Who Doesn't Do Water Changes

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

and I've pretty much sworn against water changes because I've only seen people failing to do it properly.

FWIW, such a wild statement requires some further explanation, IMO, unless by proper you mean no water changes, as you do.

I've seen loads of people who do water changes that I consider optimal, and many that may not be truly optimal but are certainly "proper".

i stopped because the tank is always at 0 nitrates, so why bother


IMO, that rational seems to come from a fish only world of thinking where one might do water changes primarily for nutrient export. IMO, that is not even among the top ten reasons to do water changes in a reef tank. It isn't even a very effective way of reducing nutrients.

I discuss what can be accomplished with respect to nutrients and many other things, as well as why I recommend water changes here:

Water Changes in Reef Aquaria
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php

 

[natebedwell06]

I do no water changes, nor will i ever, I run a scrubber and I see no reason to, we have tanks set up at work that are run off scrubbers with 16 years of never having a water change, fed numerous times a day, no algae buildup, water tests 100% perfect, i see the same out of my tank

 

[RJT]

There is a LFS near where I live in Maryland right outside of DC that has not done a water change in years for its DT. The tank looks good. He has some tangs, corals, clowns, coraline algae and some other fish.

He admitted at first he had to do water changes but once the tank got to a certain point he hasn't touched the water.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

we have tanks set up at work that are run off scrubbers with 16 years of never having a water change, fed numerous times a day, no algae buildup, water tests 100% perfectt

Tested for what? If you've not changed any water in 16 years, I guarantee it has deviated quite a bit from looking like normal seawater from all of the things that are added and depleted by growing organisms, filtration methods, added foods, calcium, alkalinity and magnesium additions (and probably other additives), etc. I expect you just do not test for those things to see the deviation. Few reefers do.

Does that deviation from NSW make a difference? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how far you deviate and what is deviating.

As mentioned above, many tanks seems just dandy without water changes. The question is, might they be better (i.e., healthier organsims, more robust growth, etc) with them? If you have never done a change in 16 years, it is totally impossible for you to say one way or the other whether water changes might improve the tank.

 

[tmz]

A few thoughts:

!% per day works for me . It's easy and consistent with the am feeding. Maintainence chores such as emptying skimmer cups and siphoning detritus add another 10% per month.

Tap water may be ok depending on what's in it and no cantamination from plumbing occurs( copper pipes for example). RO/di is terrific,imo.

Large changes are avoided since they may upset levels of trace metals , alkalinity, calcium ,mag etc. I'm more of a tweaker in most reef related activities.

Likewise no changes and no supplements will result in depletion if any thing lives in the tank that uses them.

Travis, I do not personally use system water for qt. It may have organics or other nutrients in it that can contribute to ammonia buildup in a qt without a matutre biofilter. Personally , I use newly mixed water aerated and aged for a day or two for the qt FWIW.

 

[kingfisherflesh]

Interesting thread.

I do h2o changes...I like doing them.

This aside, I use well water, and have for almost a decade. I live on a very pure well out in the country, and I grow softies, LPS, SPS...high end stuff even on occasion. Growth is good, fish and corals are healthy.

If I am building up toxins, I have yet to see it, or the corals have yet to notice.

Reading Holmes-Farley's water changes article now, and I expect to leave knowing more than I started with.

Reefing isnt right or wrong one way or another, it is what works for you. Try as we might, I dont think we will ever have perfect NSW, and in many cases I think tanks are more stable and have better h2o quality than NSW.

If it works for you, it works.

 

[Markandamber]

Well said i am on aggreement with the water change idea..
i have tried it both ways... and have seen good results with no water changes..
i have also seen where people do water changes and have crushed coral per sey and still have problems with nitrates and etc...

i have kept sps with no water changes.. beeing doing this since 04 ... so not too long but long enough...
i know.. i need to be doing it 30 years.. but then i willl be told wait till my 31st year. LOL im curious though how much nitrates are lowered by a 10 percent water change...

Interesting thread.

I do h2o changes...I like doing them.

This aside, I use well water, and have for almost a decade. I live on a very pure well out in the country, and I grow softies, LPS, SPS...high end stuff even on occasion. Growth is good, fish and corals are healthy.

If I am building up toxins, I have yet to see it, or the corals have yet to notice.

Reading Holmes-Farley's water changes article now, and I expect to leave knowing more than I started with.

Reefing isnt right or wrong one way or another, it is what works for you. Try as we might, I dont think we will ever have perfect NSW, and in many cases I think tanks are more stable and have better h2o quality than NSW.

If it works for you, it works.