people who go with "almost" no Water Changes needed!

Paul B said:
+1 and I got the oldest tank on here and probably some of the oldest fish. I am most likely the baldest one here also. Of course instead of sea water I use damp sawdust. Anybody want to argue with me? :worried:
Click to expand...

Sawdust has been shown to prevent Ich, but may contribute to hole in the head. IME, drying it and adding additional moisture on a weekly basis prevents this. :lol2:

I have enjoyed the back & forth, except for the personal stuff. The dueling photo's and credentials have been entertaining. I'm afraid I just don't understand though. Camp A does water changes and has great looking tanks. Camp B does something else and they have great looking tanks. Let's not forget the Zeo camp. They have great looking tanks also. And then there Paul. He does his own thing and has a great looking tank. I can use any method and get marginal results. Maybe it is really is more about the Reefkeeper than the method.
 
capn_hylinur said:
A lot of us really appreciate your inputs and they really contribute to this thread
Try not to be on the defensive ... A passionate discussion is great so let's get back to it now that the air has been cleaned on this thread;)
Click to expand...
Thanks,
Me defensive? Almost never.
We all just need a little thick skin and don't take everything so personal.
 
I have mostly enjoyed this thread, but the one thing I take from it is my re-affirmation in the incredible survivability, adaptability general hardiness of corals to adapt to their environment. Though I would never advocate for anyone to skip water changes, especially those just starting out who have little to no experience in the hobby, there have been a few nice tanks that do little to no water changes. This certainly should never imply that it is ok for the masses, just that it is possible in certain circumstances.

I will continue to advocate water changes, and continue to perform them on my own tank. Salt and water are the two most inexpensive things we can do to care for the creatures in our care. No disrespect intended to those who chose a different path, but the hobby is growing in membership daily, teaching the new comers the most widely accepted methods will always be my preference and once they get a handle on the myriad of things they need to know to be successful then my personal responsibility to the hobby has been fulfilled.
 
sirreal63 said:
I have mostly enjoyed this thread, but the one thing I take from it is my re-affirmation in the incredible survivability, adaptability general hardiness of corals to adapt to their environment. Though I would never advocate for anyone to skip water changes, especially those just starting out who have little to no experience in the hobby, there have been a few nice tanks that do little to no water changes. This certainly should never imply that it is ok for the masses, just that it is possible in certain circumstances.

I will continue to advocate water changes, and continue to perform them on my own tank. Salt and water are the two most inexpensive things we can do to care for the creatures in our care. No disrespect intended to those who chose a different path, but the hobby is growing in membership daily, teaching the new comers the most widely accepted methods will always be my preference and once they get a handle on the myriad of things they need to know to be successful then my personal responsibility to the hobby has been fulfilled.
Click to expand...
Excellent post
I've learned to balance my own methods from reading this thread. I no longer do weekly 10 percent water changes but have switched to the gal a day that a lot are doing now. I also purchased some liquid trace elements to replace the bigger water changes
I really great thread to be part of
 
breeding clownfish have been going on since the late 70's
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I bred them in 1972, but I don't want to dwell on that. As you said clownfish will breed in a flower pot (or damp sawdust)
All of my paired fish are spawning including mandarins, clown gobies, fireclowns, watchmans, 4 cardinals and blue striped pipefish. Only the healthiest fish will spawn and if they are not, they are not very healthy. Just my high school education opinion of course as I can only just about spell "phish" :beer:
And Capn, I don't argue or push my opinions, mainly because, well, I don't care if I am perceived as right or not. Ask my fish :wave:
 
Paul B said:
I bred them in 1972:thumbsup::thumbsup:, but I don't want to dwell on that. As you said clownfish will breed in a flower pot (or damp sawdust)
All of my paired fish are spawning including mandarins, clown gobies, fireclowns, watchmans, 4 cardinals and blue striped pipefish. Only the healthiest fish will spawn and if they are not, they are not very healthy. Just my high school education opinion of course as I can only just about spell "phish" :beer:
...........
Click to expand...
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
+100
completly agree.
 
OrionN said:
Glenn,
Not to down play your achievement or anything but (there is away that but :)) breeding clownfish have been going on since the late 70's and tank breed clownfish available comercially since at least 1980. That was the firsh salt warter fish that I killed.
You can get a pair of clown and put them in a 10 gal with a flower pot and get them to breed.
If you tell me that all of your medium to small size fish spawned in your aquarium, then I say that you have a healthy tank.
One of my goal is to keep breeding units of all my small to medium size fish in my aquarium and eventually get them to spawn. I am prety sucessful at this. Getting them to spawn and document them on video or pictures is entirely two different thing, so if you want me to proof this by provide these proof then I respectfully bowed out of this discussion.

