Water changes
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Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Reef Chemistry
Forum Description: A place to discuss reef chemistry.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53149
Printed Date: July 22 2026 at 8:24am
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Topic: Water changes
Posted By: Akira
Subject: Water changes
Date Posted: December 15 2011 at 10:58pm
| HI my tank has been up for almost 1 month, i put a lil over 120 lbs of live rock in it . All my readings seem good. when should i do my first water change? I had a small out break of brown diatom algae 2 days ago its going away thanks to my janitors :) FYI i have alot of things i havent identified yet but the few i know are ..... red bubble tip anemone ,2 blue belly damsels , 2 blue chromis, 1 frag of radioactive dragon eye , red blue-tipped stag acro , and a bunch of playthoa . Hope i spelled it all correctly . (all polys etc are open and growing FYI ) |
Replies:
Posted By: BillyC
Date Posted: December 15 2011 at 11:04pm
| Personally I'd do 10-15% weekly water changes. Be sure to let the freshly mixed salt sit for a day before the change. :) |
Posted By: ttls1
Date Posted: December 15 2011 at 11:13pm
| You'll get a million different opinions about this. Personally I change 20 percent or so every 3-4 months but I do regularly dose all the essential elements and this is a sps dominant tank btw. If you have a low bio load and just a few corals I feel that weekly or biweekly water changes are a total waste of time. So the answer is it really depends on each individual tank and if you dose or not. |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: December 16 2011 at 12:17am
|
ok thnx guys |
Posted By: Jeremyw
Date Posted: December 16 2011 at 10:07am
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Yes you will get a million views. I do a water change every month about 20%. I also dont do a water change on a new tank for at lest month if not two! ------------- Next meeting: |
Posted By: DLindquist
Date Posted: December 16 2011 at 10:35am
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I have done two 30G water changes in the 5 months my (265G) tank has been running. ------------- A government strong enough to give you everything you want, is powerful enough to take everything you have. |
Posted By: Ryan Thompson
Date Posted: December 16 2011 at 11:58am
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For me, I have found that bi-weekly water changes of about 10% works best for me. I dose alk, calcium, magnesium, strontium and lugol's solution to my tank. The Lugol's Solution provides potassium and iodine(iodide) whichever version it is.
There are way too many trace elements that we can't test for and a water change can help replenish them. My corals always seem to be much happier after a water change as well. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 16 2011 at 7:13pm
I have some free time so I started writing. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop.  Hope it's helpfulDepending on how the tank has progressed and how much coral is in the new tank, I don't worry about a water change for 2-3 months. I use lots of algae to eat polllution(the N compounds of Ammonia, Nitrite, & Nitrate). Algae growth is the key to helping a tank grow, mature and stabilize as fast as possible. Coralline Algae, Caulerpa, Chaetomorpha, Sargassum, Dictyota and other algae can make a huge difference in water quality. In the ocean, algae is everywhere in great abundance. It's the basis of life.  Fish just pollute the water. In a new tank, the biggest need for a water change is to help reduce pollution. In an older tank, a greater % of the need for a water change is to replace minerals that have been eaten/used by the animals. Coral eat dissolved minerals as they clean the water. Fish just pollute the water. Fish are usually a very small percentage of the total animal life in a mature tank. Bacteria, worms, sponges and coral are typically the greatest percentage of the total. If we could isolate the bacteria and tiny invertebrate life from a mature 10 gal reef tank and then weigh it on a scale, it would be a surprising amount, probably over 2 pounds. Since those pounds of organisms are a significant part of the biofiltration and since a new tank has very little of this, there is a greater need for growing algae to eat/reduce pollution. If it is difficult to keep sufficient algae in the system, due to the presence of algae eating fish, then water changes become more important. If the aquarium system includes a refugium, making the Refugium work at peak capacity is a big help to biofiltration and water quality. A brighter light, more algae and occasional 24/7 lighting is very helpful in working the Refugium to it's fullest. If it is to do as well, a Refugium-less tank needs to have good algae growth and not too many herbivorous fish. FYI, a great response to a filtration emergency is typically not lots of large water changes, but 24/7 lighting