Are water changes a must?

I have to add to this. I am new. Very new. I've had this tank up and running since late February. I have done 2 water changes and have had an excellent outcome. I do not dose things in the tank. I top off with plain old water, tap water which I've tested many times and even brought to the LFS to be tested. My tank is flourishing. Knock on wood, I've not had one fatality. Neither fish nor cleanup crew. My shrimp molts regularly, my coral is vibrant and my fish have no illness. I do test regularly to make sure everything is in order. Everything in the tank eats well, the inhabitants are perky and very alert

 

SoStoudt said it... if not manually removed from whoever spilled it, waves aerate and aggravate the water like a skimmer.

+1

I have a high volume of rock compared to live stock, run a skimmer, deep sand bed and more in the sump. I supplement additives when needed like Cal, Mag, Stron, Iod, essential and trace elements (bi-weekly because there is no test), Amino and vitamin... those are all pretty much when needed because I run a Schuran Jetstream 1 calcium reactor (unhooked at the moment) but I buffer the levels with the cal, carb, stron, mag, potas suppliments.

I do exactly that same set-up, feeding schedule and skimming w/o water changes.
I found, like you, that doing water changes would disrupt the tank and it's inhabitants making it more unstable and causing some die-off. The key to a stable aquarium is to keep the water as stable as possible w/o letting the corals feel the additions. If you pump 20% out and mix 20 in, there like "wtf!" >>> (yes, I heard them say that) kidding but you can notice the irritation and stunt in growth.
I totally agree with your set-up.

Again, agree!

To the fish store comment....
One, we change water because of the amount of fish and livestock we get in. It is hard to maintain a decent water quality when you add 50 new corals and 50 new fish to a system every Tuesday who come from different tanks and expell their ammonia. It's damn near impossible when comparing the amount of live stock you put in a limited amount of water. It's only a temporary holding cell for the organism until it is brought to it's final aquarium.
Two, when I referenced that changing water is a way for people who either over-feed or over-stock a limited water colomn. A fish store does this weekly. It is the only means of keeping water quality good.
Three, no ones hands are in the water but ours.

Like I said, not knocking those that do water changes but don't knock those that are telling you it is very well possible to find a balance of rock and sand (with a skimmer) that can support a tank... It IS possible if your not over stocked and constantly aggrivating the tank.

 

Well yep thats me Mr. Nonsense Hell we all can't be like you , someonme has to play the village idiot excuse me please I'll bow out and be on my way.

 

do what you may but i only have sps acropora in my tank and have yet to do a water change and they grow like weeds with good color.

 

Have you ever seen your LFS feed? THEY HAVE TO DO WATERCHANGES!
Fish when they come in are stressed, been in bags during shipment, etc. They also know that when we buy them, they will get stressed again.

What does stress do? Causes ick, causes them to not eat, etc.

Some fish will eat regularly, some fish will not eat anything, some fish will only eat brine, some will only eat mysis, some rods, some flake.....etc.

So in order to help them with the stress they usually feed 2-3x a day, and feed a lot. They want to fatten them up so then when we come and buy them and they dont eat for a couple days they have a reserve. They want to see which fish are not eating and keep an eye on them. They want to see which fish only eat one thing so they can tell the customer what to feed them.

Plus they are constantly getting new fish shipments in all the time. Fish are dying, fish are generally overstocked, large fish in tanks that are generally too small for that fish (but is only temporary), no rocks in the tank etc.....

Plus LFS generally will dose low dose copper in their tanks...OH YES THEY DO....I have had several fish stores tell me that!

So there are many factors that are going on in a LFS that doesnt go on in our tanks.

BUT AGAIN....WHAT WORKS FOR YOU GREAT! ;D Keep doing it. Nobody should be insulting anybody for something that works for them. Water changes work well for you, water changes are not needed by some that have been in hobby for many more years than we have.....so each their own

 

i like the way this thread has kept under control without too much confrontation, it's nice to see people trully understand that there are no rules to aquarism and we are all just experimenting with what we know works.

 

If my wife reads this thread after I just installed a RO/DI in our shower, I'm going to have to find somewhere else to sleep, anyone hear got a room for rent?

 

only if you bring your tank and ro with you. lol

 

RO/DI is a must...even if you dont ever change your water...you need to replace the evaporation.

Shower RO/DI interesting....how does that work?

 

Ro/DI is a must in this house anyway. Distilled is good if you want a outbreak of cyano. I used it in an emergancy but had some algae. Infamous seriously your calling out some of the best salt water keepers in the worls here. Tangster knows whats up in tanks! seriously lets play nice. Since you seem to know how to walk on water lets hear how it goes.