No water changes needed is this possible.

[James spinn]

So my tank has bin up and running for 4 months I did one 10 gallon water change so far on my 72 gallon tank .

I do all my test and all showing up right were they need to be . My question is should I be doing water changes every other week or as needed by test out come.

 

[Zbryant]

Water change add trace elements, which a lot of corals need. You can dose those though.

 

[X-37B]

New 120 6 months no water change.
I dose trace elements daily, strontium weekly and now run a CARX with man made media, not coral bones. I setup my system from day one as a no water change system.
I test the big 3, strontium, and Iodine. My trace product has other elements that I do not test for.
Going to send out an IPC test this month and every 6 months after to see where I am at.
So far very stable and everything is growing nicely.
Here is a pic from yesterday.

 

[James spinn]

Water change add trace elements, which a lot of corals need. You can dose those though.

I do 2 part Esv with mag.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Yes it is possible. Google Reef Moonshiners Guide and it will explain everything I promise.

 

[X-37B]

Yes it is possible. Google Reef Moonshiners Guide and it will explain everything I promise.

Another option search Glenn Fong's DSR systems. This is what got me into the no water change mode.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Another option search Glenn Fong's DSR systems. This is what got me into the no water change mode.

I will have to look that up!

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I will have to look that up!

Glenn posts here at R2R as Glennf, and his system is Dutch Synthetic Reefing. No water change & incredibly simple.
He has amazing tanks.
Here are his threads

Large Build - GlennF's 300 gallon DSR reef.

Hi there, I am glennf and i like to introduce my tank in here. It measure 250 x 80 x 70 cm and the water height is 60cm. The display is 300 gallon. Including the other connecting tanks the water mass is about 400 gallons

www.reef2reef.com

The DSR Method (Dutch Synthetic Reefing)

Explanation appreciated or not ? it is a way to work without water changed and composing your own salt (as a base). if appreciated i will go ahead and explain how it work for me and the dutch reefing community this is a screenprint of the excel sheet i use for water correction...

www.reef2reef.com

I hate it.

I realy hate this....[emoji33][emoji33][emoji33] I love the corals, i love the many species, i love the beauty of it all, i love the growth/growthrate. But the one thing i hate is pruning and the aftermath.... - I hate the work involved. - I hate it that the tank look like **** in the...

www.reef2reef.com

and his webpage http://dsrreefing.com/

 

[Auquanut]

The only thing that would concern me about absolute zero water changes is the contaminants that enter the tank from our daily lives. When you smell dinner cooking, there is something entering the tank from the gas exchange alone. I'm sure there are many contaminants entering our tanks in minuscule amounts on a daily basis that we never consider. So I think that I would be a little too nervous to cut out water changes completely even if parameters suggest everything is fine. But that's just my overcautious nature.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

The only thing that would concern me about absolute zero water changes is the contaminants that enter the tank from our daily lives. When you smell dinner cooking, there is something entering the tank from the gas exchange alone. I'm sure there are many contaminants entering our tanks in minuscule amounts on a daily basis that we never consider. So I think that I would be a little too nervous to cut out water changes completely even if parameters suggest everything is fine. But that's just my overcautious nature.

what may enter can also exit

 

[Paul B]

I would change some water but not every other week. I change maybe 20% of my water about 4 or 5 times a year and my reef is almost 50 years old.
I don't believe in too many water changes and actually feel it is detrimental.

Unless of course an emu dies in the tank.

 

[Auquanut]

Unless of course an emu dies in the tank.

So you're the emu bandit! Still pulling feathers out of the return pump! :mad:

 

[flchamp89]

I just switched to monthly.

 

[Steve180]

No water changes needed if you dose the trace elements. I do 10% every week on a 180g

 

[LukeM1]

Have a 20 gallon running with healthy corals for 4 years with only topping it off. Haven’t tested anything in a little over a year. I just kinda try to keep everything as steady as possible. No crashes yet.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

I just like to do 10% weekly (15g). Everything looks better this way so I am keeping it for now.

 

[jace]

It's different for everybody. As long as you are paying attention to how the inhabitants react you'll be okay. For me I do 10% weekly in addition to dosing frankly I haven't tried any other way and not willing to risk it given that things are looking the way they should.

I do agree a bit part is so long as the trace elements are dosed you have a big part of water changes addressed without frequent water changes.

 

[Stigigemla]

It is just about that the things You add to the tank shall be in balance with the build up in the tank + the things You remove.
To have a coarse check on trace elements I say: Use a well recognized ICP test. Triton and ATI is among the best.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

My two cents is that it’s definitely possible (as reefers have proven over the years) but I wouldn’t go that route before the tank has matured (1 year, give or take) and settled down.
I just think that a new system is a bit to unstable and would benefit from regular water changes.

my only two issues are;
#1 accumulation of contaminants: stuff will undoubtedly accumulate over time. Everything from airborne contaminants being added to the water by the skimmer to stuff you might introduce by sticking your hands in the tank.

#2 I like to keep a very clean sand bed, free of detritus. I’ve tried various critters but I find that they mostly turn over the top 2/3 of it, leaving the bottom layer full of crap.

 

[Gogi]

#1 occasional ICP test should point those out and then you can use appropriate methods to remove

#2 regular stirring works fine for keeping a clean sand bed