How often do you do Water Changes?

my SPS tank gets seldom water changes. I mean, yeah im doing about 5-7g a month but its a 55g DT with about 10g in sump/fuge so its not much. Only thing I dislike is the fact my tri color acro isnt getting the PE i want anymore but I'm pretty sure that a flow thing.

 

Same here

First, SoStoudt, I want to clarify, I don't think anyone is saying they "don't do *any* WC's". Just very very little.

I dose Alk/Ca daily. I dose Mg about every 4-5 weeks. I test those three about once a month at this point (they are rock solid stable). I also test pH with a pen and SG with a refractometer.

About every 6 months I test nitrates and phosphates, but these have been 0 for about 2 years now, so I rarely test them.

My reef consists of almost 40 separate corals. The breakdown is something like
17 LPS
14 SPS
15 softies

Here is an incomplete list of corals I have:

1. chalice
2. yellow star polyps
3. Armor of God Zoa
4. Tropic Zoa
5. Purple Zoa
6. Acan
7. rock anemone x3
8. Duncan
9. Dendro
10. Purple Blasto
11. Red Blasto
12. Lousetta Acro
13. Purple Acro
14. Purple pocillopora
15. Green Trumpets
16. Red Trumpets
17. Frogspawn
18. Purple Hammerhead x2
19. Mushrooms x8
20. Ricordia
21. Soft Tubed Feather Dusters x3
22. Trachyphyllia Brain
23. Kenya Tree
24. Green Birdsnest
25. Bubble
26. GSP
27. Anthelia
28. Crocea Clam

Here is a "before and after" thread I did in May of 2009 and a few updates in August of 2010. You can see some growth here.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/now-then-pics-65484.html



Here is a FTS

I agree with Steve. The trace elements are the only reason I bother to WC even once a year. Nobody really tests these regularly. I am far from convinced that all your trace elements are used up in a week.

 

peredhil your GSP project is really coming along!

 

5% weekly

 

I think that's why it's important that your change water has the same chemistry and that it has a chance to mix for at least 24 hours. You will have problems if you don't do this. I usually let it mix for a few days. I switched to Red Sea Coral Pro because it has the chemistry that I want for my LPS tank. All I have to do is dose to maintain the same chemistry as the mix, then when it's water change time, it's good to go. The water stays crystal clear, and there is a positive response from the corals.

I do a 90 gallon change once a month. 50 gallons from the reef goes into the fish tanks, then 50 gallons fresh into the reef, and 40 gallons fresh for the fish.

 

I don't have the time or space to start mixing my water 24 hours in advance. When I do water changes it is spur of the moment. I make sure my salinity, temp, and pH are the same and I dump the water in my sump. No matter what, I feel that your fresh water and the tank water will never be the same params anyway. Do you dose Mg, Ca, Sr, moly-whatever-it-is, and other elements to the DT before the change? If so, I thinks that is a waste. You might as well just add trace elements and hold off on the water change.

 

I don't dose what I can't test for. Besides temp and salinity, I'm mainly concerned about Ca and Alkalinity. The Mag in Red Sea Pro is good where it is. Because it's LPS, I have not had to dose Ca, and I just monitor Alk during the month.

Fortunately, I have a whole basement to work with. I fill a 100 gallon Rubbermaid with RO, let it warm up, add salt, let it sit and mix, then test. I know the water will never be exact, but since I started doing it this way, I have had far fewer problems.

 

FWIW, I mix my water months and months in advance... I keep two 5 gallon buckets ready to go just in case of emergency... When I eventually do my one a year WC, I use it from these buckets.


I always pull them out of storage and add a PH and heater at least 24 hours ahead of time though, just as good practice.



So, to all the "does water go bad" questions... no. Not if it's sealed.

 

I do the very same thing as you, but prolly around 10g of new water every week

 

On my 90g I do a 15-20gal water change every other month. I have a nitrate filter so my nitrates stay pretty low (5-10ppm) and all I have is clover polyps and zoas for corals so the water doesn't need to be perfect. The nitrate filter (aquaripure) does a wonderful job tho.