No Water Change in over a year

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Jesse Greer

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Messages
76
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Hi everyone. I started this thread because I have read about a lot about people having either nitrate problems, or hair algae problems. First of all, your nitrates should always be zero. Second of all, what works for me may not work for you. You should always do your own research before listening to anyone. I use the deep sand bed method to control my nitrates, and a big cleanup crew for everything else. I have not done a water change in over a year, and I am running no protein skimmer. There is a lot that goes into this, but before I type a five thousand word essay on what works for me, and everything that I did to create this ecosystem, I just wanted to see if anyone is interested in hearing. Let me know. Thanks.
 
Hi Jesse!
I have a 75g freshwater and i don't do water changes also! It's over 5 months ( only restarted recently).
And yes there's a lot to say about it but, and it all goes from experiments, research, personalization and really understanding the hole "machine"!
 
I will post back tomorrow. Don't have time tonight for anyone else that sees this. Thanks for checking this out. I hope people will learn from what I'm about to tell them. I cant take all off the credit. I learned from newyroksteelo on youtube. He's the one I got the idea from and it worked for me. In the post I write tomorrow, i will explain everything I did, timeline, and everything that goes into it. The Deep Sand Bed method make saltwater so much easier. Thanks.
 
Im sure it could be a benifical topic for the forum. Im interested but also very skeptical about what im about to read.

Regardless, please post your experiences.

I swear by regular changes, how else are you diluting other minerals and toxins that build up that cant be used as it goes deeper than just nitrates?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/ you can even use your browser! :)

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Im sure it could be a benifical topic for the forum. Im interested but also very skeptical about what im about to read.

Regardless, please post your experiences.

I swear by regular changes, how else are you diluting other minerals and toxins that build up that cant be used as it goes deeper than just nitrates?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/ you can even use your browser! :)

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

I agree as in very skeptical. How deep of a sand bed? How do we quantify success with this method? I feel dsb work but only if super deep like >5" and never ever disturbed. I don't think I would ever trust my tank to no water changes as eventually stuff is gonna build up. Dsb are great at trapping all types of nasties and if given a chance somehow to be released will nuke a tank.
 
I'm about 7 months in myself with no water change.... I'm sure it would be good, but I'm lazy. The world hasn't come to an end and I'm growing SPS in a 180....
 
Health and laziness dont seem to go hand in hand in my opinion. Why not try alittle harder to do more. 20% weekly is better than nothing.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/ you can even use your browser! :)

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
I'm interested as well... I have been researching low tech/low maintenance/pretty much self contained reef systems.

