rhunter513
New member
Thanks Brandon - great discussion. I am going to go back to bigger water changes in hopes that I can get ahead of nuisance hair algae.
Rob
Rob
100% Water Changes
- Thread starter Malenurse
- Start date
rhunter513
New member
I think its important to remember that if you have a protein skimmer or refuge or some other means of nutrient export that 100% weekly water changes are probably not necessary. The learned here is large water changes are not bad as long as you are very caerful to match water parameters.
saltyboy84
New member
hahahahahahahahaha, i think ill do a 100% water change, but i know you anwsered this already but i wasnt sure what you ment so my question is, is it ok to do a 100% water change in my 5.5 gallon
daveonbass
New member
yes. 100% water change is fine...and it's also a misnomer (i think you could call it that).
by 100% most people mean that they take out almost all the water. With fish, which I belive calfo had in his nano (I think it was 12 gallons or something), you would leave just enough water so that the fish wouldn't drown and then add the water back. If done at a nice gentile pace it is not too stressful to the fish...and the water is fresh and clean with all the proper nutrients of clean sea water. I have done this many time and I like the results. In fact I need to keep doing it now that I have started my nano fasination back up. But it doesn't hurt anything.
Again we are not saying to remove your corals and sand and filter media or any of that. 100% water change just means that you can take out the display tanks water down to the lowest safe level. (at the sand bed for invert tanks, and about an inch or so for tanks with small fish) Then add the fresh water...and wallah the coral are happier and there is NO waste in the system...as apposed to smaller percentage water changes that leave some pollution only at distilled levels. In a LARGE tank a little pollution is not as big a problem...but in nanos a little can go a long way...so 100% water changes (give or take, lets be honest it's like 90% to 95%) are a benefitial thing to do for your livestock.
by 100% most people mean that they take out almost all the water. With fish, which I belive calfo had in his nano (I think it was 12 gallons or something), you would leave just enough water so that the fish wouldn't drown and then add the water back. If done at a nice gentile pace it is not too stressful to the fish...and the water is fresh and clean with all the proper nutrients of clean sea water. I have done this many time and I like the results. In fact I need to keep doing it now that I have started my nano fasination back up. But it doesn't hurt anything.
Again we are not saying to remove your corals and sand and filter media or any of that. 100% water change just means that you can take out the display tanks water down to the lowest safe level. (at the sand bed for invert tanks, and about an inch or so for tanks with small fish) Then add the fresh water...and wallah the coral are happier and there is NO waste in the system...as apposed to smaller percentage water changes that leave some pollution only at distilled levels. In a LARGE tank a little pollution is not as big a problem...but in nanos a little can go a long way...so 100% water changes (give or take, lets be honest it's like 90% to 95%) are a benefitial thing to do for your livestock.
greenbean36191
Premium Member
I certainly don't agree with the statement that "you should be draining that sucker empty and refilling it once a week!" but if it's practical for your size tank it is an option. As has already been pointed out, you aren't going to kill off your filtration. You're also not going to kill or stress anything unless your new water is wildly different from the old. Corals aren't nearly as sensitive to changes as hobbyists like to pretend- which is certainly good news for corals.
FWIW in college I used to do true 100% changes on my 5 gallon bi-weekly, but I would never consider them on a tank much bigger than that.
FWIW in college I used to do true 100% changes on my 5 gallon bi-weekly, but I would never consider them on a tank much bigger than that.
bagged87blayzer
New member
Alright now this may be extreme. I have a betta tank that I want to make a pico. Outside dimension make it 1/2 gallon, so inside dimensions will make it a little less. I am going to use a Elite nano intank filter for water movement. I really do not want a lot of stuff in it because the smallest pickup tube for say a Aquaclear 20 touches the bottom of the tank and looks huge. No fish at all. Live sand and Live Rock out of my 10 gallon and some corals. I will have a 20 watt Coralife 50/50 PC bulb on it. Without filtration just water movement how often do I need to do a 100% water change, every day/other day?
