Are water regular water changes really necessary?

RVANANO said:
This seems to be a regular debate on here. I do my water changes regularly (20 gallons every other week in my 120)

But lots of people have amazing tanks while only doing one change (if any) per year. I will continue to do my changes regularly but the other way seems to work just fine for many members as well.
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Could you point me to some tanks that only do one water change per year and look really good? I haven't seen any myself.
 
I've gone back and forth on water changes for several years. What I've found, is short to medium term it doesn't always seem to make a huge difference, but this depends on the system. With larger tanks I've found it makes less of a difference, but with smaller tanks the response to water changes has been much more apparent. However, even with larger tanks, the ones with lots of water changes have done much better in the longterm. So, this suggests that something is happening without water changes, whether a depletion of nutrients, gradual nutrient imbalance, or accumulation of toxins. Likely though, there is a bit of each happening. So, can you get away without water changes, maybe. Will water changes give you a better chance of success, probably.
 
Because I dose and test the big 3 compounds / elements (alk, ca and mag), I don't water change to replenish those, but primarily to reduce any potential buildup of any negative compounds, as well as to replenish trace elements.

"The solution to pollution is dilution".
 
Thanks everyone for the advice! I just wish we could hear from the ones that don't change water very often. That was a lot of post from people telling us how they keep up with their regular water changes, which is good. But I was really hoping to here a little from the other side.
I guess it's not as apealing to post about a lack of maintenance:) I know your out there.
 
the only person I know is a "friend" of mine. he has a 90g reef and he has a denitrator skimmer and uv light with mini fuge and all he does is top off. I know his tank could look very nice but he is a dumb person who doesnt do water changes out of laziness. So lack of water changes are just the beginning, I wish he would sell his tank since he is whats wrong with the hobby. I am not saying people who dont do water changes are dumb, I am saying he is dumb. If he started dosing he probably wouldnt be where he is..
 
frankpayne32 said:
Could you point me to some tanks that only do one water change per year and look really good? I haven't seen any myself.
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I found them in many threads already started on this topic. I am sure you can find plenty with the search. I was amazed at some members tanks who do little to know changes. I would have never believed it myself.

I am too anal :) I do 20 gallons every other week, clean my 3 sides of the DT every day and the back glass once-twice a week.

I even take everything out of my sump and clean it every other month.
 
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I had a 40 breeder that had tremendous growth, and I was doing about 25% changes every 3 months. I had a frogspawn that went from 3 heads to 22 heads in a year. But I also had only 3 small fish and fed the tank MAYBE twice a month as more of a treat for the fish than anything else. It was LPS only as well. Like everyone else says, it depends on the tank, the inhabitants, etc. I'm currently maintaining a 120 gallon with 4 small fish and I am probably going to add 2-3 more. If I don't add any SPS, I will probably do a 20 gallon water change every 2 months for trace elements replacement only.
 
There's a difference between lack of maintenance and lack of water changes. Just getting lazy and letting your tank go to pot isn't the same as someone who is dosing, testing and noticing the health of their corals and making a conscience decision not to change the water. I'll bet most of the people who don't change their water out fall into the former category.

I think my tank looks pretty good, I change 5 gallons every two weeks on a 90 gallon tank and I don't even have a sump.
 
They are absolutely needed in a nano tank.

I ran a 14g Biocube for 4 years and I could immediately tell when I missed a water change for a few weeks. The algae would grow on the glass and nothing looked quite as good as when I was doing regular changes.

If the impact is that beneficial in a small tank, I can't understand why you would skip it in a big tank.

Bottom line: Water changes can't possibly be BAD for your tank, so the only reason not to change your water must be either laziness or cost.
 
Frogmanx82 said:
There's a difference between lack of maintenance and lack of water changes. Just getting lazy and letting your tank go to pot isn't the same as someone who is dosing, testing and noticing the health of their corals and making a conscience decision not to change the water. I'll bet most of the people who don't change their water out fall into the former category.

I think my tank looks pretty good, I change 5 gallons every two weeks on a 90 gallon tank and I don't even have a sump.
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I do test and dose alk, cal, and mag. I clean out my sump about 4 times a year. And up until recently I have done 14gal wc's every other week. I definetly am not going to let my tank go to pot:)

I am just trying hear from people that are changing very little water like you. What kind of livestock are you keeping and what type of filtraton are you using?
 
EdSnyder said:
I do test and dose alk, cal, and mag. I clean out my sump about 4 times a year. And up until recently I have done 14gal wc's every other week. I definetly am not going to let my tank go to pot:)

I am just trying hear from people that are changing very little water like you. What kind of livestock are you keeping and what type of filtraton are you using?
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I've got a homepage if you want to check it out. For a softy, lps tank, I think its a lot easier to skip water changes.
 
I didn't do water changes in the tank befor i moved it. I am not saying that its the best thing to do. I run my skimmer wet so i have to do top offs with water with a few tablespoons of salt to keep the salinity stable. But i am testing the parameters constant and i dose a lot of elements.

frankpayne32 said:
Unless I am mistaken it seems that you have only "re-set up" your tank about three months ago. I wouldn't use that as evidence that no water changes works. I was thinking along the lines of a year or over.
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I can say that regular water changes are not essential, so long as you have hardy organisms, easy corals, and a well-balanced system. I (unfortunately) only get home to do water changes on my 120 reef two or three times a year (get a good 20% WC in each time), and everything is doing ok. I only have the easiest softies, shrooms, zoas, LPS, and a Monti cap; and you can definitely tell they're encumbered by the lack of water changes.
 
I did a water change yesterday, it's been 3 months since the last one. I did a 7 gal change which is half what I used to do. The tank looks better. My 14 gal changes used to leave some stuff in the tank looking a little funky for a couple of days. This one just made it look better. We will see if I keep getting the great growth I have the last couple of weeks.
 
I think it depends on the individuals tank when to do water changes. IMO 20% water changes is not always needed,(but couldnt hurt either) i havent done a water change in 5months and i keep SPS, LPS, clams and Anemones and i see tremendous growth and color. But like i said it depends on the individuals tank and ecosystem. I know one thing helps me is vodka dosing, I feed my tank very heavy with no nuisance algae and my nitrates read 0ppm testing with salifert and API test kits.
 
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