Are water changes a must?

My Doctor done a WC the other day...he said it had been five year's.....He has a 250 gallon and knows what he is doing....He didnt want to do it but had no choice...why I didnt ask....Just to see? I will never do another one!!....I would take Tangster's word on anything...He know's what he is doing....Not to be his cheerleader or anything like that.....
Danny

 

good point. engine oil can run in a vehicle for about 80, 000 kms, before it will totally break down. error on the side of caution i guess.

 

I don't do water changes very much either,
The way I look at it is I use ro/di water it is striped of anything that will benefit or harm my tank then you add the salt mix putting the trace elements back in to the water which is no different then buying trace elements and dosing, there is nothing magical in salt mixes that you can't buy and dose.

I believe in water changes if you are overstocked , can't keep your nitrates or phosphates in check or ammonia but to say that if you don't do water changes your tank will fail is a total misconception. There are allot of people on here who don't do water changes haven't done water changes and for other people to come in a say they don't believe them is taking this thread to a bad place.(I'm not directing this at anybody)

bottom line is if it works for you then keep doing what you feel is right.

 

Hmmmm

Speaking of oil...how does the ocean do a water change after an oil spill?

 

waves wash it up on shore. waves are natures skimmers

 

very intresting thread

Quick question... for those who do little to no WC are any of you not running skimmers, DSB, fuges, or other common filtration? Also, do you supplement weekly or often or just supplement when you find something amiss? Love the thread very interesting! Also wondering about your feeding schedule once daily or every other? Sorry for steering off thread topic. :

 

Four words guys

;D;DEACH TO THEIR OWN;D;D

We should read,listen and maybe learn somthing new but should never put down other comments because even if they have not worked for you that dosn't mean they dont for others.think we all need to sit and watch our tanks and chill for while,relax time.breath in, and out, in and out.

oh and i do water changes with water i collect from fiji myself once a week.LMAO

 

The oil might break down at 80,000 km's, but the engine sure as hell won't last that long.

 

When I was running a Fish only tank I rarely did any water changes it didn't seem necessary. When something was off or if I had an algae bloom then I would clean it then do a water change. As for now I do them every two weeks since I added a few corals and do not yet fully understand all their needs. The people that do not do water changes know what to look for and what to add and when to add it. Some do water changes some don't but those that don't usually know more about the chemistry needs of their tank. My Uncle is one that rarely does a water change in his 210G. I think the larger the tank the easier they are to care for. those who understand all the chemistry K+ to you I wish I understood it more.

 

As said earlier, I do a WC about every 3 months. I do run a skimmer. I do not have DSB nor a fuge. I do have about 100lbs of LR in my 55g (my primary filtration). I supplement Ca, Alk daily. Supplement Mg every couple of months. Those 3 numbers are stable. In fact, they are more stable than when I was doing WC's. That is all very well logged at TankProfile.com.

I test weekly. I feed once every 2-3 days, lightly. Never more often than every other day.

At the fish store, they've constantly got several people's filthy hands in the tank, a wide and ever changing range of fish that come in all kinds of health conditions from their suppliers, so on and so forth.

What a fish store needs to do and what my much more controlled environment needs is not the same thing.

To say this is complete nonsense while several people are right in front of you saying they don't do it (with pictures of their great tanks in the respective tank threads)... now that's nonsense.