I suck at water changes, so I suppliment

NewEnglishMutt · 10/23/2014, 10:16 PM

I'm probably the worst at doing water changes, and my wife refuses to do more than sprinkle a little fish food into the display... I'm active duty Navy, and so I'm gone a lot. So I suppliment calcium, magnesium, and an essencial elements blend into my tank every few weeks. I have Tangs, clowns, and a few others, along with annenomes and soft corals. Never had a single issue as long as everything is running, only lost fish once when my sump return pump died overnight, that was pretty tramatic on my fish, but I prettymuch never do a waterchange. Am I setting myself up for epic failure? This is my first reef tank, been set up and populated for probably 3 months now, 135g with a 25 gallon Fuge and sump, with crazy macro growth and tons, and i mean tons, of amphipods and copepods. 2x oversize skimmer, skimmer runs on same cycle as my lights. I'm planning on getting a dosing system in the near future so that I don't have to sit and measure everything out and dose all at once every few weeks. Plus when I'm deployed for long periods of time it will make my wife's life easier. But yeah... that's what I do, and I have an ATO so my salinity doesnt fluctuate often.

discoreefer · 10/23/2014, 10:19 PM

I would definitely not skip on the water changes. Maybe automate the process as much as you can? Do you turn your skimmer off when the lights are off? I've always thought those should be running 24/7.

skimjim · 10/23/2014, 10:28 PM

i hate to say this... but you may want to consider taking a break from reefing if you travel as much as you say. and then start back up when things slow down. reefing is definitely a stay at home hobby. i have an Apex so i'm pretty comfortable leaving town days at a time and monitoring on my andriod. for long vacations, i have a bunch of 1gal milk jugs filled with rodi and have the father-in-law come over to dump 1gal at a time while i'm on the phone with him.

i'd say, either the wife needs to get on-board with reef tasks, or take some time away from the hobby, or buy an Apex ($$$ but worth it) and coach your wife over the phone.

http://www.neptunesystems.com/apex-fusion/

.

NewEnglishMutt · 10/23/2014, 10:29 PM

Yeah, skimmer goes off at night, its on the same timer as my longer running lights. was suggested by someone somewhere once, i can't recall who when or why honestly.

NewEnglishMutt · 10/23/2014, 10:35 PM

I was only going to have a fish only tank, easy maintenance, but a neighbor was moving and offered me their 135g with sump stand, pumps, lights, filter, skimmer, rock, sand, fish, corals... everything.... the whole setup... for $500. How could I NOT buy that?

Aquarist007 · 10/23/2014, 10:36 PM

I would suggest that skimmer be on 24/7 esp if you are not doing water changes.

NewEnglishMutt · 10/23/2014, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquarist007

I would suggest that skimmer be on 24/7 esp if you are not doing water changes.

I was thinking the same thing, I'll switch it to 24/7 in the morning when I get home from work.

philosophile · 10/24/2014, 08:40 AM

In a tank that doesn't get regular maintainance, automate as much as you can. Do you have an auto top off? You can use that to put Kalk in the water to help replenish calcium.

I would also try to over filter. Add carbon. Skimmer 24/7. maybe consider adding a algae turf scrubber too. Also try to keep bio load light. Don't stock heavily, and be selective about what you put in your tank. Only the hardiest of life forms.

gone fishin · 10/24/2014, 09:20 AM

I wish you the best of luck but I would not consider a tank until I was on shore duty at least. Hopefully you can find someone to help with the tank when you are out to sea.

shesacharmer · 10/24/2014, 09:29 AM

The problem with not doing any water changes is that as water evaporates and you top off with fresh all of the minerals and essential elements that do NOT get used up become concentrated. Water changes export those unused items and replenish many other things that you are not dosing. There are people who go long periods without water changes and get away with it but most end up with a crash. Imagine the losses two years down the road when one day your tank simply goes into train wreck mode...you will be heartbroken. That said, I don't do buckets. I marked my tank for a specific amount and use a pump to remove that much water and another pump to refill the exact amount. Pretty easy way to do water changes without dragging around buckets.

Pomacanthus1 · 10/24/2014, 01:52 PM

Skimmers need to be emptied out and cleaned once or twice a week, is your wife willing to do that?

The only exception I can think of is if you had one of those Reef Octopus skimmers with the automatic neck squeegee blade attachment, but I've never used one. Again, $$. You will also need a reliable auto top off system, keep it symple and use it to dose kalkwasser as well.

Even though the Apex is expensive, it'll probably pay for itself when it allows you to catch a problem in the early stages. Sounds like your SO probably wouldn't be able to notice a problem until it was too late.

