No water changes

[eWarren]

WOW, if this is real, but then why does all fish shop staffs recommend people to do water change? Or do you need a huge skimmer / refugium so one can get away from water change?

[Stumped]

Originally Posted by eWarren

WOW, if this is real, but then why does all fish shop staffs recommend people to do water change? Or do you need a huge skimmer / refugium so one can get away from water change?

Water changes facilitate the addition of trace elements and removal of waste. Even if you can have a healthy tank without regular water changes there is no real reason for most people not to do them. It's not like you need to do them daily/weekly, so compared to other types of tank maintenance you really don't invest a lot of time into them in the grand scheme of things.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by eWarren

WOW, if this is real, but then why does all fish shop staffs recommend people to do water change? Or do you need a huge skimmer / refugium so one can get away from water change?

Reef tanks require the removal of organic waste & detritus and as Steve said, the replacement of depleted minerals or such.

How thats achieved is variable. Water changes, good skimmers, large algae refugiums or algae turf scrubbers, carbon, ozone and the replacement parts handled by again water changes, reactors or the addition of 2-part supplements.

Most of the experienced aquarists use a combination of water changes & filtration to achieve beautiful tanks such as those displayed in our feature,s.

[castaway]

I very rarely do water changes(Last one over 6 months ago).
Both of my systems have skimmers, I add minerals and my livestock is doing great.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by eWarren

WOW, if this is real, but then why does all fish shop staffs recommend people to do water change? Or do you need a huge skimmer / refugium so one can get away from water change?

same reason as they recomend you change out your bulbs befor you need to.. makes them money.

you do frequent water changes you buy more salt.

remember water changes are a tool and you still need them, but with the right equipment you can extend the time between them.

Steve

[bassman]

One very experienced reefer put it into prospective for me once.

He said changing your water is like opening a window in your house after a long winter, you don't have to but the fresh air sure is nice.

[mark]

Wonder what in-land public aquariums do? Realize we're talking larger volumes and that dilution/solution/pollution thing, but the costs and efforts for a 10% bi-weekly change on a 10,000g system...

[Myka]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

with the right equipment you can extend the time between [waterchanges].

This is the key. Newbies are gonna stumble when they see a thread like this. You NEED to have good equipment to get away with no/low waterchanges. Don't be thinkin that your over stocked 'low-tech' 90g with a Remora Pro and a sack of PhosBan is gonna cut it.

Replacing the vitamins and minerals is a very important thing. As well as nutrient removal. A calcium reactor will replace the minerals and many vitamins. I use SeaChem Reef Plus to replace amino acids and vitamins, you can also use Reefresh or Polyp Lab or ZeoVit. But if you aren't doing waterchanges regularly you need to be adding something.

You will also need a good nutrient export. A very good skimmer like a Bubblemaster, EuroReef, Deltec etc will hugely lengthen the time between needed waterchanges. Incorporating a refugium will also help.

Bioload has a HUGE impact on the length of time between waterchanges. Lots of fish? Less time between.

Attempting no/low waterchanges on a low-tech tank without supplementing for minerals and vitamins is not going to work very well for you.

My tank is low-tech and I do 15% waterchanges every 3-4 weeks. The corals tell me when it's time.

[eWarren]

Thanks everyone for all your advise. I am glad to know I can come to this site and get lots opinion and advise. This is great. Thanks again

[ron101]

I think that feeding your fish is a significant form of supplementation.