water changes

[beaslbob]

I'm actually really curious about this...do you have a phosphate reactor? I haven't changed my water (except for DI top-offs) in about 2 months now, and my phosphates are out of control...I have diatoms plaguing my tank

no phosphate reactor. In my FW no mechanicals of any kind.
On my old 55g mixed reef I did have a sump with a wet dry filter that I used crushed oyster shells for media. On the wife's new 60g she had a skimmer and a sump with chaeto. the 55g had an in tank refugium which was basically a partition 3" in front of the back glass. Haven't measured the new 60g but the old 55g had unmeasurable nitrates/phosphates even with a heavy bioload.

IMHO your phosphates are measurable (out of control) only because they are not being consumed as they are being produced. A refugium with macro algae or an algae turf scrubber can be the single most important and effective phosphate sink in any tank. And that is the reason IMHO you have diatoms. Let the algae consume the nutrients and adjust lighting/feeding do the algae thrives and diatoms/cyano or what ever dies off. Once you reach that point the tank will basically start taking care of itself.

But than then that's just me and my .02

 

[Toni L McNeely]

Never did water changes, when water gets low i add water and check salt

 

[Kaba]

I do 10g every sunday on my 55. I've tried 5g every Sunday, and 10g every other Sunday, but 10g a week makes for happier SPS in my tank.
I also made a U out of PVC with a T on the end that hangs over the tank and a hose that reaches into the tub. The part in the tank is just long enough so that when 10 gallons has been taken out it breaks the siphon. In the middle of the hose is a T with more hose attached to a pump, and both ends have valves. So when 10 gallons has been taken out I close the valve to the tub and open the valve to the pump and pump the water back in. It's made water changes much less of a hassle...so I find myself actually doing them.

 

[malira]

I do 10g every sunday on my 55. I've tried 5g every Sunday, and 10g every other Sunday, but 10g a week makes for happier SPS in my tank.
I also made a U out of PVC with a T on the end that hangs over the tank and a hose that reaches into the tub. The part in the tank is just long enough so that when 10 gallons has been taken out it breaks the siphon. In the middle of the hose is a T with more hose attached to a pump, and both ends have valves. So when 10 gallons has been taken out I close the valve to the tub and open the valve to the pump and pump the water back in. It's made water changes much less of a hassle...so I find myself actually doing them.

That is smart. I may try something like that.

 

[cmcoker]

I do 10g every sunday on my 55. I've tried 5g every Sunday, and 10g every other Sunday, but 10g a week makes for happier SPS in my tank.
I also made a U out of PVC with a T on the end that hangs over the tank and a hose that reaches into the tub. The part in the tank is just long enough so that when 10 gallons has been taken out it breaks the siphon. In the middle of the hose is a T with more hose attached to a pump, and both ends have valves. So when 10 gallons has been taken out I close the valve to the tub and open the valve to the pump and pump the water back in. It's made water changes much less of a hassle...so I find myself actually doing them.

Hey that's great I was already planning to do the U attachment, actually got the pieces Monday. I think I may modify my plan to do something like this...

 

[Kaba]

That's all it is. The valve is there to break siphon when I'm pumping back. I close it when I'm pulling water out, and then when I pump the water back in I open that valve to break the siphon when I unplug the pump so water doesn't back siphon back into the bucket. Works really well.

 

[biom]

The answer of the question "Water changes Yes or No?" is very simple. There are many posts saying that NOT doing water changes could be harmful for your tank and there is none even single post saying that doing water changes with good salt could be dangerous for your inhabitants .

So if you have relatively small SPS tank (up to 100gal), and you are newbie or average reefer, doing water changes weekly or monthly is the easiest way to stay away from unexplained crashes. If you have large tank and/or you are very experienced reefer with good knowledge on reef chemistry you can give a try to NO WC method, but in this case you should be aware that you will need regular multi-parametric water tests (like Triton, Fauna Marin etc.) and frequent dosing of different elements, having calcium reactor and highly effective RO/DI system is an advantage in NO WC systems.

 

[frogman_reefer]

At Puratek, we do automatic water changes of 2 gallons on a 210 gallon reef and .5 gallon on 28 nano reef daily.

Interesting. So do you think that changing 20% every other week is a less than optimal strategy?

I have a 150 ( total volume) gal and I change 30 gal every two weeks. Should I do a different schedule? I don't have the capability to do auto changes due to limitations in my living room design. Or that would be really nice.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Interesting. So do you think that changing 20% every other week is a less than optimal strategy?

I have a 150 ( total volume) gal and I change 30 gal every two weeks. Should I do a different schedule? I don't have the capability to do auto changes due to limitations in my living room design. Or that would be really nice.

IMO, more smaller changes are better than fewer larger ones, but your schedule is certainly fine and like that used by many reefers.

 

[frogman_reefer]

IMO, more smaller changes are better than fewer larger ones, but your schedule is certainly fine and like that used by many reefers.

Thanks Randy.

Perhaps I'll try the 2 gallon approach. Might save me money in the long run as well.

 

[mrtian97]

newbie here, I have about 120 gallon tank and plan to change 10 gallon per wk, and go from there

 

[mrtian97]

thinking make this pvc for wc, how do you pull the siphon from DT to the drain? where to buy the flex tubing to connect with the pvc and what size?


Thanks much

 

[jfitz78]

10% weekly with rodi water and salt mix

 

[BWilliby]

I change 10 gallons a week on my 105 gallon. I am upgrading to a much larger tank in the spring and may implement an auto change system after reading through this thread.

 

[sanchezkk]

its not as hard as you might think. to do it properly though, you have to dose several different things and have good nutrient export by means of macro/micro algaes, carbon dosing, reactors, and different medias. a lot of people view this to be a better and more stable setup, while others prefer water changes and view the simplicity of water changes to be more stable than relying on a dozen different devices/medias.

I have a 55 Gal with lots of LR and Corals. How would that work for me? Right now what I am doing is adding water after evaporation and my orals seem to be great. They are actually flourishing.

 

[cmcoker]

I have a 55 Gal with lots of LR and Corals. How would that work for me? Right now what I am doing is adding water after evaporation and my orals seem to be great. They are actually flourishing.

Are you adding saltwater to replace evaporation?
If just topping of with RODI, no "bad stuff" is being taken out and no trace elements are being added back in..

 

[Puratek]

Interesting. So do you think that changing 20% every other week is a less than optimal strategy?

I have a 150 ( total volume) gal and I change 30 gal every two weeks. Should I do a different schedule? I don't have the capability to do auto changes due to limitations in my living room design. Or that would be really nice.

Absolutely. Having the discipline to do this on a regular basis is great.