Water Change

[arvin]

Changing 20% of water twice a month is usually recommended, but how often do you really do it?

I am planning to automate the process, so pl. help me decide.

 

[Daniel]

I have gone more that two years with out doing water changes. But I just do them when I think it needs it. I think the photo speaks for it self

 

[arvin]

How do you know that it is time for a water change? Based on test results?

 

[Daniel]

How do you know that it is time for a water change? Based on test results?

I don't even test unless something dose not look right. I just look ant my tank and I can tell when it needs it. I have been doing this for a long time now. My last water change was in Sept of 2006.
Daniel

 

[Brian]

Same here... only when I think I need to do one...

"Hmm...I'm getting some algae buildup.. I'll do a water change!"

 

[JohnS_323]

I voted for once a month because that's what we do for our 120.  On the 65 . . . . well, that's another story, once every 6 months maybe.  For my nano I had been changing once a week but that tapered off to about once a month now too.

 

[Daniel]

Same here... only when I think I need to do one...

"Hmm...I'm getting some algae buildup.. I'll do a water change!"

LOL

 

[ham]

i do a 10% change once a week on a 90 takes like 20 minutes to do

 

[concept3]

How do you know that it is time for a water change? Based on test results?

I don't even test unless something dose not look right. I just look ant my tank and I can tell when it needs it. I have been doing this for a long time now. My last water change was in Sept of 2006.
Daniel

Glad to see I'm not the only one who does water changes every other month or even longer!

After a while, you will notice that certain organisms start showing signs that something may be off.

The first thing I do is go "Ehh, I'll check it tomorrow" followed by a bag of carbon the next day, and then a few days later, a 5-10% water change. It almost never gets to the last stage.

 

[reneeRN]

I change 50 gal every 2 weeks. I am not really sure how many gallons I have plumbed together. I estimate about 300 gal total, so what is that, about 17% water change? During a partial water change, I suck out all the detritus I can find and sift/siphon the top layer of part of my dsb.

 

[cmsurfr22]

one thing that you have to take into consideration is how old the tank is. if you have a deep sand bed (DSB) and your tank is over a year old there are nitrificating bacteria that lives in there and they convert nitrite into nitrogen gas. thats what those bubbles are in your sand bed. this will keep the nitrates lower in older tanks and therefore water changes aren't needed as often and if you have enough possibly not at all. however that could take years and maybe even decades. if you have gobies that tear up your DSB than you'll have less of this bacteria because once the bacteria gets exposed to oxygen it dies. if your tank is less than a year old you definately want to do them every two weeks. i try to keep the nitrates below 5.

 

[Daniel]

Very good point ;D

 

[NEWSALT]

I do 6 gallon change every week on my 120. I'm also looking to automate the process. I figure the easier it is, the more often I'll do it.
I'm curious as to what your ideas are on the automation.

 

[kabal2]

i do a 5g water chage in my 120 once a week, take like 5 minutes or less, and i like to work in my tank so its all good ;D

Gabriel

 

[steve68]

i have noticed that certain corals do better in clean water & certain ones do better in dirty water, i used to do 35 gallons every 2 weeks then i slacked off & did them once a month 35 gallons, my tank had been looking like crap since the summer disaster's & 4 weeks ago i start it doing weekly 50 gallon water changes & now the tank looks great,it really does matter what kind of corals u have, im going to stick to 50 gallons every 2 weeks for now all way's remember what works for me might not work for u.

 

[MadReefer]

I change 10% every two weeks of my 55 gallon.

 

[arvin]

I'm curious as to what your ideas are on the automation.

Mike,

Here is a rough sketch that how my automation would work, if it is qualified as an 'automation'.

Both the reservoirs will always be filled with fresh/salt water all the time.

Assuming I change 10% every other week which is about 15 gallons for me, using this setup, this is what my water change process would be:

a) The day before the water change a powerhead in the salt water will start the circulation
b) On the day of water change, I pump out 15 gallons from the sump. Appropriate water levels are marked on the sump to make this a snap.
c) Push water from salt water reservoir to the sump and level it off.
d) Open the valve between Ro/di reservoir and saltwater tub to refill the saltwater tub. Add pre-measure salt for the next time.

This method is loosely based on the 'two minute water change' technique that I saw in Reef Central sometime back.

When I origininally set out to do this automation, I was going to do either 1% a day or 5% twice a week based on some articles I read. Setup would be same, but I would have used timers to go on and off as required. Later on, I figured that most people believe less frequent & higher volume water change is better than more frequent & less volume water change.

Suggestions/comments welcome.

Nice input from everyone. Thank a lot!

 

[Phyl]

That's essentially how our water changes are done. Makes water changes a breeze.

 

[JohnS_323]

arvin, that looks good. The only recommendation I would make is to not add the salt until the day before you plan on doing the water change (when you plan to turn on the power head). I've found that premixed salt sitting around for too long kind of fouls the container. We have basically the same set-up as you're describing and the container with the salt mix is a bit nasty compared to the RO/DI one. I had been adding salt right after water changes and that caused it to get slimy/nasty. Since I changed, and only add the salt the day before, it hasn't gotten any worse.

Otherwise, that's a great system and you'll be very happy with it.