of an extra amount of algae. Chaetomorpha is awesome for this. Certainly a quick water change is a fast way to reduce pollution in an emergency, but the % reduction in pollution is only equal to the % change of water. (10% water change = 10% reduction in N compounds) Algae can significantly reduce pollution in a matter of hours with minimal effort from the hobbyist. Since the reef tank can often handle a temporary increase of pollution, sometimes all it takes is to leave all the lights ON for 48 hours or up to a week in severe cases. In the end, each reef aquarium is different so each one deserves slightly different maintenance. If you do a search here, this topic has been discusseded hundreds of times. You will also find the tendency for the ~30% that have been in the hobby over 5 years, to do less water changes. These more seasoned hobbyists usually have developed a routine of 10-20% or less water changes every 1-3 months. They have also learned to be mindful of adding Alkalinity and Calcium as needed. Sometimes the manual routine is handled automatically with a Calcium Reactor and/or nighttime Kalkwasser dosing system. As pointed out in the Reefkeeping Tips, Alk and Ca are the most important additives. Adequate levels of these two components are critical to the long term health of the reef. Alk should be 8-14 dKH and Ca should be 350-500 ppm. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: December 16 2011 at 11:24pm
| Ok here is what has been done . I had a small out break of brown diatom algae, my cleean up crew is small (15 snails 5 hermits 2 emerald crabs ) I have been low on mag always (1160-1230) Ca 400-450 Dkh was at 6.7 dosing i am now at 9.6. So i reduced my lighting time by 2 hrs, refugium on 16 hrs and place some snails on problem area. Turkey baster to improve a few problem spot with settling of what ever floats around. Today after basting very minimal particals floating (not sure of the name ). As of today Ca 400, Dkh 9.6 mag 1260 . I placed a few janitors on some trouble spots and it looks purple and beautiful again. I will make the clean up crew a huge deal now after seeing how effective they are at doing their job !!! And also ty Mark for explaining a few of the parameters to me , i would rather fuge the problem out than try to treat it with chemicals if at all possible . So going to hold off on my first water change till I see signifigant change in my parameters. |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: December 16 2011 at 11:27pm
| Oh and as an after thought everything in my tank is bright open and seems to love my attention :), btw Billy i counted 2 new on the dragon !!!!!!!! >----Happy guy |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 17 2011 at 11:09pm
------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
|
Posted By: BillyC
Date Posted: December 17 2011 at 11:38pm
Sweet man glad to hear that! I'm impressed with how fast you're learning and able to maintain a reef. Everyone will tell you something different like disneymania said about water changes. Just do your own experimenting and your corals will tell you if you're doing it right. |
Akira wrote:Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: December 18 2011 at 5:36pm
| Thanks but its all due to all free help and info i get from here, and its appreciated no matter where it comes from even though it can be a little overwhelming at times with so much experience and so many opinions . But its great to hear so many different options that are available. |
Posted By: Soehl
Date Posted: May 28 2012 at 7:25pm
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Originally I was doing around 5% every 4 days... Now I do about 5% every week. Sunday is water change day!! ------------- Cory 180 Gallon Mixed Reef Radion Pro LED 75 Gallon Elite Sump/Refugium |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: May 29 2012 at 12:59am
| This post seems really old for me now but just had a mail so now i reply. Water changes are atleast every 6 weeks lol . still learning but sometimes less is more and knowing what to see in my corals has become the best indicator for me . What a great hobby love this addiction more day by day !!! |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: May 29 2012 at 1:05am
| LMFAO ok so i read the first post ! I sure hope with what i have learned that while im still riding on the short bus now i can stop being the window licker and assume my correct spot as the guy who only wears the safety helmet ...... Hopefully soon i can remove my protective mask too...wonder if I could ever drive my bus lol |
Posted By: Laird
Date Posted: July 09 2012 at 9:31am
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I think people are doing way over kill on water changes the majority of the time. Personally my tank does the best with 10 to 15% once a month, and I have a very heavily stocked tank. ------------- Indefinite hiatus from sw aquariums. Once I have my glorious return I'll set back up the following. 50 Gallon rimless cube. 180 Gallons mixed reef paradise |