Water Changes

[cjbaker]

Hi,

I have a 175L tank with at least 25Kg of live rock in. What would be the correct volume (L) to change during water changes ?

Many Thanks

 

[carey]

I would change out about 15-20% weekly, so maybe 20 litres or so.

 

[Wyatt1]

Hi, I have 5 tanks. only one being sw. I have been very successfull in all of them. I never do water changes. Once in a while I will do a vacuum on my 125g Cichlid tank just because they are very dirty. If you have enough water movement the water wont get so stagnant. Most people say I'm crazy but it works for me, and no problems.

 

[Convict2161]

Hi, I have 5 tanks. only one being sw. I have been very successfull in all of them. I never do water changes. Once in a while I will do a vacuum on my 125g Cichlid tank just because they are very dirty. If you have enough water movement the water wont get so stagnant. Most people say I'm crazy but it works for me, and no problems.

Never a water change? Water always tests ok?

 

[Ewatson249]

Tests?!?!?

 

[Wyatt1]

I know it may sound crazy but no water changes and yes evey test comes out good. Although I think that having alot of live rock makes a differance. Water always goes through cycles there for water will test a little differant everytime. If you have a tank that is over stocked with fish then you may want to do a water changes. My fresh water tanks are way over filtered. like my 125g tank. I have 2 marineland bio wheel filters each one does 90 gal and a marineland 350 which does 100 gal. No water changes works for me. And it may not work for someone else. Water changes with sw tanks seem crazy to me. Adding new water with the exact salt levels with whats in the tank now. When the water evaporates the salt doesnt go with the water it stays in the tank. So do you account for that when making new water? I just add distilled water. All my levels are good.

 

[Tomchong22]

Waterchanges get rid of excess nutrient in the water and with the fresh saltwater it replaces trace elements that are used up. I don't care how good your bacteria is in your tank, to have a saltwater tank you have to change the water. Yes your levels are ok but without waterchanges a tank will crash. Think of it like this: Fish wast and excess food will always be in the tank, if you don't change the water it will just build and build because every time you feed you add more and more wast to the water.

 

[Ricksreef]

15 to 20% water change every two weeks will do fine,using a salt like instant ocean reef crystals.
Wyatt1 is confused about saltwater PWC's. You remove the amount of water from the aquarium first that you are replacing with the mixed saltwater.
Regular RO or distilled water would be used for top off since the salt stays in the tank.

 

[cjbaker]

Thanks for all your comments guys. Decided on 20% every 2 weeks to start with. Only got one clown fish at the moment so shouldn't be producing too much waste.

Thank again

 

[Ricksreef]

Thanks for all your comments guys. Decided on 20% every 2 weeks to start with. Only got one clown fish at the moment so shouldn't be producing too much waste.

Thank again

Sounds good,remember water changes not only remove excess nutrients,but replace Alk,Cal,mag. So on that your corals and Coraline algae need.

 

[melosu58]

Sounds good,remember water changes not only remove excess nutrients,but replace Alk,Cal,mag. So on that your corals and Coraline algae need.

I was going to say the same thing but Rick beat me to it. I will add one thing that it`s not just those three things but there are 89 different salts in synthetic sea water. All these trace elements are important for coral and fish processes. PWC are the way we replenish them.

 

[SwimsWithFish]

I was going to say the same thing but Rick beat me to it. I will add one thing that it`s not just those three things but there are 89 different salts in synthetic sea water. All these trace elements are important for coral and fish processes. PWC are the way we replenish them.

And that's why it's ideal to do smaller more frequent water changes. By the time you hit the one week mark your corals have probably used up all the trace elements so it's probably a good idea to get a test kit and dose calcium, iodine,ect. But with 10% weekly you don't really need to dose.

 

[BallinCrew10]

And that's why it's ideal to do smaller more frequent water changes. By the time you hit the one week mark your corals have probably used up all the trace elements so it's probably a good idea to get a test kit and dose calcium, iodine,ect. But with 10% weekly you don't really need to dose.

Yes and no. I agree its better to do smaller more frequent PWC's, but I doubt that unless your tank is LOADED with corals they're consuming enough trace elements that it would require dosing in less than a week. I do agree that if you are going to dose you should definatly be testing. Also, to generalize everyones tank needing 10% weekly isn't always going to be accurate. A tank with only a few corals will need less than a tank loaded with sps. You have to look at what is in your tank, determine what their needs are and go from there.

 

[SwimsWithFish]

Yes and no. I agree its better to do smaller more frequent PWC's, but I doubt that unless your tank is LOADED with corals they're consuming enough trace elements that it would require dosing in less than a week. I do agree that if you are going to dose you should definatly be testing. Also, to generalize everyones tank needing 10% weekly isn't always going to be accurate. A tank with only a few corals will need less than a tank loaded with sps. You have to look at what is in your tank, determine what their needs are and go from there.

Great point.