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View Full Version : How often do you do water changes?


christyf5
04-26-2007, 06:23 PM
Just wonderin. Its been a slow day :razz:

Der_Iron_Chef
04-26-2007, 06:24 PM
Tell me about it!

I siphon crud off the bottom of my tank twice a week. Each time I do that, I do about a 2-gallon water change...and that's pretty much it! :wink:

Oh yeah, that's on a 55G tank.

fishface
04-26-2007, 06:25 PM
every 2 weeks, 12g on a 145g total tank volume.

christyf5
04-26-2007, 06:26 PM
Bwahaha, you guys didn't even let me get the poll up. Maybe the board isn't as slow as I think :razz:

I do 15g a week on about 100g total water volume. Its getting old.

Der_Iron_Chef
04-26-2007, 06:26 PM
Ha ha ha. I was just wondering, "huh, where's the poll?"

*chompin' at the bit*

Phanman
04-26-2007, 06:27 PM
LOL i think ppl are on but just dont post anything new. We are waiting for you to post new stuff for us Christy:lol:

fishface
04-26-2007, 06:29 PM
i'm just bored :biggrin:

Der_Iron_Chef
04-26-2007, 06:31 PM
Me too. Hey, we need to get some sort of forum chatroom going. Hours of entertainment for those with tedious desk jobs!

pat
04-26-2007, 06:33 PM
I like too do 6gallon weekly,out of 40g total water volume.

04scoobysti
04-26-2007, 06:49 PM
I do a 3-4g change weekly on a 20g Tank.

christyf5
04-26-2007, 06:57 PM
LOL i think ppl are on but just dont post anything new. We are waiting for you to post new stuff for us Christy:lol:


You're totally right, heck its only been 30 mins since I posted this and already 8 replies :biggrin:

I'll find more stuff to post then :razz:

Pier Pressure
04-26-2007, 06:58 PM
On a 28 gallon aquarium, we change out about 20% of the water weekly.

Delphinus
04-26-2007, 07:21 PM
I try to do 25% once per month. Sometimes I let things slide. I'll have to check when I last did it (I write it down on a whiteboard in my basement) but I have a bad feeling it might have been February because I don't remember doing it in March. I guess there isn't much left in April, I better get on with it, thanks for nagging .. er .. reminding me :p

Reefer Rob
04-26-2007, 08:12 PM
I change about 8% of my tank volume every week. It's all part of "tank bonding", can't wait to do my next water change, we've become so close my tank and me.

marie
04-26-2007, 09:31 PM
I was doing bi weekly water changes but everything has been doing so awesomely well I haven't dared do anything for awhile so I checked off the "strange schedule that makes sense to me" option :lol:

Chowder
04-26-2007, 09:51 PM
I do 15g a week on my 85 gallon total system and 15 gallon week on my 116 gallon total system at work.

Ruth
04-27-2007, 12:13 AM
I checked off the strange schedule. I try to change about 20-25g once a week on my 110g cube (probably 150g total volume). I usually do my 2 nano's at the same time with about a 50% water change. On my 230g and 190g I am probably more at the 2-3 week interval.

andresont
04-27-2007, 12:33 AM
I do 5% weekly on a 60 Gal tank, almost no sand left cleaning up the crud.

Jaws
04-27-2007, 06:21 AM
I change 40G every month on a 180G tank. I try to do it every two weeks but it usually ends up being a month.

marcingo
04-27-2007, 01:51 PM
Everybody's schedule makes me feel bad about mine. I havent done a water change(just top offs) for 5 months now. But I will be doing one this week since I need the established tank water for a new nano :)

surgeonfish
04-27-2007, 04:34 PM
After reading all the posts I wish I had a nano tank. I do 55 gal water change weekly on a 300 gal tank. Is it a bad thing my kids college fund went into salt mix?

Der_Iron_Chef
04-27-2007, 04:40 PM
After reading all the posts I wish I had a nano tank. I do 55 gal water change weekly on a 300 gal tank. Is it a bad thing my kids college fund went into salt mix?

DUDE! That's a little nuts...well, for me, considering my aquarium IS 55 gallons, lol.

My parents spent my college fund on a time share. :mrgreen:

Joe Reefer
04-27-2007, 04:46 PM
I do a 40 gallon change once a month on 200 gallon system.

Pescador
04-27-2007, 09:06 PM
I'm about the same as Joe, 50g change once a month on my 220.

ponokareefer
04-27-2007, 10:17 PM
I do a 25 gallon water change every-other week on a 125 gallon system. I used to do weekly 3 gallon water changes on my 33 gallon. I miss those days. :sad: But the bigger tank is way better!:biggrin:

Snappy
04-28-2007, 06:34 PM
I do 20 gal biweekly which is about 10% of my total water capicity, (more like 15 - 20% if all the rock is put in the equation). I used to do 20 gal weekly on 160 gal but I started to think that was a waste of my time and switched to biweekly after I plumbed in my refugium. The system certainly hasn't suffered from it.