E.intheC
Active member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13876266#post13876266 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mil hse
I do a 1 gal every 3 days on a 6 gal nano with 20lbs of sand and a 15lb rock. so actually there s about 3 gals of waterand my tank LOVES me
That's a great amount for water changes!
anyone thinking of doing the 100% has to make sure their water is EXACTLY the same as the water coming out.. (pH, temp, salinity being the most important).. I just feel like it's a bad idea. .. and actually, if you think about it.. how do you take out ALL the water at once? you have to leave some in the tank.. then mix in new, then remove other water.. my point is.. if you try to attempt 100% water changes, you'll never actually get that much
GoingPostal
Active member
I don't do that large of water changes normally but every time I've moved I start over with all new water, less to haul. Nothing dies or freaks out and I never match crap so the temp usually jumps or loses a few degrees, this goes for all my regular water changes as well. I've never understood why people recommend tiny water changes when someone has a problem in a nano, why not change a bunch out and fix the problem right away? My normal routine is 2-3 gallons on my 10 and 12 gallon weekly and 4-6 on my 33 gallon. I feed a lot and have little to no filtration though so feel regular water changes are important.
greenbean36191
Premium Member
No you don't. As long as you're within about +/-.001 on salinity and about 15 degrees on temp it doesn't matter. That's not hard to do. Reef organisms are FAR tougher than most hobbyists give them credit for. They are not sensitive to minor fluctuations in most parameters.
In my 5 gal there were only 3 pcs of LR and all of the coral were mounted on them. I would take the rock out and put it in an cooler and then pour the water in there too. When I had fish in there I'd catch them and put them in a bag of water while I poured the water into the cooler. Then I could clean the glass of the tank and refill it with the new water. Then the rock gets swished around to remove all of the detritus and the fish and rock gets transferred back and the old water gets dumped. It took all of 10 minutes total and got 100% of the water.
saltyboy84
New member
after reading this i think its a good idea but only for small nanos and the reason i think this now is because you are removing most to all the waist in your tank and its not hard o match params if you take your time, i think im going to go to my LFS today and get some salt water, lol
saltyboy84
New member
well hello agian i just wanted to say i did a 100% water change yesterday so i cant really tell you if anything is doing better but my yellow tail damsel seemed to like it and the corals came back out in about 10mins, oh my yellow tail damsel does seem to be getting very blue so i think hes doing better, but i forgot to turn of the filter and it burned out, lol had to buy another but it was funny it didnt make any kind of sound it just stoped weird, well ill keep posting and telling how its going with the 100% change every week or bi-week, thx
Maxi
New member
I have started following this method. I left just enough water for the blenny not to jump on the sand, and very gently added water to the top.
This was done in a 4 gallon CAD light pico.
Furthermore, the corals opened right back up, the blenny continued to roam, and so did my most gentle inverts such as a pom pom crab.
This was done in a 4 gallon CAD light pico.
Furthermore, the corals opened right back up, the blenny continued to roam, and so did my most gentle inverts such as a pom pom crab.
Maxi
New member
You do expose them. I don't think it matters.
Think of it like this.. Have you seen those corals that are exposed to air for about 2 hours a day because of the receding tide?
If nature intended them to live through these harsh conditions, why can't they do it in a controlled, safer environment? (OUR TANKS!)
Think of it like this.. Have you seen those corals that are exposed to air for about 2 hours a day because of the receding tide?
If nature intended them to live through these harsh conditions, why can't they do it in a controlled, safer environment? (OUR TANKS!)
brandon429
Well-known member
Funny y'all kicked up this thread. I still do them, there have been hundreds done since 08, its still wonderful when practical. Sometimes I leave my bowl drained for ten minutes to work on any algae areas i'm zapping with peroxide. We've learned much about big water changes in the last 4 years, at least in pico reefs.
No corals or inverts I keep mind...it mimics a fringing reef zone of high energy.
The same vase I mentioned in 08 is this one, still going strong
Another point about matching water params, I only roughly match temp and sg, like posted above corals adapt.
My water is lfs pre made, sometimes they switch brands so this means often a total water change isn't even the same brand lol
Sps are taking over my bowl, to say corals love full changes (and the big feeding just before) is an understatement
Reading my old posts is funny lol book long hammer posits lol
No corals or inverts I keep mind...it mimics a fringing reef zone of high energy.
The same vase I mentioned in 08 is this one, still going strong
Another point about matching water params, I only roughly match temp and sg, like posted above corals adapt.
My water is lfs pre made, sometimes they switch brands so this means often a total water change isn't even the same brand lol
Sps are taking over my bowl, to say corals love full changes (and the big feeding just before) is an understatement
Reading my old posts is funny lol book long hammer posits lol
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