Everyone in the hobby always preaches the importance of water changes. So how is it that I have not done a water change since early August 2018 and my tank is thriving? In mid-2018 my tank was horrible. Algae everywhere, Red Slime....just could never get it looking good. I did a water change in early August 2018, went away on vacation and haven't done one since. I add nothing to the water, but I am getting coraline algae growth like crazy recently. How is it my tank looks better now than it ever did?
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Over a Year with No Water Change?
- Thread starter 9supratt4
- Start date
So a representative from a company that makes their bones on selling test kits and chemicals (and to a lesser part other items) thinks that people should be testing and adding chemicals more often? Sounds about right.
If you don’t have pictures then it didn’t happen lol. Most people that run tanks without water changes spend a lot of money dosing. Automatic water changes are soo easy to do that not doing water changes just doesn’t make sense. I am sure I could survive for a year without bathing and it won’t kill me not to shower but it doesn’t make it a good idea. Red Sea makes more money with their dosing products and test kits. Salt is not that lucrative. It’s very heavy to ship and the margins just aren’t there.
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We need @9supratt4 to get back with the details. But if it is a softy tank and has low bioload. It could absolutely survive and even thrive without water changes. It wouldn’t need calcium. And most soft tanks like high nutrient environments. The big down side to running exceptionally high nutrient tanks without testing, supplementing, dosing and some sort of nutrient export. Is in time you will reach a breaking point. It’s inevitable. You simply can’t put food in and never take waste out. What often happens with this approach is people boast about there success and later have a crash that they can’t bounce back from. And you never hear from them again. With that said... yes, I agree you can go a good long time without water changes or dosing. But like all good thinks. You will hit a wall. You can only put so much poop in a cup before the cup runith over. Oh. And there is also a third thing we need to know. Age of system. New tanks may be unstable. But waste and chemicals are so non existent that the side effects don’t show up quickly. And real real old systems are so biologically efficient that they can almost run them selves (almost)
Replacing evaporated water/ removing wet skim from a slimmer/ removing socks all remove water and when you replace that water with new clean water it’s like a small water change. Some aquarium stores don’t do water changes because they are constantly removing water from the system. every time they sell a fish or a frag. They do not do big water changes but they do 100 small water changes every time they fill a plastic bag with water.
Absolutely. I do not make scheduled to the T water changes on my main tank. However I estimate I changed 40 gallons of water in the last week or so. When I drip acclimate and coral RX dip. I have to replace between five and ten gallons of water. I have a holding tank that has odds and ends that will go to other people. I regularly change five gallons of thats tanks water with five gallons from my tank because it is much higher in alk, calcium, and magnesium plus it has way cleaner water. So I put five new gallons back into main system. Before I put my hands into tank I wash them and the tools in tank water. Which has to be replaced with new water. Also some times I will see buildup of detritus in one of my sumos or refugium well that means suck it out and put new water in. So when I add lots of corals in a week I do not do a scheduled water change.
Are you suggesting a salesman may present alternative facts? How dare you!
I heeded my dealership's advice and with keeping my monthly oil change and rotation schedule my car has been fine for over four months, though it is hard to fit in time-wise with my bi-montly colonoscopies that my GI doc recommended.
Anyways...
I had/have a softie tank of Xenia that hasn't had a water change in years. Originally in a 10g tank, with no fish, the entire maintenance was top ups and filter floss change weekly. Softies thrived.
Moved that setup into a 40b, added 3 fish and a mantis shrimp, and its been running for months without a change (though I did add a protein skimmer with the fish). Maintaining with weekly skimmer empty and floss change.
My 105g medium bioload tank (8 fish, 10 small SPS, 2 LPS, zoas) has only had a few 10g water changes in the past 3 months, maybe one every 3 weeks or so, though I am changing floss every 2 days, emptying the skimmer 1x week, dosing Reef Fusion 1&2 when I remember, and adding Bioreef supplements once every 2-3 weeks. Tank is doing quite well. Probably would do better if I monitored and dosed properly.
Curious as well to see Supra's details
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Your experience sounds about right. It’s important when someone makes a bold statement like the author did. To clarify. What they are running. Bioload is important as well as expectations. What one person may call successful in all likelihood is probably not what others would call successful. I suppose I could say I have ran a tank for ever with no work at all. But if you don’t know I grow algae you would think I was nuts.Are you suggesting a salesman may present alternative facts? How dare you!
