changing water

[heathlindner25]

let me ask some of the pros out there, can you do too many water changes?

[jon99]

As long as the water your replacing is matched closely to what your removing (salinity, temperature, pH, calcium, alk, mag, etc) then I would say no. I don't think you get in trouble doing too many water changes. I think what may get people in trouble is doing too large of a water change at once and not matching the make up water with what is in the aquarium. Stability in the aquarium is key, so smaller more frequent water changes are much better than putting it off for too long, feeling guilty and trying to catch up by doing a large water change.

[heathlindner25]

Let's say I have a 36 bow,aquamaxx hob, and a cpr hob Fuge. I've been doing 4 gal. Every other day,anybody think I would run into any problems. Thank you in advance. Haven't seen any ,just looking for input.

[andy2966]

You should not have any problems but you probably can get by with 4 gallons once or twice a week.

[Neptune_Fan]

I dont think that it would be much harm to do it but what would be the advantages of doing it? with WC of 4 gallons a day your corals would not even used up the elements it needs. I think you would tire of doing the task daily not to mention spending the $$ on salt for all those WC. For a 36G i would do about 10G per month on WC. IMHO

[Dellyjoe]

no you are good keep going with the water changes just make sure everything is the same as in your tank, before putting it in.

[heathlindner25]

Appreciate the input,I don't really know why I do it so often,I guess I just want to provide the best possible scenario for my inhabitants. And i'm OCD.

[heathlindner25]

no you are good keep going with the water changes just make sure everything is the same as in your tank, before putting it in.

Wouldn't it be hard for the water to differ if I change it every other day,and mix it the same?

[zoafarm]

I would tend to agree with Neptune_Fan. Don't think it will hurt your tank, but it might hurt your pocketbook and your patience in the long run. I do approximately 12% every other week and it has work great for me.

On the other hand if you have a chemistry problem, more might be better. Hope this helps.

Happy Reefing

[heathlindner25]

Did these guys sum it up or does anybody else want to chime in? Lol

[rk_tek]

I found that doing water changes every other week and dosing cal and alk kept my tank happier than more frequent water changes. That may just be my tank though. Unless you are making 50 gallons of SW at a time, I think you'll quickly tire of changing water that frequently.

[jon99]

Wouldn't it be hard for the water to differ if I change it every other day,and mix it the same?

Not necessarily. Temp and pH could easily be very different from the water in your tank. And of course salinity depends entirely on how much salt you add to the water and in a small 4 gallon container a little to much or to little could make quite a difference in the slinity level. I always test the new water before doing the water change and adjust it accodingly. That may be a pain if you're doing it daily. You could always make a large amount, say 50 gallons, test and adjust it once and then use it daily over the next week or so.