Water Change Question

Ok so I think I have my tank really dialed in right now. The past month my params have been awesome and this includes my nitrates at 0 and Phosphates at 0 as well. So my question now is my water change every two weeks? I have an 80 gallon setup with a 20 gallon fuge and 20 gallon sump. So is a 10 gallon change every 2 weeks sufficient or is more necessary?

 

there are a lot of different opinions out there concerning water changes. i do 10% each week. i can't say for sure that this is the correct amount. i would assume that your bio-load and the quality of your filtration would come into play.

 

my opinion is that this is a situation where you know your tank better than anyone else. try the 10 gallons every two weeks and test the water regularly. you will probably know if it isn't enough.

 

Well, you'll learn YOUR tank. As opposed to following a set rule that is an waterchange schedule for the AVERAGE of a whole bunch of reefers tanks, watch your OWN tank and determine your own waterchange schedule. If you test your nitrates and they're only 5ppm after 2 weeks, then doing a waterchange at that point would just be a waste of water and salt. Maybe you need to do a waterchange every 1 or maybe only once per month.

 

i agree with the posts b4 me. if you are using the water changes to combat nitrate build up than i would say do the larger wc every 2 weeks. but if you are doing the wc for supplement reasons do the 10g change. JMO. I say the above bc typically if your trying to keep nitrates down larger wc are more effective (there is a really good thread somewhere around here explaining that better tho ) using wc for supplementing would seem to be of more use if done more frequently on a smaller scale tho.

 

Well thats the thing, I havent done a water change in two weeks. My nitrates were at 5 ppm and I added some Purigen and they are gone. Also I added new lighting to my fuge about 2 months ago and my chaeto seems to be taking off! Yeah I was doing pretty decent size water changes every week about 25 gallons, but I stopped that bout 3 weeks ago. My Nitrates just vanished but hey I'm not complaining;D Yeah I'm not a big fan of the large WC due to chemistry stability issues.

 

I do a water change every time nitrates appear. Like once every three weeks work for me.

 

+1 on everyone else who indicates your parameters or your ability to maintain water quality are key to the amount and frequency of changes

but in addition there are elements in salt water that I cant test for
and to be honest I dont actually know if anything in my tank needs them

but just in case they do, I have a weekly water change of 5% despite having 0 parameter issues

it may well be a paradigm ( something that exists because its always been that way and the justification for it , is simply - thats what I do, innit!)

but I am happy with my 5% weekly water changes, simply from a refresh the tank perspective and it also gives me the perfect opportunity to , syphon around the base of rocks and in the gaps/ crevices etc, plus clean out my GFO, carbon and Purigen packs

my aim with every water change is to make the bucket as filthy as I possibly can, and that in my mind helps me justify having done it

Steve

 

Thats a great point! Thanks Steve.