends on your maintenance schedule and how you are running your tank. I don't do water changes on my system. My nutrients are exported through a very oversized skimmer and a combination of large amounts of biomedia and carbon dosing. I also run a carbon reactor, which I change every 3 weeks and a GFO reactor I change every 5 weeks. I replace the 1-2 gallons the skimmer takes out a week with saltwater. Feels like a personal choice based on my distaste for water changes, but my nutrient levels are great and I haven't had any bad experiences.


My system is very much like yours however my skimmer doesn't skim much because of the GFO, Carbon and BP reactors I have installed since it doesn't have much to skim anyways. What do you dose to replace Trace elements since you aren't doing much water changes?


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

sig said:


> WC also import an part of restoring chemicals which were consumed by corals. With regular WC you can avoid dosing (depends how much your tank consume)


Thanks yes completely agreed...however on larger systems you still need to dose the 3 brothers Ca,Alk and Mg...


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

badmedicine said:


> Much about this hobby is opinion and speculation based on passed experiences both from others as well ourselves.
> 
> This is my opinion without any scientific reasoning.
> 
> ...


Great Explanation. In short its better to be proactive and avoid the problem before it becomes a monster..


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## BeerBaron (Sep 4, 2009)

There are so many methods and routines to achieving great results with your reef tank. 

For most of my reef keeping life I've done 15-25% water changes Bi-Weekly.


More recently I have switched to doing 5% changes every 3 days and am really enjoying this new routine. I can remove daily waste and algae growth on a more consistent basis. Dealing with less water at once is also a nice perc, it is really easy to do a 5-gallon water change....too easy almost. It could be placebo but my tank also seems to be responding well to less fluctuation with these small changes.

I'd say find a routine that fits your lifestyle and stay consistent with it, consistency is key if not vital!


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

BeerBaron said:


> There are so many methods and routines to achieving great results with your reef tank.
> 
> For most of my reef keeping life I've done 15-25% water changes Bi-Weekly.
> 
> ...


That's right Consistency is the key.

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## goobafish (Jan 27, 2015)

Rookie2013 said:


> My system is very much like yours however my skimmer doesn't skim much because of the GFO, Carbon and BP reactors I have installed since it doesn't have much to skim anyways. What do you dose to replace Trace elements since you aren't doing much water changes?


I dose Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium, Iodine, Strontium, Molybdenum and Iron. I also dose a few different amino acid/carbohydrate blends and colour agents that contain other trace elements.


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

Ok thanks mate for some reason my Sps frags haven't really taken of the way how I would like them to. I do realize they take a long time to start growing before they are established in your system but some of the drags are there for quite some time. I have s flame angel do u think he might b the culprit

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