reefbuilders.com/2011/09/15/simple-reef-tank/
 
Ok guys, I am going to try to outline this so you understand how the deep sand bed works, how it actually reduces nitrates, and the beneficial organisms that live in the sand bed that eat leftover food, fish waist and other waist. The sandbed itself should be between three and four inches. You need to use sugar fine sand. This will not allow small partials to fall between the sand to the bottom giving you that black sludge that most get when they have gravel, or bigger grains of sand. Next, it takes time to seed a deep sand bed. This can take six months to a year. In this time you will still need to do water changes. The organisms that you need in the deep sand bed come from premium live rock. Critters like tube worms make their homes in the sand bed, and clean it. They live in the top one inch layer. Tube worms multiply very quickly as long as there is no predator. I have seen my tube worms catch fish poop and eat it, literally fighting over it. Below the first inch, inch and a half in the lower part of the sand bed is the beneficial organisms called (anaerobic bacteria) that consume the nitrates. They thrive in areas that have little to no oxygen. Since most aquarium critters don't go below the first inch, the anaerobic bacteria will thrive. The anaerobic bacteria strip oxygen ions off of nitrates to survive leaving nitrogen gas as a byproduct. Once your deep sand bed is fully established you will notice bubbles in the sand bed through the front of your glass. This is the nitrogen gas working its way to the top of the sand bed, completing the cycle of removing nitrates. The second part of making the deep sand bed work is having sand sifting critters that will also be part of your big cleanup crew. Nassarius snails, and cerith snails are best for this. I 1 per gallon my self, but that may be a little much. They keep the top layer of the sand bed turned over. While doing this, they are scavenging and also pushing sand down to the bottom layers of the sand bed for the anaerobic bacteria to do their part of the job. Like I said, once you have created your deep sand bed it can take 6 months to a year before you are ready to stop doing water changes. You will figure out when you are ready by testing. In the beginning when you are doing water changes, never touch the sand. Never siphon it. For me after six months I stop doing water changes and monitored with weekly water test. Now back to the big cleanup crew. Here's my personal list of what I have in my 24 to 30 gal tank. I have between 10 and 15 blue leg hermit crabs, 20 nassarius snails, 1 brittle star fish, 10 cerith snails, 1 turbo snail, 1 fighting conch, 2 smaller conchs, and a bunch of bristle worms. This sounds like a lot but remember I have no hair algae, or any other cleaning problems for that matter. The only cleaning I do is of my glass, and my filters. But, one thing to remember is that there is not going to be enough for a cleaning crew of this size to eat in this take. This is the reason why I over feed, to ensure that they have enough food. If they don't have enough food they will die. This will be for another form, but also remember when you stop doing water changes, you must dose different supplements. There is a lot that goes into this as well. Much testing is needed to understand and meet the demands of your tank parameters. You don't want to overdose, or under dose. Some people have a deep sand bed and still do water changes to replenish the trace elements. This is fine, just don't touch the sand. Please ask questions and leave comments. I know that I didn't touch everything, or go into a lot of detail so ask away and I will try to answer. Remember what works for me, may not work for you and do your own research before making any big decisions in this hobby. Thanks and have fun.
 
Thanks Marina clown. I do have corals and they have great growth, and are very healthy. Because I test and dose accordingly, my water parameters, and the trace elements in the water are always the best they can be. Through much testing, and trial and error I dose my tank so the levels of elements stay the same and constant, unlike someone who only relies on water changes to replenish everything. When relying on water changes, they elements drop as they are being consumed by the tank inhabitants. I dose on a daily basis, so mine are more consistent. Thanks and good luck.
 
Deep sand beds are fine; live rock functions under the same premise. There is a lot more than just nitrate at play in the system though.

How are you managing trace minerals, alkalinity, pH, and calcium?

Not to mention the fact that there are a ton of wastes that build up in the water that we can't test for.

Do you have pictures documenting the growth of your corals?

Edit: just saw your next post. What additives are you using?
 
Deep sand beds are fine; live rock functions under the same premise. There is a lot more than just nitrate at play in the system though.

How are you managing trace minerals, alkalinity, pH, and calcium?

Not to mention the fact that there are a ton of wastes that build up in the water that we can't test for.

Do you have pictures documenting the growth of your corals?

Edit: just saw your next post. What additives are you using?

I think he is dosing for alk, calc, and trace minerals.
 
Thanks for the great questions. I dose calcium and alkalinity, magnesium, strontium & molybdenum, essential elements, coral Vite, and iodide. I'm not sure what you mean by waist build up but I do run chemipure elite and filter floss.
 
Thanks for the great questions. I dose calcium and alkalinity, magnesium, strontium & molybdenum, essential elements, coral Vite, and iodide. I'm not sure what you mean by waist build up but I do run chemipure elite and filter floss.

Why not just do a WC instead? Im guess what you do is dose on a weekly bases and it allows you not to do wc's right?
 
As far as for showing coral growth, I may be able to show some before and after pics if I can find them. I never really thought documented anything I've done. I can tell you that I bought a peace of hammer from a friend, one head, and in months I I had twenty heads. I had to get rid of it because it was stinging other corals. Same thing with the frogspawn I had. In my avatar pic you cant see because my yellow tang is blocking it but there is a trumpet coral behind him. When I bout it, it was only one head. now it has five and they are all splitting again. There is also two peaces of green porcillipora, the one in the center was a small frag that broke from the one on the upper left of my tank. Now it looks like a little bush.
 
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