water change questions

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by Executivelevel, Feb 18, 2008.

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  1. Executivelevel

    Executivelevel Peppermint Shrimp

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    ok, im not so sure if this is the best thing to do or not but here gos (dont get mad at me) my tanks literally evaporate a couple of gallons every week. on my 120 i ad about 2-5 gallons of fresh (unsalted) water every week and about 2 gallons to the 55. the salinity is always the same (as salt doesnt evaporate) and my levels are always really good. is this bad for the tanks?? should i actually change the water more or aslong as my levels are good is this a fine routine???
     
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  3. lunatik_69

    lunatik_69 Giant Squid

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    Im sorry but I didnt understand the Q. Was there a Q to begin with?
     
  4. Executivelevel

    Executivelevel Peppermint Shrimp

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    the question is at the end of the post, is this ok to do or should i change the water more???
     
  5. wastemanagement

    wastemanagement Eyelash Blennie

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    I think I understand you ,
    the question was can you just add your top-off water and get away without doing your water changes right???
    If so the answer is unless you have a filtration setup that will remove the dertris from your tank
    I would be encourageing you to do some 10% water changes every 2-3 weeks
    this should keep the nitrates under control as I think you have a F/O tank right?
    and in the 120g you also have some big waste makers ie snowflake eel.
     
  6. Executivelevel

    Executivelevel Peppermint Shrimp

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    yeah, FOWLR in both tanks, and the eel is still just a baby, but i will do that. all my levels stay really good and all the fish are very active and feed great.
     
  7. BaxterS80

    BaxterS80 Pajama Cardinal

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    I personally do a 10% water change in all of our tanks on a weekly basis. 8)
     
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  9. lunatik_69

    lunatik_69 Giant Squid

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    Im sorry but I didnt understand your Q.In my exp.you can get away with it as long as you dont have a big bio load. But I wouldnt take the chance. I do what you do and 25g water changes weekly only b/c I have a big bio load. I also use R/O water in between WC.
     
  10. omard

    omard Gnarly Old Codfish

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    As stated above, topping off evaporated water and doing water changes are two different things done for entirely different reasons.

    My 120 evaps about 5 gal. every three days.

    Of course this is replaced with fresh water.

    I do a 20-30% water change/exchange (newly mixed salt water) every other Sunday in the 120g. And a 30-40% water change in 12 gal Nano weekly. (I don't have a skimmer in Nano.) Often when being really lazy, I use water from main tank to do water change in Nano as the Main has much more LR and a skimmer to boot and water params almost always stable.

    Check out: Water Changes/Exchanges,, By Anthony Calfo
     
  11. Executivelevel

    Executivelevel Peppermint Shrimp

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    thats a goos article, thanks
     
  12. andybethke

    andybethke Flamingo Tongue

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    im pretty sure the water company loves all you guys lol!!! but anyways i add about 1.5 gallons ro water weekly to my 10gal tank and im still gonna start doing bi-weekly water changes