when to do a w/c

[1guydude]

Going back to the basics lol.

I think everyone knows wat a w/c (water change) is...
E.g. when u take out saltwater and add "new" saltwater.

But... wat does everyone think about when to do a w/c?
E.g. when cal, mag and alk are out of balance?
When s.g. is off? No ato or sump...
When nitrates and phosphates are up?

Lmk when to do a w/c ppl and ill do one!
I hear ppl say they do em every 6 months or so on no shedule.
I hear ppl say they do em every other week religiously.
Than i hear ppl say they dont do em cuz they dont need too...
E.g. great filtration and steady levels?!?!

Looking for some insight or just straight up comments
-d

 

[mfinn]

Over the years I have noticed a direct link between my corals and fish looking good and water changes.
I firmly believe that regular water changes are nessesary.
I do water changes in my tanks every two weeks without fail.
I know people who do much less and that is fine for them, but I don't see any change in my future.
What ever you decide as a routine, stay on it. Don't decide to skip a week cause you'd rather go somewhere instead. Get the wc done first.

 

[pandora32]

Agree. If you have your lighting on a schedule and your feedings on a schedule, why not w/c? I do my main w/c every 3 weeks. I kinda threw of my schedule last month with my vacation. I did it about a week early. Didnt want any problems for my parents since they were watching the tank and know nothing about s/w let alone a reef. But ill be doin the w/c next weekend.

 

[blk822822]

I do a 30 gal WC on my 100 gal tank w/55 gal refuge about every month. Seems to be working for me. I don't have a bunch of SPS so levels don't change very fast in my tank. I would probly go longer but I have a bunch of fish and they are messy, but have a good skimmer going now too. But now thinking about it I need to watch my levels alittle more now. I beleive heavy skimming can pull wanted nutrients and chemicals from the water colum also.

 

[1guydude]

@ mnfinn and pandora. And wat about the unperiodic w/c guy...wat do u say about that or to him or her.
@blk. U think ur skimmer pulls out more gunk than is in ur water or being produced? I dont. Not knowing ur tank or anything though
.... maybe reducing salt levels by skimming wet...

Anyways w/c when w/c when.....when my coral need it?

I do believe balance is a key part of a reef tank and keeping that routine balance of a w/c could be part of ur success but balance too if u do none right?
-d

 

[extremecoral]

it goes back to the question: what is in your tank. Softies and somewhat LPS people do water change every 2 or 3 week or even months. SPS is a must for every week, due to the amount of cal,alk and mag they use, water changes and supplement are a must. I find out people refer 10% every week plus or no plus supp. I am running a small tank right now, I do it that way as large tank = more water volume for coral to thrive.

 

[NanaReefer]

I do bi weekly 5 1/2g without fail for the last two yrs. It's worked for my tank. Pros! Algae free, detritus free, balanced parameters, happy healthy corals and fish

 

[blk822822]

I was just reading about Iodide in the reef and the article said skimmers can pull the iodide from your water and some other chemicals. I need to see if I can find it again. This is just like Iodide , people say these no need to add it to your system , then others say you should. I use it when my softies and zoas start looking like they arn't opening all the way and a day or two later they look good.

As for WC I think that it all depends on type of corals, water volume, how well your skimming, what you feed and how much, and bio load. It you have a 100 gal tank with 4 corals and 2 small fish why would you do a weekly water change?? JMO

 

[mfinn]

You know,,,, if someone wants to only do water changes when they feel like it, or monthly or less, that's on them. I can offer advice, when they have a problem and one of first questions I usually will start with, when was the last water change and what kind of schedule are you on.

 

[Krish]

For me it was always 10-15% water change once a week. Only time I did any extra water changes was if I had an issue that required it. Every tank is different and we have a member here that did a 100% water change over the course of each week on his tank.


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[blk822822]

I'm not saying theres something wrong with water changes. Just that I beleive it's different for every tank and person.

 

[Peppie]

I have no certain scheduled or fixed amount. Basically it is about once a month. never longer than 6 weeks. No sooner than two weeks. Always on Sunday, before I have to do the living room floors. (Wife makes sure the floors are done weekly) lol
Maybe it is guilt driven. LOL
If you need to know for sure when you need to change the water. Test, Test, Test, Test, Test, Watch, Watch, Watch, Watch.

If you are not sure when to do WC, a safe and reasonable solution would be 20-30% evry two weeks. IMO

 

[trido]

Over the last seven years I've seen nice sps tank with WCs once year and others with 1% once a day. It all depends on bioload, mechanical filtration, chemical filtration, additives and tank husbandry. Just because someone isn't doing WCs doesn't mean they aren't removing detritus an adding essential elements. I try for 15-20% a month regardless if the size of my tank.

 

[pandora32]

Everybodys statements make sense. The main reason i do 3 weeks has nothing to do with my corals, is that bad?...lol. My corals seem to do fine. I do w/c at that time because i know what my filtering can handle before it gets real bad. For me, i have 4 good size tangs that eat alot and seem to poo 2x as much. Softies seem to really like it as well as my rbta (its a dinner plate size if not bigger). As for sps, i dont have anything hard to keep. Most of my sps are monti. Key to a time frame for w/c in my eyes…know your setup.

 

[sedrostyle]

Dangit, I better chime in also. I used to change my water every two weeks religiously. Only because I was told to keep everything clean.
Since having a refugium I notice that I can stretch it out to 3 weeks. probably more depending on how I feed or how I feel I guess
I don't ever let my nitrates hit 10 to 20 ppm. if it does. ten gallons.
I don't have enough coral to eat up my calcium or mag yet even in three weeks it only drops 20 ppm.

SO, long story short. I guess I just follow the bandwagon and keep my water clean because I was told to.

I've heard sps don't like nitrates, but it seems to me that when I do have 30ppm nitrates or more ( recent problems )
my sps seem to have extended polyps more than the cleaner water...
hmmm

 

[NC2WA]

Agree with what Duane said about "it depends". For example for those that use ozone you can go several months before a water change is needed. For now since my bio load of fish is low, I'm performing a wc every 4-6 wks..this duration will shorten as the bio load increases

 

[extremecoral]

Same here, everyone has their own philosophical views on how to manage their tank, in this case water change. 1dude you should try to see what is fit for your tank, and let everyone knows....

 

[colin779]

I try to stick to 5 gallons every week in my 90. Doesn't always work out, I'll miss a week every once in a while. All of my SPS have always done very well, along with everything else in the tank. I also do not dose anything. A good skimmer helps a lot too.

Just for S+G's yesterday did a nitrate test before I did my change, shows up 0. The only fish I have are a pair of clowns, six line wrasse, coral beauty angel, yellow tang, and a flame hawkfish.

 

[sedrostyle]

S+G's I had to put that one together haha... Do you have a sump fuge colin779? any macros?

So if its all preferance, WHY can't we just not change the water at all?

 

[colin779]

Sweet, someone got it =)

No fuge or macros, just a good skimmer and some carbon. I do not dose anything so the water changes replace whatever minerals are lost from coral or whatever else in there soaks them up. Instant Ocean Reef Crystals is the salt mix I use.

I would probably advise against not doing water changes. But I guess in this hobby there certainly isn't a one size fits all approach.