Water changes

[Orlandomedic]

I have a 55gl tank with a good mix of soft and hard corals, a great aqua-c skimmer along with a great sump. I test regularly ALL my parameters. and I supplement with trace elements regularly along with calcium. My question is " how often and how much water should i be changing out"? or do I just change out when my parameters start to get out of control. FYI water is not an issue cause I just bought a great RO/DI. thx !

[Fizz71]

Everybody has their own personal preference, but I do about 20% every few weeks although lately it's been more like monthly. :) ...20% of 300g is expensive!

BTW...I wouldn't add any trace elements to your tank that you can't test for. You might be adding more than you really need and just wasting your money.

[chrisp074]

I do 15% weekly. If you could do 5 gallons weekly I think you would be in good shape.

[gweston]

I do 5 gallons weekly on a 29gallon. I could probably get away with doing less.. but 5 gal is easy to mix (one bucket obviously) and not too costly.. only like 4 cups of IO to get 1.025sg. Plus the critters seem to be much happier after a water change.

For my 125gallon tank (once I get it going).. I think I'll shoot to do 10(?)gallons a week, and focus on better skimming, carbon, phosban, and supplementation. I haven't quite nailed the plan down yet.

[jbell370]

I have a 60g cube with a 40g sump and change 5g per week, every week on a Sunday night, takes 3 min. I have in the past waited and waited and tested things, but this just seems to be working right now.

[jdthomas24]

i do 25 gallons once a month on average, refugium helps remove nitrates which lets me go longer unless my magnesium gets out of wack.

[Namnuta]

On my 165G i do about 30G every week to ten days.

[lordofthereef]

This topic has been discussed to death a million times with the same end result. Different people will tell you different things. I have seen tanks that have gone months without a waterchange that looked beautiful. I have also seen tanks with bi-monthly water changes that looked terrible. A lot of it depends on how you take care of the water IMO. I recommend you do get into a routine that you are comfortable with. In the early stages of a tank more frequent changes may be better, which you can decrease over time as you get a feel for things. I think 20% is probably the most widely used rule of thumb for volume of a water change but even that is stretched by many. There are some that do a daily 1% while others push it upwards of 60% at a time.

[bmooney31]

I do bi-weekly 15 gallon changes in a 55 gallon also.

[mdb_talon]

Since water is not that expensive (when you have ro/di) I would do weekly water changes. Really probably have no reason to dose "trace elements". As someone else said it usually best not to dose what you cant test. With a good salt mix and frequent water changes though you dont have to worry about it.

[mgdth]

20% every two weeks until I get a descent skimmer, then 20% monthly

[Orlandomedic]

Thanks so much for all the help guys...

[slickmin]

i do 1per day on my 65g, everything seem to be goin well. calcium stay at 480 it never change everytime im check i dont know if thats good or bad but every1 seems happy