Daily water changes good or bad

[Jyetman]

Even though my PO4 and NO3 have tested negative I've still been having cynao issues under corals and poor coral extension. Apparently my algae scrubber isn't cutting it even though algae is growing on the screen. So can I do daily water changes to slowly improve water quality in my 80 gallon system? Thinking 1/2 gallon a day or should it be more? Is it important to blow off rocks before water changes or does it really matter ton of fine crap comes off?

[Jyetman]

I don't want to do large water changes heard it can shock the system.

[slief]

Daily water changes are always a good thing. I've been doing daily automatic water changes for years and my tank is much healthier as a result. That said, don't expect your scrubber or water changes to impact your cyano growth. That is more of a husbandry issue than anything else. It grows below your corals because you aren't vacuuming there and your flow is allowing stuff waste and detritus to settle there. Cyano typically grows in the areas of the least amount of flow because that is where you will find the waste accumulating. The only other thing that I have found to help besides vacuuming and improved flow is UV filtration but just because you have a UV filter doesn't mean you don't need to improve your husbandry or flow. If waste is accumulating in areas of your tank that are illuminated, you can rest assured that you will have to deal with cyano bacteria. As such, vacuuming and improved flow will be your best tool in the battle against cyano and a UV filter will also help remove the bacteria from the water column which is just another good tool in the battle.

[Mr. Bill]

Originally Posted by slief

Daily water changes are always a good thing. I've been doing daily automatic water changes for years and my tank is much healthier as a result. That said, don't expect your scrubber or water changes to impact your cyano growth. That is more of a husbandry issue than anything else. It grows below your corals because you aren't vacuuming there and your flow is allowing stuff waste and detritus to settle there. Cyano typically grows in the areas of the least amount of flow because that is where you will find the waste accumulating. The only other thing that I have found to help besides vacuuming and improved flow is UV filtration but just because you have a UV filter doesn't mean you don't need to improve your husbandry or flow. If waste is accumulating in areas of your tank that are illuminated, you can rest assured that you will have to deal with cyano bacteria. As such, vacuuming and improved flow will be your best tool in the battle against cyano and a UV filter will also help remove the bacteria from the water column which is just another good tool in the battle.

This^^

And yes, blow off the rocks. The "ton of crap" is where you're getting the nutrients that feed cyano.

[nuxx]

We do 3 gallon changes everyday... probably not a big hit on 650 gallons of system volume, but makes me feel good about myself

[heathlindner25]

I don't think a half a gallon is going to make much of an impact... And I have never seen negative results from large daily water changes

[anthonys51]

Originally Posted by heathlindner25

I don't think a half a gallon is going to make much of an impact... And I have never seen negative results from large daily water changes

+1
a half a gallon water change isnt going to do anything, thats .06 percent water change a day. i mean you loss more than that a day from evaporation. there is no reason you cant do 10 gallon water change once a week. this shouldn't hurt your tank. just make sure to match water parameters of tank and new water and you should be fine. no reason it should t

[jason2459]

~1% daily here spread out 155 times throughout the day.

[Jyetman]

I am starting to see slow improvements over time. Its been five years and four years since I did a large water change. Thought my algae scrubber was all I needed and small water changes to replenish trace elements must not been enough.

[Buzz1329]

Originally Posted by slief

Daily water changes are always a good thing. I've been doing daily automatic water changes for years and my tank is much healthier as a result. That said, don't expect your scrubber or water changes to impact your cyano growth. That is more of a husbandry issue than anything else. It grows below your corals because you aren't vacuuming there and your flow is allowing stuff waste and detritus to settle there. Cyano typically grows in the areas of the least amount of flow because that is where you will find the waste accumulating. The only other thing that I have found to help besides vacuuming and improved flow is UV filtration but just because you have a UV filter doesn't mean you don't need to improve your husbandry or flow. If waste is accumulating in areas of your tank that are illuminated, you can rest assured that you will have to deal with cyano bacteria. As such, vacuuming and improved flow will be your best tool in the battle against cyano and a UV filter will also help remove the bacteria from the water column which is just another good tool in the battle.

Hi Slief,

So you're doing daily 1% WC PLUS siphoning off waste and detritus? How do you siphon off the dreck? Supplemental water changes? Some other method?

I always had some reservations about 1% daily WCs 'cause most of weekly WC's I do include siphoning out bad things from tank and sump. But if daily 1% is like a base line that is supplemnted with additional WCs as needed, it makes perfeect sense to me.