10/23/2014, 10:16 PM	#1
NewEnglishMutt Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 12	I suck at water changes, so I suppliment I'm probably the worst at doing water changes, and my wife refuses to do more than sprinkle a little fish food into the display... I'm active duty Navy, and so I'm gone a lot. So I suppliment calcium, magnesium, and an essencial elements blend into my tank every few weeks. I have Tangs, clowns, and a few others, along with annenomes and soft corals. Never had a single issue as long as everything is running, only lost fish once when my sump return pump died overnight, that was pretty tramatic on my fish, but I prettymuch never do a waterchange. Am I setting myself up for epic failure? This is my first reef tank, been set up and populated for probably 3 months now, 135g with a 25 gallon Fuge and sump, with crazy macro growth and tons, and i mean tons, of amphipods and copepods. 2x oversize skimmer, skimmer runs on same cycle as my lights. I'm planning on getting a dosing system in the near future so that I don't have to sit and measure everything out and dose all at once every few weeks. Plus when I'm deployed for long periods of time it will make my wife's life easier. But yeah... that's what I do, and I have an ATO so my salinity doesnt fluctuate often.

10/23/2014, 10:36 PM	#6
Aquarist007 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hamilton, Canada Posts: 28,240 Blog Entries: 1	I would suggest that skimmer be on 24/7 esp if you are not doing water changes. __________________ I prefer my substrates stirred but not shaken Current Tank Info: 150gal long mixed reef, 90gal sump, 60 gal refugium with 200 lbs live rock

10/24/2014, 08:40 AM	#8
philosophile Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 1,149	In a tank that doesn't get regular maintainance, automate as much as you can. Do you have an auto top off? You can use that to put Kalk in the water to help replenish calcium. I would also try to over filter. Add carbon. Skimmer 24/7. maybe consider adding a algae turf scrubber too. Also try to keep bio load light. Don't stock heavily, and be selective about what you put in your tank. Only the hardiest of life forms. __________________ 90 gallon mixed reef XPS1000SSS skimmer, 2 radions gen 1, tunze osmolator w/ kalk dispenser, 70 lbs pukani, mp40w x2; 1 tomini, 1 clown 2 mandarins. Vinegar dosing, and micro bubble scrubbing.

10/24/2014, 09:20 AM	#9
gone fishin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Wyocena Wi Posts: 6,936	I wish you the best of luck but I would not consider a tank until I was on shore duty at least. Hopefully you can find someone to help with the tank when you are out to sea. __________________ Tony Current Tank Info: 180gal DT, BM NAC77 skimmer,3 Maxspect razors, Maxspect Gyre 150, 30g QT

10/24/2014, 09:29 AM	#10
shesacharmer Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Central NH Posts: 1,241	The problem with not doing any water changes is that as water evaporates and you top off with fresh all of the minerals and essential elements that do NOT get used up become concentrated. Water changes export those unused items and replenish many other things that you are not dosing. There are people who go long periods without water changes and get away with it but most end up with a crash. Imagine the losses two years down the road when one day your tank simply goes into train wreck mode...you will be heartbroken. That said, I don't do buckets. I marked my tank for a specific amount and use a pump to remove that much water and another pump to refill the exact amount. Pretty easy way to do water changes without dragging around buckets. __________________ 75 gal, LR w/refugium, 79 deg, PH 8.0, sg 1.025, amm 0/nit 0/nit 0, Calcium 420, dKH 8.3, mag 1300, Phos 0 Current Tank Info: A work in progress...

10/23/2014, 10:19 PM	#2
discoreefer Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 54	I would definitely not skip on the water changes. Maybe automate the process as much as you can? Do you turn your skimmer off when the lights are off? I've always thought those should be running 24/7.

10/23/2014, 10:28 PM	#3
skimjim Registered Member. Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 513	i hate to say this... but you may want to consider taking a break from reefing if you travel as much as you say. and then start back up when things slow down. reefing is definitely a stay at home hobby. i have an Apex so i'm pretty comfortable leaving town days at a time and monitoring on my andriod. for long vacations, i have a bunch of 1gal milk jugs filled with rodi and have the father-in-law come over to dump 1gal at a time while i'm on the phone with him. i'd say, either the wife needs to get on-board with reef tasks, or take some time away from the hobby, or buy an Apex ($$$ but worth it) and coach your wife over the phone. http://www.neptunesystems.com/apex-fusion/ .

10/23/2014, 10:29 PM	#4
NewEnglishMutt Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 12	Yeah, skimmer goes off at night, its on the same timer as my longer running lights. was suggested by someone somewhere once, i can't recall who when or why honestly.

10/23/2014, 10:35 PM	#5
NewEnglishMutt Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 12	I was only going to have a fish only tank, easy maintenance, but a neighbor was moving and offered me their 135g with sump stand, pumps, lights, filter, skimmer, rock, sand, fish, corals... everything.... the whole setup... for $500. How could I NOT buy that?

10/24/2014, 01:52 PM	#11
Pomacanthus1 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Colorado Posts: 2,489	Skimmers need to be emptied out and cleaned once or twice a week, is your wife willing to do that? The only exception I can think of is if you had one of those Reef Octopus skimmers with the automatic neck squeegee blade attachment, but I've never used one. Again, $$. You will also need a reliable auto top off system, keep it symple and use it to dose kalkwasser as well. Even though the Apex is expensive, it'll probably pay for itself when it allows you to catch a problem in the early stages. Sounds like your SO probably wouldn't be able to notice a problem until it was too late.