PWC schedule

Will I be ok doing a 10% PWC every other week with this filtration:

Purigen
Chemi pure elite
Filter floss

And this stock:

1 occ. clown
1 bangaii cardinal
1 YWG
1 purple fire fish

Thanks

 

Bumpers

 

Its kind of hard to give you a yes or no answer here man. It really all depends on what your system likes, not really whats convenient for you. Sorry to bring bad news. you probably will be fine with that, but nobody knows for sure. Theres no 1 right way to do things in this hobby. Best thing to do is do that schedule, and test your water. If things are stable and at the right levels then thats all you need. That might also mean a 5% change bi weekly, monthly, twice a month... it varies .Its all about what your tank is telling you. listen to it.

 

I mentioned it over in the other thread but I am not a beleiver of the manditory X gallon percentage water change every week or biweekly. To some people thats great, but to me if the tank is happy then why do it other than to spend money and make me unhappy. That is purely my opinion, and I mean no disrespect to people that do weekly water changes.

It depends on several factors. The size of the tank, the amount & frequency you feed, the amount & types of coral, inverts etc. Those will all drive what level of water quality you are going for. Alot of SPS and looking for ultra clean water so changes & special equipment are in demand. Zoa's, softies and LPS arent as life or death when it comes to nitrates so a little dirtier water & less frequent water changes are ok. Fish only tanks, depending on the fish can be semi tolerable of nirtrates so once again even less.

Lighting & feeding will drive the factors that contribute to phostphates & algae growth. lowering them will can be done several ways (like your chemi-pure) or with water changes.

The amount of corals you stock can play a part in how long trace elements are absorbed & depleted, so that will drive a potential water change.

Now how do you figure this all out and do a water change? It really comes down to experience. Fairly consistent testing of your water when you start. learning the characteristics and actions of your live stock. If there is somewhting wrong they will let you know. You see a coral maybe not give full polyp extension, or maybe fish not as active. I'm not saying just let everything go until stuff starts dying, I'm saying give it sometime & let youll knowledge grow.

 

Good post. I was getting at that but this definitely hit home. like i said there's no 1 right way to do things in this hobby.

 

alrighty thanks guys ill just see what works for me.

 

so if all levels are zero and everything is healthy i can go a while until nitrates go up?
I'm only housing lps and softies so i don't think ill dose.

 

You don't mention what you are using for water.
Is it tap water, distilled water, RO water, RO/DI or ??
What are you using for a salt mix and what specific gravity?

Are you taking the time to match the pH and temperature before adding the new water?

Do you aerate the water before adding it?

 

the tank isn't up yet but ill be using rodi water and instant ocean. do the temp and ph have to be the same? and i plan to keep my SG at 1.025.

 

Leave the supplements and additives on the LFS shelf, you don't need them.
For a reef system you might want to use a little bette rsalt though, Instant Ocean is great for a fish only system but a little lcaking for a reef system which requires different alkalinity, calcium, magnesium and other elements. Good reef quality salt mixes have those already. IO makes Reef Crystals which is a popular choice along with many others. I use Oceanic personally but there are many to choose from and I am sure others will speak up with their choices and experiences.

Try to get the salinity, pH and temperature close when doing changes so you don't shock the system. In a nano this is more important than in a larger system with much more volume to lessen the effects.