10% weekly water change enough???

[Larah]

Opinions? Thoughts?

 

[rhino509]

should be fine,i do 5 percent weekly on mine,its a 100 gal system and i find the 5 gallon a week water changes works well for me so......i dont fix what aint broke.

 

[Larah]

Good to know! I am jsut starign out and figured I'd do 5 gallons a week which is 10%....

 

[drparker]

New tanks tend to need water changes of more volume or more often than established tanks. You'll find some people who do 10 to 20% monthly and others who do it weekly.

As a general rule 10% a week is a great start. If you tank is out of balance and running high on Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate or Phosphate then more volume more often might be needed. I try for 10% every week if I slip and it goes two weeks then I do about 15%.

 

[Larah]

So far everything is 0... Phosphates were up to .20
but ammonia nitrate and nitrite were all 0
with Ph steady at 8.3 temperature at 78 and salinity at 1.023........

 

[Larah]

Oh tank is 6 weks old.. and last week I did a 20% change

 

[drparker]

10% should be good. If your going to run a reef most here seem to run at higher Sg around 1.025 to 1.027. I just raised mine to 1.027.

 

[jdieck]

Under normal circumstances 10% per week would be very fine.
I have seen anywhere between 5% to 20% with different frequency, in some previous polls the average was about 30% per month and the most usual frequency was weekly and every two weeks but ranged all the way from daily 1% (Randy's automated system) up the the full 30% once a month.

 

[Aquarist007]

IMO at this stage and the size of your tank you only need 10- 20 percent change every two weeks.

The main purpose of water changes is to replentish minerals and ions etc that are used up by the corals etc but you don't have anything in there yet to be using anything up

(the other big reason is if you have an ammonia spike but you don't have that either)

 

[bmrescort]

I actually change my water about once or twice every three months at the most. I have about 210 gallons total and thigs stay pretty stable.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11690065#post11690065 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bmrescort
I actually change my water about once or twice every three months at the most. I have about 210 gallons total and thigs stay pretty stable.

you have alot of margin for error in 210 gals and I suspect much more including sump and refugium::smokin:

In a small tank the margin for error is far less and the water should be changed at least once a week for a very small tank like 12 gals

 

[Aquarist007]

..... and the need to change water more often also increases with the amount of coral and type of coral you are keeping in the tank.

 

[Larah]

Really? Why is that?

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11690128#post11690128 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Larah
Really? Why is that?

the primary reason for a water change is to replace trace minerals etc that are used up by corals and add chemicals such as calcium and carbonates that are used by corals also

(the other big reason is if you are experiencing increases in ammonia and phosphates(an algae bloom)

If you do not have alot of corals in your tank then the need for water changes depends more on the ammonia levels, phosphates etc.

 

[Larah]

Gotcha! No corals yet..
But I do have diatoms still... In the sand bed.. Phosphates were at .20 just put some phosban in the filter.......

 

[Aquarist007]

the diatoms are reacting to the curing of your live rock--eventually they consume the phosphates being produced and die off

Using phosban again is not really necessary until you start feeding--that's usually when you get an increase in phosphates

By then I would consider running it in a reactor--the water is forced through the entire media and can't skirt around the outsides thus more surface area in touch with the media