No water changes

[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.

[chevyjaxon]

ive had a 90 gal up and running for 8 weeks now not even 1 water change ive loaded up the system too ive got a tang, clown, 5 damsels, huge neon wrasse, mushroom corals, and a bubbletip anemone i use marine snow, purple up, and 2 skimmers one is a woodlimestone skimmer the other is made by instant ocean i think im doing great for a noobie and to think i was starting to worry about doing a water change even though my nitrates are under 20 ppm i guess that being said no water changes for atleast another month

[adidas]

i've done about 2 water changes since September, mind you I only have 2 fish.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by chevyjaxon

and to think i was starting to worry about doing a water change even though my nitrates are under 20 ppm i guess that being said no water changes for atleast another month

Eek! This is exactly what I meant. Your tank isn't the type of setup that is good for a low or no waterchange scheme. This will cause you trouble. I think ALL newbies should be doing 10-15% waterchanges once a week or once every couple weeks. ESPECIALLY when your equipment isn't top of the line.

[chevyjaxon]

no my equipment isnt top of the line but i have 2 skimmers each rated for aquariums up tp 100 gallons so that being said i should be good for 200 gallons

[Myka]

Just because a skimmer is rated for X gallons sometimes doesn't mean it's any good for even half the gallons. PLUS, cheap skimmers are crap on ANY size tank. Don't fool yourself...you'll be more successful.