water changes how much and when

[aquascum]

i have had my tank (55 gal) up and going now for 4 months and everything so far seems to be going well fish seem good all my levels are great and the water seems to be very clean i have only done one water change at about 2 months and it was 10 gal so im woundering if everthing is going good do i do it every month or is it not nessacery in the begining? any input on this would be great on how often i need to do them and how much

[Matthew91]

I do water changes every week. I replace 5 gallon each week and at the end of the month I do a 15g water change. If everything is working well for you, I'd keep it that way

[skidder84]

On Fish only tank thats fine...

My 150 I change 15 every week

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I change about 1% daily and automatically. I discuss water changes here:

Water Changes in Reef Aquaria
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php

from it:

Conclusion
Water changes are a good way to help control certain processes that serve to drive reef aquarium water away from its starting purity. Some things build up in certain situations (organics, certain metals, sodium, chloride, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, etc.), and some things become depleted (calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, strontium, silica, etc.). Water changes can serve to help correct these imbalances, and in some cases may be the best way to deal with them. Water changes of 15-30% per month (whether carried out once a month, daily or continuously) have been shown in the graphs above to be useful in moderating the drift of these different seawater components from starting levels. For most reef aquaria, I recommend such changes as good aquarium husbandry. In general, the more the better, if carried out appropriately, and if the new salt water is of appropriate quality.

Calcium and alkalinity, being rapidly depleted in most reef aquaria, are not well controlled, or even significantly impacted by such small water changes. In order to maintain them with no other supplements, changes on the order of 30-50% PER DAY would be required. Nevertheless, that option may still be a good choice for very small aquaria, especially if the changes are slow and automatic.

[GPB]

I change 5 gallons weekly on my approx 45 gallon system. 37 display and 10 gal sump less water displacement from Live Rock, and pumps.

[symon_say]

5% weekly for me.

[zigzag1]

I do 10% every two weeks or 25% monthly on average. I'm not obsessed with numbers or time frames - these are just the guidelines I shoot for, but often miss. :) JMTC & GL!

[paddyob]

Personally, I do a water change every 4-6 weeks.

I have never had an issue, nor have I any detectable pollutants.

[Ryan95i4]

What about these established reefers who say they only top off, or rarely do water changes?

Are they able to do so b/c they are dosing?


I do water changes, but not nearly as often as I probably should. Maybe 10% every 6-8 weeks, sometimes longer :o

[xxmurrxx]

I'm sure I'm overfeeding but if I don't do weekly the algae starts a commin!
I do 3-5 gal on my 29 bio cube weekly.

[Dean Stell]

I'm similarly new (like the guy in the OP) and I just do my 10% change every week. Whether it is necessary from a chemistry standpoint or not....I think it's a good practice because it causes me to get in there and eyeball things. Where is algae growing? Does a powerhead need cleaning? Etc.....

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What about these established reefers who say they only top off, or rarely do water changes?

Are they able to do so b/c they are dosing?


I do water changes, but not nearly as often as I probably should. Maybe 10% every 6-8 weeks, sometimes longer :o

There are many people who say that. Few if any of them can really say what the tank would be like with water changes during that same period.

That said, different husbandry techniques may be more or less in "need" of help from water changes, and different organisms may be more or less in need of the potential improvements water changes provide. :)

[sbeason]

For my tank(210rr and 100 remote sump) I do 30 gallons per week water change.

-Steve

[symon_say]

The best way i have found to do water changes is to have the new ready and measure in close containers, a small pump in the sump and a few 5g buckets and water change take no more than 10 min and can be done by anyone.

That'll make you do the changes more regular.