water changes?

[kukki]

i know there are alot of people that dont ever have to do water changes because of how their system is built and manages to self-sustain so to speak

what allows you to do such a thing... if all of your water readings are always say.. ammonia, nitrite and nitrate 0... pH always in the right area never changing... { as well as all of the others } .... and if you have a auto-top off system that works pretty good... what would you then need to ever change the water for?...

i guess im trying to say, what allows such a thing to happen where you can go water change'less - not really looking to myself, just a question

 

[Bearfan]

I don't do very regular water changes, basically only to keep my calcium high and to clean out any junk that has settled into the sump.

 

[MadManMac]

I really never do water changes except after a major cleaning or something that really disrupts a bunch crap. But I have a ton of DIY stuff to auto top off with Kalk, a denitrator, and both a sump and a fuge of about 20 gallonas a piece. The only thing I do on a regular basis is test and adjust my trace elements. Other than that, I have actually found water changes to disrupt my system. In reality I think it depends on both your tank setup and philosophy toward adding things to your tank, some people only add minerals through water changes, I personally prefer using a combination of trace elements and specific addiitves. But remember, always test before you add things to the tank because too much is often far worse than not enough.