I am not saying that if you change water then you have a healthy tank and that if you don't change water then all your fish died. What I am saying is that if you tank the best tank that use water change versus the best tank that does not do water change, or even minimal water change, chanches are that the one that use water change will be better and healthier.
Click to expand...

lets agree to disagree... :p
This hobby is personal for me, so i experience it as challenge to have done that myself. of course i know commercial breeding of many species is being done, but the technics and in and outs are not being disclosed by the commercial breeders. So the hobby rely on hobbyist sharing their own experience. it would be very boring on most forums, if most people don't even bother posting their personal experiences. Some do and some don't why not encourage people to share and to be one happy family?
isn't that the spirit of a forum ?
 
capn_hylinur said:
A lot of us really appreciate your inputs and they really contribute to this thread
Try not to be on the defensive ... A passionate discussion is great so let's get back to it now that the air has been cleaned on this thread;)
Click to expand...

thanks,
i really needed that.;)
i try not to be defensive, but just cautious.
i try not to offend anyone, but it seems, that it's nearly impossible to keep everybody happy, especially not on this subject.
it's difficult to stay in line, when you try to tell something and others keep saying impossible, no way, forget it, and you are stupid.
i suppose it's better to ignore postimgs that are intended lure me out.

When it's being appreciated i can elaborate on the basics how i manage my tank without any WC.
i will not mention any names
i will not sell anything
i will not be placing recipes
i can sent pm's
i cant recieve pm's
all communication will be public for the mods to revieuw
in holland it's "commercial" available at the lfs (just to be clear)
I would really appreciate it if the mods gave me outlines what i may or may not. After my first thread was deleted, because i was over enthousiast mentioning my "method", i will not make that same mistake again.
pity, it was a very well read thread.
 
glennf said:
I would really appreciate it if the mods gave me outlines what i may or may not. After my first thread was deleted, because i was over enthousiast mentioning my "method", i will not make that same mistake again.
pity, it was a very well read thread.
Click to expand...

I think you summed it up yourself:lol

Look at it this way
You participate in discussions you lose or win arguments
 
sirreal63 said:
I have mostly enjoyed this thread, but the one thing I take from it is my re-affirmation in the incredible survivability, adaptability general hardiness of corals to adapt to their environment. Though I would never advocate for anyone to skip water changes, especially those just starting out who have little to no experience in the hobby, there have been a few nice tanks that do little to no water changes. This certainly should never imply that it is ok for the masses, just that it is possible in certain circumstances.

I will continue to advocate water changes, and continue to perform them on my own tank. Salt and water are the two most inexpensive things we can do to care for the creatures in our care. No disrespect intended to those who chose a different path, but the hobby is growing in membership daily, teaching the new comers the most widely accepted methods will always be my preference and once they get a handle on the myriad of things they need to know to be successful then my personal responsibility to the hobby has been fulfilled.
Click to expand...

i agree 100% with you.
first do research and learning the basics to know what your options are before choosing a direction.
most people i helped out were in distress and have tried anything in the book before turning to me for guidance. i really was their last resort and i myself like to keep it that way. i don't have that much spare time to help the mass so because of them i put it all into writing.
 
i try not to offend anyone, but it seems, that it's nearly impossible to keep everybody happy, especially not on this subject.
it's difficult to stay in line, when you try to tell something and others keep saying impossible, no way, forget it, and you are stupid.
Click to expand...

Many people tell me every day what I do is impossible, stupid, inane and just wrong.
Who cares? I certainly don't. It's a hobby and people need to realize that. We are not curing cancer or the heartbreak of psoriasis. Have a great day, even the people I am offending. :wavehand:
 
Paul B said:
Many people tell me every day what I do is impossible, stupid, inane and just wrong.
Who cares? I certainly don't. It's a hobby and people need to realize that. We are not curing cancer or the heartbreak of psoriasis. Have a great day, even the people I am offending. :wavehand:
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: It's just a hobby.... ENJOY!

Paul, I've always enjoyed your posts! :)
 
Well, just noticed last night one of my Pajama Cardinals with his mouth all out of whack like he was chewing something. Realized after a few moments it was a male mouth brooding some eggs! So there's another +1 for fish breeding in a tank with little to no water changes! And yay for me, although not sure if I will be able to save the fry. :(
 
Last edited:
moses13 said:
Well, just noticed last night one of my Pajama Cardinals with his mouth all of whack like he was chewing something. Realized after a few moments it was a male mouth brooding some eggs! So there's another +1 for fish breeding in a tank with little to no water changes! And yay for me, although not sure if I will be able to save the fry. :(
Click to expand...

Way to go:thumbsup:
I would think it depends on the health of the fish and that is a result of what you are feeding them
To quote PaulB " only healthy fish will breed"
 
Im jumping in at the end here but I will share my experience with you. I have a 56 gallon FOWLR (for the most part) I did attempt a few corals here and there not very successfully. I had my zoas eaten and my hammer coral croaked for some reason, probably my lighting which is cheap and illuminates my fish at best. My mushrooms are still living though!
Its two years old now, and I was fairly regular about water changes. Every two to three weeks I would change out 10 gallons. But then I decided I wanted to have another baby, so adding water changes to the hubbys growing honey do list sometimes works. LOL The water gets changed maybe once a month now. I cant carry 5 gallon buckets in my current state.
But my fish and tank do not seem to care. The fish are just fine and there is no extra algae taking over. I still clean the glass and change the filters. Just not the water as often. So I guess it all depends on what works for you and your tank. If your fish are happy with fewer changes great! If you start to see more algae than you care for or get sick fish maybe do a few extra changes or try new filtration. Its a work in progress :)
 
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