340 Gallon system and water changes

[travis32]

Question, how often do people do water changes on large systems. I owned a 220 for a couple years and a 125 for a few years before that, now a 340. In the past a 20% change was 25 gallons, then on the 220 I did 10-20% water changes on there once a month. That was up to a 40 gallon change.

Now, on the 340, a weekly 20% change would be easily 70 gallons. I've thought about doing weekly 30 gallon changes or so.

I know a lot of it is based on filtration. My Diablo skimmer with DC pump is rated for 500 gallon system. And In 3-4 weeks I'm going to be mounting an algae turf Scrubber from Turbo aquatics. The one rated for 3-4 cubes of food per day (using that rule).

I figure between the skimmer and ATS the water should be fairly clean. I'll be dosing with a bubble magus Alk and Calcium (baking soda and BRS Calcium). I know trace minerals, etc, are needed. So, I'm not looking to eliminate water changes, and I've plumbed my system so that I can take out as much water as I want with my return pump. Then, flip a couple valves and pump the salt water into the sump. I don't even have to turn my return pump off. I measured the water last time I did a change using 5 gallon pales and that took 20 minutes start to finish to change out around 40 gallons.

My plan is 10 minutes for a 40 gallon change. With that said, would 40 gallons be sufficient say every 2 weeks?


It's still new with only 12 fish right now and operational since 10/15. So, it's still brand new. The fish are doing amazing. knocking on powerful wood, I haven't lost a single fish. And they all appear healthy!

I have 1 coral - a Frog spawn to test out the water and lighting before adding a bunch more.


Once the ATS is running for a month or so, I'll work with my LFS to get a large $500 coral order in. Mostly LPS, with some fast growing, nicer looking SPS.

Anyways, just curious on the water change amount on a large system. How necessary is it to change out well, by using the standard rules of thumb, 20% a week - 70 gallons * 4 = 280 gallons of salt water a month. Yikes.

I've done 1 in 3 months, just to test things out and let the bacteria get established (and to get the skimmer broken in and dialed in.)

I should also mention I'm running a 25 Watt UV sterilizer as well.

 

[Sharpimage]

I do 1 percent daily through an auto change out. I use a liter meter, but a dos works and also a stenner dual head pump will work. It is well worth the investment in ease of use.

 

[Fiish]

I think that if you have a 500 gallon skimmer, a change of water every 2 or 3 weeks would be ideal, with the volume of water you have calculated, but every 15 or 20 days.

 

[travis32]

Cool Thanks!

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

on my 500G system, I did about 200 G every few weeks. But I had access to NSW so it was easier.

 

[Nanook]

I have a 470 gallon tank, 100 gallons in sump and refugium. I do 190 gallons (box of salt) each month. So, 33% every month.

 

[padova335i]

I change once every 7 or 14 days.. about 40 gallons on 650 gallons of water...

i skim heavy, stir sand almost daily and change filter socks 2x a week

its kind of a hard question depending on tank maturity, parameters and husbandry.. but once a week if i ran into problems..

my corals "tell me" when to change the water..

 

[travis32]

my corals "tell me" when to change the water..

I completely agree . I don't have enough corals yet, but I remember on my 220 how corals looked when I changed out 40 gallons, it was almost like a brand new system seeing everything extend and get happy!

 

[teo241]

I hate water changes, so my reef genesis does them for me.
6 total gallons/day, ~180 total gallons/month.
450 total volume system, ~40%/month

 

[ali1]

Wow people change water frequently. I have a 400g system and only change 20% every 3months.

 

[Ostentum]

Wow people change water frequently. I have a 400g system and only change 20% every 3months.

This is where I am at also full SPS. I send off an ICP test once a quarter and usually its usually Iodine that needs to be adjusted. I attribute this to two things A) siporax media is great at removing Nitrates and phosphates stay around .08 B) Calcium reactor, I think this one is the key since its adding back the building blocks of the coral skeleton. The only question is what trace elements does the soft tissue need to stay healthy? I am not sure I have ever seen that question addressed.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

The only question is what trace elements does the soft tissue need to stay healthy? I am not sure I have ever seen that question addressed.

DING DING DING!

we have a winner!

THIS is the most important reason for doing water changes. there are so many trace elements in the water that we don't know about or what they do. The animals in our care need them.

That was one of the main reasons I switched to Natural Sea Water and did more frequent changes. I saw a visible difference in my fish and corals.
One thing that I observed was when I bought the system, there were a pair of adult Naso tangs in the system, 10"+ in length. After getting the system moved and established and using NSW, I watched the male grow some long beautiful streamers. The P.O. said he never saw streamers on the fish before. I also watched several fish pairs, including the Naso's start their mating dances. My corals would open up huge after a fresh water change as well.

 

[McPuff]

I probably do about 30gal per month (10%) on average. But when I do it, I remove the dirtiest water (sump, sand vacuum) so that it's efficient with respect to waste. My fish are fat and healthy. The corals look really good. Algae growth is pretty low. I run GFO and chaeto reactor. My skimmer is huge. And I have 2 marine pure blocks. When kept clean they do a nice job removing nitrates. Also run a calcium reactor and have noticed a big difference in coral growth and color vs two part dosing. I agree with Crusty that water changes will make a big difference in trace elements. Not sure how often one would need to perform water changes to keep the level high enough. My assumption is that it doesn't need to be too often, nor very large volumes. Just basing that off my own experience so who knows if it's correct. Would LOVE to use NSW but I am in Michigan and our seas are freshwater. :0)