Kabong
04-28-2007, 09:03 PM
Hey!
where's the not as often as i should option! ;)

crystalz
04-29-2007, 06:01 AM
10gal every 2 to 4 wks on a 77 with a 30 gal sump/fuge

crystalz
04-29-2007, 06:07 AM
10gal every 2 to 4 wks on a 77 with a 30 gal sump/fuge. A good sized fuge with lots of macro algae has taken me from having to do weekly water changes to not even 'having' to do them when I do. Couldn't imagine ever having a tank without a fuge now that I have one.

reefan
04-29-2007, 06:53 AM
10gal every 2 to 4 wks on a 77 with a 30 gal sump/fuge. A good sized fuge with lots of macro algae has taken me from having to do weekly water changes to not even 'having' to do them when I do. Couldn't imagine ever having a tank without a fuge now that I have one.

Water changes help replenish trace elements so even if the water seems to be ok it's still a good idea to do them on occasion:smile:

super7
09-14-2007, 11:10 PM
I do a 1 gallon water change once a week on my 5 gallon tank

andrewsk
09-15-2007, 02:06 AM
340 gallon system. 45 Gallon Automated Change weekly.

TeknoPunk
11-16-2007, 01:57 AM
10% water change and gravel clean every week.

aussiefishy
01-09-2008, 03:11 PM
would 30% water change weekly be way to much?? your opinions welcome.

my opinion is that it all depends on bioload... my tank have a very high bioload so i am opted to do this, and i think it might be the cheapest way to maintain a heavily stock reeftank in the long run. considering we are enjoying some nice prices on salt mixes in calgary.

trilinearmipmap
01-09-2008, 04:39 PM
Almost never.

In 3-1/2 years I have changed maybe my tank volume (120 gallons) once in total.

I keep meaning to set up a system with a garbage can and pump to do monthly 20 gallon water changes but I never get around to it.

Mostly everything is doing OK though with nitrates varying from zero to barely measurable.

SeaHorse_Fanatic
01-09-2008, 08:51 PM
I like doing the one big water change every 3 months compared to the small water changes every 2 weeks or monthly. Last water change was late September, then I just did a huge one this weekend. Originally planned on doing 90g on a 210g reef, by draining water from the fowlr, siphoning reefwater into the fowlr & then topping up the reef with new water. Unfortunately, I miscalculated & ended up draining too much out of the fowlr which caused me to have a near empty sump so I had to make up another 40 gallons for the reef. So, in total, just did a 130g water change on the 210g reef with 75g sump (total water volume minus LR & LS etc. is probably 180-190g).

On the other hand, I run a RS250 skimmer, Phosban reactor, semi-remote deep sand bed, micron sock, and grow lots of macroalgae in the refugium/sump so the water quality was still surprisingly good despite a long time between water changes and a high bioload/feeding regimen. The corals look the same (very good) before & after the water change, whereas in the past, usually they look a lot happier after a water change. Hmmmmm.

I'm not recommending this water change schedule for everybody, just posting up what works for me.

Anthony

Tom R
01-09-2008, 09:49 PM
ZEOvit users are instructed to do a 6% water change every week. My system consists of 425G + sump and I do 30G every 3 to 4 weeks.

Tom R

Slipstream
01-10-2008, 05:25 PM
I want an automated water change system. :lol: Take the lazy mans way out. :mrgreen:

Brent F
01-10-2008, 05:35 PM
I want an automated water change system. :lol: Take the lazy mans way out. :mrgreen:

I took the lazy way out and plumbed 3 tanks into a common sump so I could use a single ATO. Makes water changes a lot easier. I siphon crap out of the bottom of the tanks, then move my top-off pump from the ATO pail to my water change pail.

When I turn the ATO back on it refills my tanks and stops when done. I just need to remember to move the pump back into the top-up pail of fresh water when done.


80 gal total system. 5 gal change weekly
________
girlfriend pic (http://girlfriendpics.org)

saltynuts
01-10-2008, 06:36 PM
i do 5 gal every 12days!
56 gal tank 20 gal sump. 90lbs rock
lots of zoos lps and some sps.
7 fish.

JDigital
08-25-2008, 08:52 PM
2.5G on my nano (weekly), 7.5-10 on my 75G (weekly or bi-weekly)

Myka
08-25-2008, 08:56 PM
I used to do weekly waterchanges like clockwork. Now I'm mad at my tank, and I am hit or miss all summer. I don't think I've done a wc for about 6 or 8 weeks at least. It hasn't looked better!!! :lol: I do have some water mixing up right now though, and it's on my list of things to do today...or tomorrow...or next week...

RSM
08-26-2008, 03:15 AM
4G water change every 7-10 days on a 34G reefer.

Stab_Master_Arson
09-22-2008, 06:56 AM
I do a 10 gallon change every 10-14 days on a 30g tank.

DanG
09-22-2008, 09:50 PM
Ever since I switched my salt brand to one that I don't need to buffer before I put it in the tank, I found I do my water changes much more frequently.

Usually I do 5G a week on my 70.

dsaundry
09-23-2008, 12:58 AM
I do mostly f/w top ups and my tanks are doing great, used to be regular weekly now I am maybe every 3-6 months///I still dose though...

Stab_Master_Arson
09-23-2008, 02:39 AM
I do mostly f/w top ups and my tanks are doing great, used to be regular weekly now I am maybe every 3-6 months///I still dose though...

I did that when I have no fish. I was fishless for about a year and my tank did nothing but thrive. I topped up the water daily and did water changes every 2 months, adding calcium every week or so. Ah the good old lazy days. :biggrin:

Stab_Master_Arson
09-24-2008, 08:32 PM
Edit - Wrong thread