Water changes

[bgood1]

Read about 10 gazillion articles and everyone has a different opinion. My friend who has been doing the reef thing for about 25 years now says that I only need to change about a 5gal bucket of new water per month for my 200gal tank.

My tank and inhabitants have been very healthy and tank has been up for 4 months now but no coraline algae growth yet. So I am wondering now about trace elements and water changes. My friend just keeps telling me to be patient.

I know some of you have your own set ways of taking care of your tanks but has anyone out there done any experimentation with major water changing vs minimumal changes? I do trust my buddy but I am just trying to form my own opnions too.

[don-n-sa]

This is an excellent question and yes you are right, depending on who you ask you will get a different answer. Why? Because we are so results driven, if one person is getting good results with doing little water changes , then you will here that story on how they are not needed, and of course vise versa.

IMO water changes for nutrient control is ineffective, you just have to change way too much to see consistant low nutrients. Believe me, I used to change 25g a week on my overstocked 100g aggressive reef and I still had high nitrates.

I still do weekly water changes on my current system, because I do believe that they add critcal trace elements back into our systems that are constanly used up by corals and inverts and filtrations systems like skimming. Also , with some of the "reefsalts" like seachem it almost eliminates the need for dosing. I swiched to seachem about 4 months ago and I do not have to add anything except kalk.

As for you question about coraline algae, there are a lot of factors in the growth that include: calcium and alkalinity, lighting, nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates.

If your parameters are good and you have decent lighting then it will happen and when it does, get ready to start asking on how to slow it down. :D

[bgood1]

Most excellent advice...greatly appreciated!

[demodiki]

One thing about coralline algae I have found. Introduce a source...get a rock covered and pretty soon...Voila! Now I dread scraping it off of the glass every week.

[caferacermike]

I personally do 10g a week for no reason. All of my levels are stable, have been for the life of the tank. That includes the first 9 months without ever doing a water change. Why do I do it now? Because I figure it can't hurt to change a little. I do have an oversized Euroreef skimmer and a huge sump on my tank. That's why my levels don't swing much. Did I notice any differences? I didn't but my friends swear that they have never seen such long polyp extensions as in my tank. I just do it to keep myself settled in the idea that at least I tried something. Better than not doing anything I figure.

I to use Seachem reef mix.

I'm not a coraline algae freak so I can't answer exactly why my coraline disappeared. When I had low intensity flouro bulbs coraline grew like it wanted the entire tank all to itself. It would grow in clumps and would also plate like an SPS cap. When I turned on the halides the coraline disappeared. It quickly receded from my back glass. That glass was completely covered in coraline now it's crystal clear. So with regular water changes, doses of Bionic, Sea chem reef complete, Reef Alk, and Kalk it still doesn't grow. I have heard it grows much better in "yellow" (below 10K) light. I've never researched whether the statement was true or not.

[JimD]

Super polyp extention isnt necessarily a sign of good health. It could simply mean that the coral is having to work harder to get at its energy source by supplying more surface area. Im always hearing about one or anothers coral polyps appearing unusually large, Im not convinced thats its a sign of good health. Regular water changes are a valuable source of nutrient export.

[Instar]

I have heard it grows much better in "yellow" (below 10K) light. I've never researched whether the statement was true or not.

Sorry, not true. Coraline grows best under blue light, IE: actinics, 20K and may be enhanced by a trace of strontium as well as good calcium levels. It likes very pure, clear carbon filtered water best.

Minimal water changes will work for a long time, possibly even for a year or two, but; Evenutally some things you may want to keep will end prematurely with a short life span due to the build up of bacterial end products and decomposition. The resultant amine dyes will color the water and allow less light penetration and the crispness will slowly dissappear from the tank water as will the vibrant colors. Fill a white bucket with used water and you will see it when side by side with a bucket of fresh mixed water. Combined with aging light bulbs, this can cause some tanks to crash. You can be slack on maint. water changes with a few things and get away with it but most things benefit tremendously with the regular water changes and you can see it in the colors and diversity of the tank.

[ackelley]

Whats a good salt to use? I have been using the kent but it's kinda expensive and i change 10 gal a week in my 55 but it's got about 90 gal all together

[cbianco]

Whats a good salt to use? I have been using the kent but it's kinda expensive and i change 10 gal a week in my 55 but it's got about 90 gal all together

I love my Instant Ocean. I have not had any major problems while using this salt. IO also mixes up quickly and disolves nicely.

Christopher

[Bill S]

Remember, Kent is 200g vs others at 150-160g. You get what you pay for?

P.S. Louis at AW orders mine for me - and I get a great deal. When I run a calculator to it, it's the same price as IO