Water Changes

How often should I make a 10% water change on my 10 gallon reef tank ?

 

I would do 10% every other week, if that was enough to maintain my parameters and water quality

if I had escalating nitrates, then I may chose to do same amount weekly to see if this helped control it

Steve

 

Depends on how many corals, fish, and other creatures you have, how big they are, and how much live rock and other means of filtering (carbon, etc) you have.

Most tank setups need about a 10-15% a week.

 

yeah at least 10% weekly; thats what i do

 

+1


If you keep your bio-load within check and do not over feed. Some corals like xenia, goniopora and some soft corals do a little better with some nitrates.

 

they do? thats really weird XD and especially since goniopora are freaken impossible to keep unless you're perfect!!!

 

I have a hard time keeping soft corals in my tank but the sps in my tank does great. It must be because of th pristine water lol. I actually had gap wither and die. It just wouldn't take hold( thank god). I do a 10g water change on my 90 ( with 20g fuge and 20g dump ) roughly weekly, some times I do wait a little longer depending on my schedule. I do dose kalkwasser to help with keeping calcium up though. Hth

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No goniopora are hard to keep because no one has nailed down their nutritional needs. Many LPS are found in back reefs with routine periods of turbid waters.

Over polishing of the water can cause problems for many soft corals and lps. Euphyllias are a fine example of corals that can go long periods of time with only top off and no water changes and thrive. While I do believe routine water changes are a good thing not everyone does it and they have some very nice tanks. I am not recommending it.

 

Thats my understanding also

there are 2 reasons to change water
1 = to remove something you dont want eg Nitrates or other param related issues
2 = to add something you do want eg to help maintain levels

those that test and dose to maintain the big 3
and with very low nutrient systems
may elect to cease water changes all together or do infrequent water changes

I like to do a small amount weekly, just to maintain or help to maintain the elements in SW that I cant test for ( minor and trace elements)

Steve