infrequent water changes - what to dose to help

[wojo]

hello,
i am changing 20 gallons of water every 3-5 months on my system when i clean my sump and i know that for some it might be long time, knowing that a lot of you do it weekly. well i don't have that luxury nor time to do it as often and i can't change that. my water quality is great, nitrates and phosphates are undetectable, all fish and corals including SPSs are doing fine. I understand that by not doing regular and frequent water changes my trace elements and others will get depleted.

here is what i dose:
- home made 2 part for Ca and Alk
- magnesium
- phyto
- trace elements
- iron
- iodine

Is there anything else i should dose to help me with my infrequent water changes like stronium or something?

thanks for your help,
wojo.

 

[PhilliePhil]

I would never suggest you dose anything without first testing for it and having a way to continually test for it.

just my .02.

 

[wojo]

bump

 

[davidryder]

I agree with PhilliePhil here - I would stick to dosing things that can be measured. Trace elements are just that - detectable only in trace amounts

This article discusses the use of trace elements if you scroll down a bit.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Never dose anything you can't test for. If you don't have a good test kit for it don't add it. Its too easy to throw a system out of whack by indiscriminantly adding supplements. Don't fall for the manufacturers hype.

 

[dwd5813]

another vote for not adding what you can't test for.

 

[justinl]

agreed with the above.

and when you get down to it, if you have to continually test and freak about what you're dosing and do the dosing itself, i guarantee you'll find that it is much more expensive and time consuming that simply doing weekly 25% water changes.

 

[wojo]

guys i understand that i shouldn't dose anything i cannot test for but i am talking here what i should dose to my water if i dont do frequent water changes, what gets depleted in the water when this doesn't occur?

thanks for all your responses.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. If you don't have time to do the regular maintenance including water changes then you really should not be in the hobby, that sounds harsh but its reality. I am lazy myself and probably only do water changes every other months sometimes and my corals are not suffering at all, in fact I cannot frag them often enough to keep up with the growth.

 

[es_surf]

i do maybe 1 or 2 water changes a year.
i dont dose anything.
i do have a calcium reactor to add calcium and whatever else it does. no nitrates or phosphates. tank is 4yrs old and so is everything in it. pics in my gallery.
good luck

 

[justinl]

depends on what is in the tank. for example, if it is SPS dominated with a bunch of clams, it'll suck calcium like no other. If it's a softie tank it's a whole other story.

 

[reeferaddiction]

if your tank is established the longest i would personally go would be a month. wc dont really take that long tops is 5 min, and if you have time to make your own buffer for alk and calc it seems you have plenty of time for a 5 min wc.

 

[UrbanSage]

If everything is healthy and growing then why dose anything extra?