Protein skimmer + Refugium = NO Water Change ?????

I've been watching around youtube on some of the videos. Some of the system have no Water Changes, or no water changes for a long time. I thought water changes is FOR SURE required to keep nitrate, etc down.

Am I missing something? Is it possible without water changes for a long time?

 

Depends on who you talk to.

Just one of those topics, just like LED everyone has their own opinion and experience.

Yes it can be done but I would not recommend it to someone new to the hobby.

I hate water changes as much as the next person but I still do them (since 1987).
There is some truth in "dilution is the solution" and there is no down side to replacing the trace elements with a water change.

 

I too have read posts about people that very few WC's, and still have good success.

FWIW, currently I do a partial WC - about a 20g -30g WC on my system,- about 150g of actual water
every few MONTHS.

I have a Shallow CC bed in the DT.
I have a PS in my DIY sump
I have a LOT of chaeto in the sump
NO sand bed in the sump
~ 100#'s of LR in the DT
I also have a mdium sized UV filter
And a DIY Phosguard reactor
I manually dose Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime (less $$ Kalwasser) about every 1-3 days.
Last time I checked params- (not often), things were fine.
I have a direct line ATO to my RO/DI- I know, so far, so good.
I check SG every few days- staying rock solid

That seems to be working for me,
your results my vary

 

Some people claim few water changes. Personally, the one thing in this hobby that has been predictable is if I cut back too much on water changes, corals, start dying... Cheap and easy insurance IMO. If you think it is too much work, get some pumps, plug in a pump, add water, plug in a pump empty water. There is no reason a water change needs to be lots of work, but there are lots of reasons to do them. There is no way to test all of the levels, of all components of saltwater. Water changes are the ONLY way to make sure they stay consistent. Any other method relies too much on guessing.

 

I do water changes infrequently, maybe averaging once a month or every other month. I don't use a skimmer, just an ATS and LR. My nitrate measures at 0ppm but my phosphate doesn't change much. I don't have too much of an algae issue if I keep up with scrubbing the ATS.

 

Thank you for everyone's response.

Wow, 0 nitrate? I know that in freshwater that I've been keeping, we will never get to 0. Also, I thought in some corals actually do need Nitrate as 0 nitrates will actually kill them.

 

That's actually a misunderstanding as people confuse nutrients with nutrition. Zero nitrates will never harm anything. Some corals, however, mostly softies, will benefit from some dissolved organics (nutrition) before they are metabolized into nitrates (nutrients) by the bio-filter. That's why DOCs are referred to as "proteins".

 

In my experience (around 9 months) I have found that a water change can make all the difference. I have 2 tanks running, for a whopping total of 25.5g of water. When I had softies in the beginning (Zoa's, Kenya Tree, etc.) I could go weeks without doing a water change. But I also didn't have any livestock. Now in my 20g I have 4 fish, and assorted inverts, SPS, LPS, Softies, algae and more. I run no mechanical filters, just carbon and algae.

In the end it just really matters how much money you put into a tank. (skimmer, ATO, doser, etc.)

 

This. My husband (aka Tangster) were "anti water change" hobbyists but we had several decades of experience between us. It's not just a skimmer and refugium that's required but strict dosing regiments and a solid understanding of what the creatures in your tank need and use.