Are massive water changes a thing of the past??

[RayAllen]

Ive noticed a trend in people doing smaller water changes more frequently versus a huge water change less frequently which was the norm not long ago.

With my 180g I now do 10g water changes once a week so in a months time 40gs total. The tank is stable and the coral are doing excellent. Ive noticed faster growth in my zoas and candycane.

Its a heck of a lot faster to change out smaller water quantities and less stressful on the tank inhabitants IMO.

I also take into account my evaporation. I loose minimum of a gallon a day. So I top of 7gallons + a week of fresh RO water on top of the 10g salt water change.

I know Hobogato also does small frequent water changes, anyone else on the small weekly water change train?

[Medinafish]

In 20 years of keeping mostly FO and then FOWLR, I have always done 10% weekly water changes. This was done mostly on 50 gal tanks or less so was rarely over 5 gallons per water change.

[tebstan]

I do 10g a week on my 100g setup as well. When I was doing 20g every two weeks things looked a little shabby at the end of the second week.

[Europhyllia]

weekly here as well unless there's a problem then it's twice a week. I am guessing I replace maybe 20 gallons a week in saltwater and top off/kalk around 18 gallons

[RayAllen]

I save on the water bill to. I roughly use 65-80 gallons a month on my tank which is not bad.

[ErikH]

Small and frequent is definitely the thing to do.

[RayAllen]

I should note that I keep xenia, colt and other softies that do not appreciate taking away certain nutrients. If I was into SPS Id probably do a bit more every week.

[justahobby]

Good point Ray. Smaller WC's remove less waste so maybe the need to remove waste is decreasing. People are keeping harder to keep corals and more efficient equipment is being released all the time. Most people run some sort of media reactor and it wasn't that long ago they weren't mainstream.

[Roo&Lis]

I should note that I keep xenia, colt and other softies that do not appreciate taking away certain nutrients. If I was into SPS Id probably do a bit more every week.

I've noticed that softies do like some dirty water. I did a little experiment with an 8 biocube. I had a few corals in it and didn't touch it for about 3 months and they seemed fine.

[txg8gxp]

I always do a 5g weekly water change on my 60-70g system. All I keep is sps, but they are all doing great. I also run bio pellets and don't add alot of food in the system, so that helps keep the water clean.

[RayAllen]

I've noticed that softies do like some dirty water. I did a little experiment with an 8 biocube. I had a few corals in it and didn't touch it for about 3 months and they seemed fine.

With my last biocube I was doing a water change maybe once every two months and everything did great. The 180g is a different story. More water = more coral, more fish= more water changes.

I do run a skimmer and carbon reactor 24/7 along with a fuge so that also helps.

[Big_Pun]

i went from 5g a week to 10g every 2 weeks and my nitrates went up and coral suffered, SPS mostly. so I'm back to 5g, started vodka dosing(which has helped) and bio pellets will be here thur.

[kkiel02]

I mainly do it to keep my levels from dropping. My cal, kh and mag all stay pretty constant. I have alot of things I used to dose now just not a need anymore.

10 gallons a week here.

[Submariner]

5-10 gallons twice weekly on my 175 gal. mixed reef. I do it because it is so much easier than mixing a big batch of water and finding a good place to dump all the waste water. I simply empty into a 5 gal bucket twice and dump that in the toilet. Filling is easier because I just add salt into 5 gal containers and add to sump. The whole process is much quicker as well. In the end I end up changing 80 gal a month with less stress on my inhabitants.

[Submariner]

i went from 5g a week to 10g every 2 weeks and my nitrates went up and coral suffered, SPS mostly. so I'm back to 5g, started vodka dosing(which has helped) and bio pellets will be here thur.

Many of us will be interested in how the bio pellets work out. Expensive solution that could potentially make reef keeping much much easier.

[Big_Pun]

Many of us will be interested in how the bio pellets work out. Expensive solution that could potentially make reef keeping much much easier.

not really expensive I'm at about a $140 investment, i know we spend more on replacing lights or a good skimmer.I got the basic nextreef reactor not the blue one, 550ml of pellets is runnin at about $30 average per company, and a pump. I used a sicce .5, but you can use a maxijet no problem. also i went with Warner marine biobak pellets and they only require 100gph of flow, reefbuilders also claims that you can put these in a filter bag in a good flow area since they do not slime over like other pellets, but i haven't seen anyone try that yet.

[txg8gxp]

Bio Pellets seem to be working great for me. I have no plans to get rid of them. The setup is just too simple.

[Europhyllia]

reefbuilders also claims that you can put these in a filter bag in a good flow area since they do not slime over like other pellets, but i haven't seen anyone try that yet.
Premium Aquatics had an interesting post on RC on the pellet thread stating that there is a limited supply of manufacturers for these pellets so the same pellets may be sold under different brand names. They posted pics of the old and new BioPellets, the Warner product, etc.
For what it's worth the new biopellets look identical to the Warner product - and they do slime over in the beginning. I'd be sort of disappointed if they didn't...

[Mike]

We still do pretty big and frequent w/c on our tanks... most of the time we do about 50g on the 210g, 20g on the 75g, and 10g on the 20g... usually every week or every other week. We carry a big bioload (I really like the fish over corals :)) and it helps that both Kristy and I are in it together, so it is both of doing the w/c together.

[Submariner]

Bio Pellets seem to be working great for me. I have no plans to get rid of them. The setup is just too simple.

How long have you been using them and have you been able to reduce your water changes? Lower nitrates or phosphates?

[alton]

I know this thread is moving a little into bio pellets versus water changes but Coral Magazine has several great articles on bio systems. For me doing water changes on my 29 and 40 I do 6 gallons a week for each. For the 300 I do a 50 gallon every month plus A and B suppliments to keep calcium up.

[RayAllen]

Alton 50g isnt bad on a 300g system at all. Im assuming everything is doing good with the supplements added. As mentioned earlier in the thread im changing total 40g a month on my 180g.

Not quite sure how it got on the bio pellet subject. Well i guess the assumption is running bio pellets allows for less water changes. One of those new technologies. Im glad we have several on here using them so that I have a true opinion on rather or not they work.

For now im sticking to the Skimmer, Carbon and fuge method

[Europhyllia]

Well i guess the assumption is running bio pellets allows for less water changes.

I think that would really oversimplify the benefit of water changes. When I do water changes I want to do two things: take stuff I don't want out and put stuff I do want in. I take out much more stuff than just Nitrates and what I put back in with the new water has nothing to do with the pellets. I don't think adding pellets = fewer water changes is a good equation IMO

[StevenSeas]

^^^ Very much in agreement here. the pellets are IMO a great way of keeping nitrates down to keep fish and coral healthier in between regular water changes (and no 1 time a year doesnt count as regular LOL) the lower nitrates helps keep immune systems at tip top and also is a good preventer for algae but not to mean no or less water changes

[RayAllen]

I think that would really oversimplify the benefit of water changes. When I do water changes I want to do two things: take stuff I don't want out and put stuff I do want in. I take out much more stuff than just Nitrates and what I put back in with the new water has nothing to do with the pellets. I don't think adding pellets = fewer water changes is a good equation IMO

I agree with that for sure, Water changes are a must. Many are not as meticulous as others when it comes to maintaining your aquarium.

My assumption was simply taken from the subject of the thread doing smaller water changes and the topic of bio pellets came into the talk.

Fresh or salt- many products have come out through out the years so that hobbiest have to do less maintenance.

With that said I believe water changes are a must. We try to mimic a natural reef, it rains often over our oceans so its only natural for us to constantly take and give in our home aquarium.