Water Change on Reef Tank
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What is the purpose of your water changes?
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mostly for waste removal/ nutrient replenishment..... regardless of clean up crew.... 5%-10% rough estimate weekly/monthly....really depends on set-up and gear.....
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Absolutely no way to know without more info. Filtration type ,bio load, type of corals etc.
I guess I may be kind of OCD with my wc. No matter how nice of a filtration system I have. I always do at least 15-20% wc every week. I may miss my weekly wc by a day but that's about it. Either way I do 2 wc every two weeks. Today is my day for wc but my dad decided to top off my new salt water container without adding salt to it so now I'll have to wait until tomorrow for my wc. Then I'll do another one next Sunday. I've ad this tank up 5 months now and I've never had to dose or add any supplements to the tank.
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I have a 90g and do a 10g water change almost every 4-5 days. However my LFS mixes to a specific gravity of 1.021 and I run roughly 1.026 and therefore by doing lower concentration wc I keep my salinity in check. Saves from top off.
The purpose of water changes is to export nutrients and replenish trace elements.
Generally we recommend 10% per week or 20% every two weeks. The former replaces more net water over time.
However, your mileage may vary. Ultimately, your water parameters will tell you if you're changing enough water or not.
Think of the nutrients (such as phosphate and nitrate) in your water as trash. Your living creatures create trash. Beneficial bacteria recycle some of that trash (denitrification). However, in most systems, they can't recycle all of it, so the remaining trash becomes nitrate and phosphate.
When you change water, you effectively take out the trash.
If your critters produce "two bags" of trash, but you only take out one, over time, your nutrient load will increase and your nitrates (and phosphates) will rise. Eventually, if this remains unchecked, they rise to the point where they become detrimental. Sometimes this is called, "old tank syndrome" but it can occur in younger tanks too if the nutrients aren't exported as needed.
On the other hand, very mature and even really old tanks (running 10 years or more) can maintain very low or undetectable nitrate and phosphate if they are maintained properly and adequately.
So while there are guidelines and recommendations as to how much/how often, monitoring of each tank's parameters will tell if the maintenance is sufficient or not.
Also, regular water changes using good quality salt mix helps replenish trace elements. Some tanks still need or benefit from dosing of said elements, however testing will reveal whether supplementation is needed or not.
No matter how much/little is needed to maintain any given tank, it is better to change a smaller volume, more frequently, than it is to change a large volume, less frequently. Smaller changes, more often, maintain more consistent parameters, versus letting the water degrade and then do a large change which can throw the tank out of equilibrium.
Jenn
Generally we recommend 10% per week or 20% every two weeks. The former replaces more net water over time.
However, your mileage may vary. Ultimately, your water parameters will tell you if you're changing enough water or not.
Think of the nutrients (such as phosphate and nitrate) in your water as trash. Your living creatures create trash. Beneficial bacteria recycle some of that trash (denitrification). However, in most systems, they can't recycle all of it, so the remaining trash becomes nitrate and phosphate.
When you change water, you effectively take out the trash.
If your critters produce "two bags" of trash, but you only take out one, over time, your nutrient load will increase and your nitrates (and phosphates) will rise. Eventually, if this remains unchecked, they rise to the point where they become detrimental. Sometimes this is called, "old tank syndrome" but it can occur in younger tanks too if the nutrients aren't exported as needed.
On the other hand, very mature and even really old tanks (running 10 years or more) can maintain very low or undetectable nitrate and phosphate if they are maintained properly and adequately.
So while there are guidelines and recommendations as to how much/how often, monitoring of each tank's parameters will tell if the maintenance is sufficient or not.
Also, regular water changes using good quality salt mix helps replenish trace elements. Some tanks still need or benefit from dosing of said elements, however testing will reveal whether supplementation is needed or not.
No matter how much/little is needed to maintain any given tank, it is better to change a smaller volume, more frequently, than it is to change a large volume, less frequently. Smaller changes, more often, maintain more consistent parameters, versus letting the water degrade and then do a large change which can throw the tank out of equilibrium.
Jenn
45 gallon tank and 5 gal wc every weekend. Not so much to remove undesirables but to maintain elements needed for the corals and because if thing were to go south in a hurry, I don't have the experience to deal with it. Better safe than sorry IMHO.
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Exactly. That is why don't throw a number out there until some other parameters are established. Too often new ones to the hobby hear these percentages /numbers and think they are absolutes without an understanding of what determines those numbers.
Well we start with a recommendation - like I said. Generally 10% per week or 20% every other week is a good place to start. Got to start somewhere.
We usually recommend, also, that no changes be done for the first 4 weeks while the tank cycles/finds its equilibrium. The more you tinker, the longer it takes. Once livestock is added, then we go to that guideline and encourage testing to make sure it fits the tank's needs.
No 2 tanks are the same.
Jenn
We usually recommend, also, that no changes be done for the first 4 weeks while the tank cycles/finds its equilibrium. The more you tinker, the longer it takes. Once livestock is added, then we go to that guideline and encourage testing to make sure it fits the tank's needs.
No 2 tanks are the same.
Jenn
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True. With an understanding.:up:
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