Anyone out there that doesn't do water changes?

[Steppa]

Just wondering if there's anyone that doesn't do water changes or does them infrequently (like once a year)?

I remember someone posted that they've only done one water change in over a year and the tank was doing great.

 

[ASpec]

I just read (on another forum) someone admitted to not doing a water change in 8 years! And he said his tank was perfect. Believe it or not... I'm not going to chance it myself!

 

[zacdl]

My outdoor pond I never do water changes in either. I do maybe 2-3 a year.

 

[Steppa]

I wonder if the reason for doing water changes has been lost over time. What I mean by this is, it seems that the main reason is to help lower nitrates. I know it also helps replenish trace elements but I wonder how much/many "trace elements" you really gain out of doing this.

 

[ZoozFishMaster]

Nitrifying bacteria reacts with the alkalinity of the water and produces carbonic acid when decomposing ammonia and nitrite. So in essence, as time passes, the tank's ability to neutralize acids decreases. This can lead to not only a drop in alkalinity but also a drop in pH.

Water changes also dilute nitrates and phosphates and replace important trace elements.

I would never consider not doing frequent water changes.

 

[Steppa]

Yes, but how much does doing the water change help? I know that it can really help dilute nitrates but a correctly setup tank and filter system should already be breaking down the nitrates. So assuming that your filter system is working correctly, does one really need to do water changes? Maybe we only need to do one 20% once a year, or a lot less frequently then we currently think.

It sounds like at least one or two people does not do water changes and their tanks are just fine. So, they are either doing something no one else is or the water changes aren't as helpful as everyone thinks. This makes me wonder if technology and our understanding of keeping SW tanks has made it so that it's not necessary to do water changes in properly setup tanks.

Anyone else not do water changes or have any comments on this?

 

[sirfishmaster]

just because people are doing it, does not make it right, nor does it mean that its healthy because its working...i admit when i am really busy with work, ill slide into a month before i do a water change and nothing seems to move much out of place, but i would not come into the hobby with that way of thinking.


doug

 

[lando]

Water changes do depend on the total water volume of the system, the type of filtration, LR, and feeding/livestock. I would never consider skipping on a water change. Too much money tied up in this hobby to start slacking and risk something going wrong.

 

[Steppa]

Okay. So forget that I said they 'never' need to be done. But how about pushing out longer then what we're thinking currently. Maybe a 10% change every 6 months..? Maybe if we were to buy those bottles that claim to 'replace trace elements' would push it out even another 6 months..! I dunno... I'm just saying that doing a water change might not give us as many trace elements as we think and/or the tank might not use them all in the amount of time we give it. So, really all we're doing is making extra work for ourselves..?

Also, I agree that it does have to do with total water volume of the system. I guess I was thinking of a larger system (120gal+) but for a properly stocked tank (not over stocked) then the amount of time or perccentage of water changed shouldn't change based on total water volume. Problem is, I would dare to say, that most of the smaller tanks are overstocked because everyone wants to have more fish (or live-stock) in the tank then the filter system can support.

 

[MarineFlake]

I had my tank for almost 1 yr with no changes. However, I took a swing (and a miss) at introducing a BTA. When it croaked, it polluted the tank beyond belief causing me to have to implement water changes. I also upped the stock and I have witnessed far healthier corals with the introduction of 10G changes every 2 weeks. The point is, if its working for someone thats great however, a couple water changes and I think the difference in appearence will be so dramatic that you'll want to keep doing them.

GL

 

[malkore]

Well, the ocean gets water changes through evaporation and rainfall, and rivers that dump into the ocean.

Since my tank tries to mimic the ocean...I do frequent (weekly) small (5gallon) water changes on my 40gallon tank. I have no algae, no weird fish problems, my corals do well.

That's my take on it.

 

[Steppa]

So PC, what did you have in the tank for the first year? Based on your experience, it sounds like water changes ARE needed but I'm wondering at that interval and how large. I suppose that will fluctuate for every person depending on filtration, tank location, stock, etc..

I guess I'll just have to play with it and see how it goes once I get my tank up and running.

The reason I started this discussion was because I was talking to someone else and they mentioned that they did approximately a 10% water change every week. I asked him why he changed his water so frequently and he stated because, "that's what someone else told me to do and that everything has been running and looking great!"

To me, while I'm sure it was running and looking great, this didn't make sense. He had no idea how long he could go without changing his water and still have his tank look great. Then I seemed to recall that someone else mentioned going a full year without changing their water and that their tank was fine. So here we are.

 

[BillyZ]

I rarely do water changes. When I do, it is about 10% (5 gallons in a 55 tank). I would say I do a 5 gallon water change about once every... 5-6 months.

I think I'm about ready for one now, I'm seeing a drop in my Ph. All other parameters are fine. I don't have very many corals, etc so I'm not concerned with CA/Alk. My theory on why my tank is ok like this: 55 gallons, CC/LS bed about 4inches deep, 70+ pounds of LR and about 3 fish. Extreemely lightly stocked but a healthy cleanup crew and plenty of natural filtration. The more you put in your tank, the more frequent you will need to do water changes.

 

[Clown Monarch]

I've done (3) 10%-15% water changes in the last 9 months and honestly I don't think I needed to do any.

 

[Steppa]

Ahh! More responses! This is VERY interesting.

So, what I take out of this is either people are over-stocking their tank for the type/amount of filtration they have OR the tank is over-stocked for the total amount of water volume and the 'trace elements' that's needed is getting used up to quickly. (or a combination of the two)

Clown Monarch, what do you have setup for filtration? Also, have you tried doing, say, monthly water changes (or more frequent) and noticed a change in the tank health?

 

[canada911]

I have my tank for now about 4 years, I do Rarely some water change... About 1 each 3 month.

My tank was going fine. The water that I add 3 times/week to compensate the evaporation is Way enough to bring enough of important nutriment in the tank I woud say.

 

[Clown Monarch]

I only have about 90 lbs of live rock in a 125, a 20 gallon wet/dry, simple skimmer, and a Fluval 404 with 5-6 lbs. of live rock in the canister. I have a decent animal load and coral load but so far no problems. I don't think I ever tested above zero for ammonia, nitrates or nitrite except when I tried using bio-balls for a few weeks.

 

[Clown Monarch]

I've never done more frequent water changes than maybe one every 3-4 months. Reefkeeping is one of those ventures that I consider a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" deal. The more I meddle with a smoothly running tank, the more chance things will die.

 

[kdrake]

Interesting discussion, just 1 observation:

Malkore you stated that "Well, the ocean gets water changes through evaporation and rainfall, and rivers that dump into the ocean.

Since my tank tries to mimic the ocean...I do frequent (weekly) small (5gallon) water changes on my 40gallon tank. I have no algae, no weird fish problems, my corals do well"

this would seem more closely related to evaporation and top offs than it would be to a Water change.

Great reading though.

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

I think it really depends on the aquarium. If water cahnges are needed to bring down nitrates and so on then they are definately needed. Myself I do one about once a month. If all my readings are good and my filtration is working properly I don't need to do alot of water changes so I don't. It also depends on what you are keeping. If you have a lot of high water quality demanding species then you have to keep a close eye on your parameters and do changes accordingly. I believe that having external filtration really cuts down the water changes. I was sick for a week and my filter broke on my aquarium and I was too ill to do any water changes or even go get another filter. In a matter of a week I had a crazy hair algae attack. Why? because I had no filtration and I didn't do any water changes. As soon as I got healthy I battled the algae and won. I feel the best water is the water that is in there. If it wasn't then why do livestock die if you do to large of a water change?