too change or not too change?

[BCreefmaker]

i know 10-15% water change per week is generally what is recommended on RC, depending on your tanks load. but at the same time i know people who change drastically less then this in highly stocked, but also highly filtered aquariums (sump with fuge and big skimmer). and some that change none at all, yet everything seems happy fish and inverts according to what they say. now i work at a pet store, but have been on RC long before that and i really want to give out the best advice possible. however it seems most folks around here dont change there water much. my manager and the other salt guy where i work both believe 10% per week is a horrendous waste of salt. but to my current understanding, salt aquariums, especially reefs with little or no water changes should fail, no? or is this possibly avoided by heavy skimming and macro algae growth and removal and the use of chemicals to remove unwanted chemicals, however this route will almost undoubtedly be more costly, harder to understand, and actually end up making you spend more time tinkering with your tank then just changing 10% a week and keeping the aquarium moderately stocked?

[Larah]

Hey I have a chiton too.. Was your a hitchiker?

and as far as water changes go... EVERYONE has a different
opinion, though most on here will say 10% to 20% weekly is absolutely mandatory...
I would agree that you can either spend the money on salt or spend it on various chemicals, additives and ever increasingly larger mechancial filtration....... Not to mention test kits and your time testing...
I dunno I say just do the water changes.. it takes minutes and doesn't cost all that much... But then I have a 50 gallon so that's 5 to 10 gallons... cheap!

[gillesec]

I'm with you about not really knowing the water change schedule. Everyone seems to say that the amount of the water change is dependent on the frequency; ie. if you do it weekly only a small amount is needed, but monthly should be a larger %.

I'm with Larah that everyone has different way that works for them. For what ever it's worth though, the first TOTM I looked at made it a point to explain how they made the actual setup and action of the water changes as easy as possible, so that even when the car was in the shop, the baby was crying, you had a headache and were tired changing the water would be easy. (I forget the tank though)

[demonsp]

You can adjust water changes by the water readings. If you have readings that stay stable for 4 weeks do to low stock and quality water source then your fine. If your overstocked and useing tap water with low flow then weekly 20% changes maybe your best bet.

Over skimmer can also remove vital trace elimates making water changes that much more important.

[phenom5]

My personal opinion is smaller, more frequent changes.

But Randy Holmes-Farley knows a hell of a lot more about this stuff then I do...

Water Changes in Reef Aquaria

[uscharalph]

You need to find what works for your tank. I used to do larger monthly water changes, but found it stressed the tank too much. I now do 10 gallon weekly changes and take 1/2 from the display and 1/2 from the sump. This seems to stress the tank less. I also use Red Sea Coral Pro saltwater and don't have to dose calcium and magnesium as often.

[clevername]

Frequent small changes are better.....with that said i do it monthly. Although i dont have any hard corals.

[suzimcmullen]

I need to ask a dumb question. How do you know it is stressing the tank when you do larger changes?

Suzi

[clevername]

Large water changes are not a problem. The reason why people don't do them is because the replacement water could be so different from the actual tank water. Meaning, if you have a small difference in SG its becomes more of a problem because it effects the tank more.

I dont notice the effects of my "bad" water until i do a water change with "fresh" water. I notice that my corals are more open after the water change

[suzimcmullen]

So would it be bad to be in the habit of doing 1-2 gallons (out of 14) most every day or two as habit? I am home all day every day so it would be so easy for me to just do that on a regular basis. Well also, with all the rock/sand I have, it's probably closer to 10 gallons of actual water.

I can keep a bucket set up with a heater in it and thermometers to see that the water is the exact temp and keep an empty pump going to keep the salts mixed.

Suzi

[Lonesomme]

I like to do small changes each week to keep trace elements and such up to snuff. It is easier for me to keep my calcium, alk and magnesium balanced if I do small changes rather than readjusting everything after a large change. Most of the time I just keep with my routine dosing schedule and never have to adjust anything.

[phenom5]

Originally posted by suzimcmullen
So would it be bad to be in the habit of doing 1-2 gallons (out of 14) most every day or two as habit? I am home all day every day so it would be so easy for me to just do that on a regular basis. Well also, with all the rock/sand I have, it's probably closer to 10 gallons of actual water.

I can keep a bucket set up with a heater in it and thermometers to see that the water is the exact temp and keep an empty pump going to keep the salts mixed.

Suzi

If you read through the article I linked, Randy talks about the benefits of doing small, daily water changes. You could go even smaller than 1-2 gallons on a system that size if you were doing it daily.

Also, if you go for around 1-2% of the system volume, as long as the water is reasonable close in terms of temp & salinity, it will have a very small effect on the system.

So to answer your question, no, it wouldn't be bad to get in the habit of doing small daily WC's.

[suzimcmullen]

Cool. I think that's so much easier since it would be habit; just like brushing my teeth.

Thanks

Suzi

[tspors]

Here is a different twist on what you do. I like what uscharalph started with. "What works best for your tank." Of course the less change ANYTHING goes through stress can be less. However, you will hear people on here say NO fluctuation in water temp. Always do 10% weekly changes in water. You have to watch your tank. Your tank (habitants/conditions) will adapt to you. However, what you need to do is be consistant so the tank adapts. It's the old story there are no bad dogs just bad owners. Everything adapts to it's conditions and cycles. I am not saying dump 60 degree tap water into your tank and the tank will adapt to that. So do not over analyze this comment. If you find it better to do a 30% change every 4 weeks vs. 10% weekly just be consistant and moderate it.