Thanks,

Mke

[slief]

Originally Posted by Buzz1329

Hi Slief,

So you're doing daily 1% WC PLUS siphoning off waste and detritus? How do you siphon off the dreck? Supplemental water changes? Some other method?

I always had some reservations about 1% daily WCs 'cause most of weekly WC's I do include siphoning out bad things from tank and sump. But if daily 1% is like a base line that is supplemnted with additional WCs as needed, it makes perfeect sense to me.

Thanks,

Mke

I don't really ever vacuum/siphon my main display. It's mostly bare bottom and I have insane flow in there including profiles for my Tunze's that kick up anything that's settled on the bottom and sends it over the overflow. My current water change regimen is 5 gallons a day via my Genesis Renew. My overall volume is between 600 - 650G. Every 4 to 6 months, I kick off a 40 gallon water change via my Renew for no particular reason other than it makes me feel good knowing that it's a good thing and certainly can only help.

That said, every tank is different. I have several hundred pounds of live rock which gives me a great biological bed and my tank has been up and running in its current location for over 18 years now. I have a large 30"x36" refugium below my tank with a deep sand bed with lots of macro. Other than pruning chaeto, I haven't touched or disturbed that refugium in nearly 6 years. I have a 60 gallon display fuge with macro and soft corals which I do vacuum from time to time. I run four 7" filter socks which help to keep my sumps clean and a very efficient high quality skimmer to help export dissolved organics. Despite my 60+ fish that are fed very heavily every day, I have no detectable nitrates and no nuisance algae in my main display which I attribute to a well thought out and well maintained system. My corals thrive as well and my soft corals are literally trying to grow out of the tank. On that note, I do have a lot of soft corals as well which in conjunction with the rest of my system, help to consume nutrients. Like I said, every tank is different and the frequency of water changes needed to maintain a healthy environment will vary from one tank to the next.

[Buzz1329]

Yikes.

625 gallons DT;

18 years running;

30"x 36" refugium, which is cherry except for pruning chaeto.

60 gallon display fuge with macro and soft corals which is vacuumed from time to time . . .

Etc. (which is to say yada), etc., yada . . .

And in next scene, **** habilis swinging very dead fish over head backs away from **** sapiens, who is analyzing next step to take to maintain optimum reef aquarium.

Thanks for clarifying,

HH

Hah! No idea until this post that universal abbreviation of hominid, which is part of our species' (and prior species') name cannot be uttered on Reef Central. Hilarious! Apparently, it's the scientific nomenclature that dare not speak its name.

[slief]

Originally Posted by Buzz1329

Yikes.

625 gallons DT;

18 years running;

30"x 36" refugium, which is cherry except for pruning chaeto.

60 gallon display fuge with macro and soft corals which is vacuumed from time to time . . .

Etc. (which is to say yada), etc., yada . . .

And in next scene, **** habilis swinging very dead fish over head backs away from **** sapiens, who is analyzing next step to take to maintain optimum reef aquarium.

Thanks for clarifying,

HH

Hah! No idea until this post that universal abbreviation of hominid, which is part of our species' (and prior species') name cannot be uttered on Reef Central. Hilarious! Apparently, it's the scientific nomenclature that dare not speak its name.

I was surprised to see the term for "hominoid" censored as well. Just to clarify, my main display volume is 480G and overall system volume is around 625. The good thing is that aside from feeding, my tank requires roughly 15 minutes a week of labor including cleaning viewing panes and transferring/mixing water in my holding tanks.

[Spar]

Originally Posted by slief

my main display volume is 480G and overall system volume is around 625. The good thing is that aside from feeding, my tank requires roughly 15 minutes a week of labor including cleaning viewing panes and transferring/mixing water in my holding tanks.

my friends/family never believe me when i tell them this. the assumption is always that a big tank requires non-stop work on it. i give a lot of credit to my AWC system for this too; i have it drain from a deadspot in the sump where waste builds up which helps even more.

[JMorris271]

Originally Posted by nuxx

We do 3 gallon changes everyday... probably not a big hit on 650 gallons of system volume, but makes me feel good about myself

Do these changes affect any dosing you might be doing? If so, do you need to supplement after or before the change?

[nuxx]

Originally Posted by JMorris271

Do these changes affect any dosing you might be doing? If so, do you need to supplement after or before the change?

Really don't notice it.

I test ALK every week and adjust based on those readings from the week before.

Other tests I do monthly unless something looks wrong...