I heeded my dealership's and with keeping my monthly oil change and rotation schedule my car has been fine for over four months, though it is hard to fit in time-wise with my bi-montly colonoscopies that my GI doc recommended.
Anyways...
I had/have a softie tank of Xenia that hasn't had a water change in years. Originally in a 10g tank, with no fish, the entire maintenance was top ups and filter floss change weekly. Softies thrived.
Moved that setup into a 40b, added 3 fish and a mantis shrimp, and its been running for months without a change (though I did add a protein skimmer with the fish). Maintaining with weekly skimmer empty and floss change.
My 105g medium bioload tank (8 fish, 10 small SPS, 2 LPS, zoas) has only had a few 10g water changes in the past 3 months, maybe one every 3 weeks or so, though I am changing floss every 2 days, emptying the skimmer 1x week, dosing Reef Fusion 1&2 when I remember, and adding Bioreef supplements once every 2-3 weeks. Tank is doing quite well. Probably would do better if I monitored and dosed properly.
Curious as well to see Supra's details
Reef on everyone. Enjoy the ride
The tank is 10 gallon IM Fusion AIO. Skimmer only. I don't have coral at this time. Tank is FOWLR. Didn't want to get involved with it when we are looking to move and my 180 is still sitting dry waiting for our next house. Those that remember me from a long time ago, my 180 was SPS heavy with great growth and I dosed two part daily and only a water change every 6 to 8 months. When I moved into an apartment I got this 10 gallon just to have something and it was a fight with this damn tank for years. Red slime problems, hair algae galore, and just unhealthiness. Going into this 10 gallon adventure I always knew that the smaller tanks cannot handle swings. Even a small swing in a small tank is serious so I figured weekly water changes at least. But this proves it is not the case.
You may say it is a time bomb, but I don't see it that way. If the bacteria is stable and healthy, the tank should be self sufficient. The growth of the coraline shows calcium is coming from somewhere, whether that is from sand or shells breaking down, or the top off water (which I don't think it would be since my water runs through RODI after a whole home water softener).
I will continue down my path and see what happens
Awesome. Super happy your tank is doing great. And truly wish you all the success in the world. Understand now that it is a Fowler and that corals are not in the equation which of course erases all the speculation. This forum is a great place for each of us to discuss and debate the many ways to make a reef tank work. Thank you for getting back to me with the specs of your system and hop on more often. We need more healthy debate here
When I had my 38 gallon setup I didnt do a water change for almost 2 years. Every once and a while I had to replace saltwater with some freshwater to keep salinity right. Tank was a mix reef mostly sps and it was fine. Now my 225 doesn't like not having water changes so I change 2 gallons a day using my DOS.
Hallowhead
NJRC Member
I go two weeks on my 30 gallon AIO
I have loads of zoas, lps and I think an acan.
Tanks is doing so much better moving from 1 week to two week schedule
I have loads of zoas, lps and I think an acan.
Tanks is doing so much better moving from 1 week to two week schedule
I rarely do water changes as well but my tank does have issues. Probably all my fault; over feed, improper flow, etc. I do add CALC, ALK and Magnesium.
If you think about this where does the ocean get new water full of trace elements from? Is it rain, something we never considered? We all know more water will cause salinity to drop some and no rain will increase it because of evaporation.
I will post what I find later on.
If you think about this where does the ocean get new water full of trace elements from? Is it rain, something we never considered? We all know more water will cause salinity to drop some and no rain will increase it because of evaporation.
I will post what I find later on.
Why is the ocean salty?
oceanservice.noaa.gov
River run off provides the minerals for the ocean. Rain is the oceans version of RODI and waves are the equivalent of a protein skimmer But you must think scale. Given the volume of the oceans the stocking level is ridiculously low. For ocean animal to consume the 420 ppm of calcium in the ocean would take an eternity I mean we are literally talking 352 quintillion, gallons. That’s a lot of calcium
Matt,
Some quick research I did in the past I tend to agree about volume. compared to our tanks. I still feel with proper maintenance and controlled feeding we don't as many WC as we do. I am a bad example of course but people here and else where have had success.
Some quick research I did in the past I tend to agree about volume. compared to our tanks. I still feel with proper maintenance and controlled feeding we don't as many WC as we do. I am a bad example of course but people here and else where have had success.