water changes on a 75g reef

[living_waters]

hey all in my 36g and 5g ive always done 10% or more a week for water changes. in the 36 i do 5g a week and in the pico i would do 1g week. i have always had perfect perameters zero everything i dont know how people get huge nitrate problems if i even see 1ppm i do a water change call me o.c.d. or good husbandry.ive always bought premade water from the lfs less of a hassle for me anyways dont kill me for not making my own lol so in my car i can only fit id say four,5g buckets and i normally fill 2 with r/o and 2 with salt water my question is would 5g every two weeks be sufficiant for water changes in a 75g and have zero prams i have a 30g fuge with a 200g rated skimmer and changed once a week filter sock i dont want to have to go to the lfs every two weeks for water once a month sounds about right please dont sugest making my own i will eventually but i dont own a r/o d/i system yet i will be breaking down the 36g so i dont need to worry about the water for that and the nano has been honorably discharged as well thanks in advance!

[brcb7tuner]

Its definitely possible if you have a light bioload. I have a 60g with a bunch of lps and fish that I feed a lot, and 5 gallons every two weeks wouldn't work for me. Spectrapure has a cheap "refurbished" unit that's actually never been used that you can consider when you do decide to get a rodi. You couldn't pay me to use a LFS water there is to many unknowns and risk with parameters.

[living_waters]

Ok would 5g a week be sufficient ?

[Reefmedic79]

No, way to really answer the question, as there are so many factors at hand that would or wouldn't make it possible. Like already mentioned, if the bioload is low and feeding was limited it would be possible.

[Mussin]

I do 20 g every month on my 90. I mostly have lps

[bnumair]

a general rule is 20-30% per month how ever you wanna break it down in weekly or bi weekly or daily how ever your time permits.

[Maxxumless]

Originally Posted by living_waters

hey all in my 36g and 5g ive always done 10% or more a week for water changes. in the 36 i do 5g a week and in the pico i would do 1g week. i have always had perfect perameters zero everything i dont know how people get huge nitrate problems if i even see 1ppm i do a water change call me o.c.d. or good husbandry.ive always bought premade water from the lfs less of a hassle for me anyways dont kill me for not making my own lol so in my car i can only fit id say four,5g buckets and i normally fill 2 with r/o and 2 with salt water my question is would 5g every two weeks be sufficiant for water changes in a 75g and have zero prams i have a 30g fuge with a 200g rated skimmer and changed once a week filter sock i dont want to have to go to the lfs every two weeks for water once a month sounds about right please dont sugest making my own i will eventually but i dont own a r/o d/i system yet i will be breaking down the 36g so i dont need to worry about the water for that and the nano has been honorably discharged as well thanks in advance!

Buying an RO/DI unit and salt is going to to save you money, but until then I'd recommend doing with as few fish as possible. In the first 6-8 months a well kept aquarium won't have a nitrate build-up (blowing off rocks with turkey baster, syphoning out detritus, very good water flow, replace mechanical filtration frequently, etc...). As tanks grow older certain beneficial bacteria & creatures die off as others dominate. As a result, older tanks have a harder time breaking down pollution - even daily water changes in some cases wont bring down nitrates in some cases.

The purpose of water changes isn't only to remove waist, but to replace spent elements. So, if you aren't going to be changing water, you can try to replace those elements. Some are used up pretty quickly, depending on your livestock, while others disappear within days in stocked tanks.