General water change question

Hello all,

I have a 55 gallon saltwater tank and looking for opinions on how often I should be doing water changes (and how much). Currently I am doing about 5 gallons every week. Should I be doing it every two weeks?

I have a clean-up crew;
8 scarlet reef crabs
7 blue hermit crabs
3 turbo snails
7 cerinth snails
ALOT of bristle worms

and the following fish;
2 yellow tangs
1 cardinal fish
1 angel fish
1 damsel
1 clownfish

The following filters
protein skimmer
biological filter

Thanks for your opinions!!!!

 

Oh and I also have about 20# of live rock in my tank.

 

I think this is something thats more on a per-person basis.. keep an eye on your chemistry and as long as everything stays where you want it, the tank is clean and you+your fish are happy ~ than I would say your golden!

About your bristle worms - its so strange because you get such a varied opinion on them.. Some people love and some people hate them.. What are your findings?

 

General rule is 25% per month.

Btw are you planning a tank upgrade any time soon? Plus, you need more LR, really. Especially with that bio-load. Finally, how old is this tank?

 

Janderson 2K, thanks for the reply. The bristleworms-if I didn't have soo many I wouldn't be concerned but my tank is overloaded with them. I really love to kill about 80% of them in my tank but don't know how. I bought a trap and it doesn't work. I have tried to cut back on feedings but I don't want to stare my fish and inverts. ??

 

I am going to agree with an early post that water changes are a personal thing what works for one doesnt work for all. There is a school of thought that as long as you does you will never need a water change. Then there is the school of thought that you have to do 25% a month.

I personaly change water about every other month and the % will vary depending on how i feel.

This as always is just IMHO

 

Brandon1023 - also thank you for the reply. What do you mean by tank upgrade, a larger tank? I'm sorry if I sound like a idiot but I have only been into this for 3 months now.
The live rock - I would love to get more but the price is pretty steep for it and also I am hesitant about the curing process I have to go through - never done it before so am a little scared about messing it up and my tank. I do know a guy that used to have a 125 gallon tank with a lot of live rock (now dead rock) he is willing to give away. The rock has been sitting outside for 1 year now. Do you think it would it be a good idea to get that rock from him?
And the age of my tank - I bought my tank 3 months ago from a couple who had it set-up for 1 year. They had all the same fish in it (except for the inverts). So i guess it is a little over a year old? When I moved the tank everything went back into it even the same water.

 

Oh ok well that's a different situation entirely then what I had in mind (you bought it off someone who already had it running). The only reason I asked if you were going to upgrade the tank, meaning get a bigger one, is because a 55gal is too small for 1 tang, let alone 2. I guess it's ok if they have already been established in there for a bit but they need lots of swimming room. They'll outgrow it eventually. The tangs don't fight at all?

Also, yes you would be ok taking that rock from that guy. Since everything on it is dead you wouldn't spark any kind of cycle. It's just rock at this point. Eventually it will become live, your current rocks will seed it and you will be better off for it.

Last, I agree that water changes are a per-person basis. And in your case, I would say keep up with 5 gallons a week at the very least. You are actually a little over stocked but with a skimmer and regular water changes, I don't see it being a problem.

 

Yes, I agree..I wish there wasn't two tangs in there. The nearest LFS is 5 hours away so I don't know what to do with the tang. I am in the middle of now where - Elko Nevada. I don't have the heart to kill it.
You think I am overstocked on fish?

 

Well, don't kill it. As long as they seem to be ok then you're all right for now. You could try listing one online to see about selling it to someone nearby. But that's up to you of course and again, as long as they are getting along and eating and look fat, then it's ok for the time being.

The general rule is about 1 inch of fish per 10 gallons of saltwater. So in a 55 that would be 5.5 inches of fish. So yes I think you're over stocked but like I said with a good skimmer and the water changes you are doing, you should be able to get by.