Water Changes - How often should they be done?

3 years is not a lot of experience....

There is more that we can't test for that is bad than there is that is good... And the bacteria that we remove from the water column is never missed. There is nothing "natural" about not doing water changes. Doing a water change brings us back to baseline that is known to be safe, it's a lot more "natural" than a glass box that you never take anything out of but constantly add to... (food, dosing, etc)

 

i do a 10% WC weekly then every other week i change out 30 gals of my 75gal tank everything has been growing so fast, since i started

 

I guess its whatever works for you and what your params read. Every tank behaves differently. I used to do 15% water changes every week to keep nitrates to 10ppm. Ever since I upgraded my 5 gallon fuge to a 10 gallon fuge and put a new lamp on it, the chaeto has grown out of control and nitrates are always at 0.

I just do a 10% water change every month just to put some new water in there.

 

Depends on your setup, livestock.....and your experience with "your" tank. As a tank matures, you could get away with less WC if it's not overstocked and you have good filtration. That said, WC it not just for nutrient export, it replenishes elements we don't typically test for. I use to do bi-weekly WC, now I'm up to 15% every ~8 wks and that works great for me. Not that I would recommend this, but I also don't test my tank on a regular basis because the system is stable. I test a few times a year or if I notice any slight negative changes in my tank, other than that I only test sg when I do a WC. After a while, you just know your tank.

 

I am thinking along these lines as well seeing how my softies look after I have been gone for 3 0r 4 weeks at a time.

This is a very good point. I am thinking that there are currents though in the ocean that are always bringing in new water. I also thought that WC's were for nutrient export and also to replenish those trace elements that we can't test for. Now I am thinking that nutrients can be exported other ways, and that the trace elements aren't really used up al that fast.

I here of this quite often as well though. This is why I get confused. I guess it really just depend on your tank. ;D

 

I think I may try going 10% every 2 weeks and see how the tank responds. It definitely seems like a tank specific variable.

 

I do like15% bi-weekly. I recently moved to a new location and didnt do my reg water change. I did notice a deff in my zoa opening. I also think if u test and dose for what missing i think no water change can work.