Reef Bruh's 600 Gallon Upgrade

I did the same thing but cut it on the opposite end. I will do it your way and see what happens.

 

Floor looks great and ready to have water splashed all over it! ;D

 

And you know this.

 

Curious if you already have a controller and what you'll get/have? Been reading an interesting thread on a diy one that's pretty cool. Could see myself putting one together someday for sure. I like the idea of being able to customize it to do exactly what I need/want.

 

Controller as for doing water changes or just a controller overall? My dream controller is the Profilux 3 but probably ending up getting the Apex.

 

Ive never been one to tell someone how to reef and I dont want to start, but IMO, DAILY water changes is way overkill. Especially considering your volume. Weekly may be as well. Here is why IMPO:

most will agree that STABILITY is the key to the success of most reef tanks. keeping the params the same agross an extended period of time is the best way to go. It has always been said that larger water volumes tend to be more stable because it takes more of the bad to get them thrown out of whack. you are looking at over 700! gallons of water volume here. Even if you removed 5% (35gallons) of that and replaced it with RO/DI, your salinity drop would be less than 4ppt. now we just addressed the simple salinity change on something that you likely would not do.

all that said, I just dont see the need for water Given that short of time, the bad (nitrates, Phosphates) would not have time to build up. They can be COMPLETELY removed using a good skimmer and Bio pellets. Come test my water. Phosphate is at .02ppm and Nitrates are Undetectable.

So you want to replace the minerals lost during that day? Wont a Calcium reactor do most of that? it does supply Calcium and Carbonate hardness to the water right? does so in a way that once dialed in, the only adjustments needed are for added corals. my tank has been rock steady at 9.8dKh and 440PPM Calcium for an extended period of time (months or more). I use ARM in my Ca/Rx. made from crushed coral. IMO< because we are disolving this, in addition to the Ca and Carbonate hardness we get from this, we also get some of the trace elements. I dont test my Mg. never saw the need.

now, is doing a bi weekly or monthly water change necessary? maybe, depends. I dont and will preach that. but I dont see the bad in it.

just food for thought buddy. Id hate to see you make extra work for yourself or throw money down the drain. To do a 20% water change, you are looking at 150 gallons of water. That is basically a bucket of salt each time. For Reef Crystals, that is about $50 a pop. OUCH.

 

My plan was basically weekly to bi weekly. Daily especially without a controller would probably do me in. If I chose to do monthly well my parameters better pretty much be on point.

 

Weekly would be Overkill IMO as well. Monthly is pretty standard. if you did bi weekly are you thinking 10%?

 

I have an algae scrubber, no gfo, no bio-pellets or anything of the sort and my phosphates and nitrates are both undetectable at all times. I would never have to do water changes if thats how i wanted it. No expenses on gfo/pellets either.

 

10-15% was my thinking.