Water changes ? Do you really need them?

[maxfischer]

Question, i just set up a 70 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump and a 17 gallon refugium. I have a 5" dsb and a skimmer that will handle a 200 gallon system. I use a UV light and my sump is a wet dry filter filled with LR. I have about 130lbs of LR in my all my tanks. some in each. That's my set up, anyway the question i have. Do i need to do water changes? My water numbers are all OK. Should i do a water change? I have heard both yes and no. I only have one frag in the tank and 3 fish.. let me know what you think

[pettee86]

I feel that water changes are beneficial and necessary. I have a 90g and change out about 10g every three weeks. I find that a day or so after a change the tank looks so much better and happier.

[Fally]

I change 5 gallons out of my 29 every week. It is only two months old so I will probably reduce this to once every two weeks soon. I have also noticed that the tank is happier the day after a change.

My LFS has told me several times to leave it alone and it will be fine... I am just used to it from my freshwater experiences.

Good luck in finding an answer, I will definately check back and see what everyone else has to say.

[graphixx]

your salt will lose its buffers over tme and the quality of the water will decrease. you want to make sure and change your water!! It can be a pain in the butt but it is necessary to sustain a healthy system!

[jerryc]

I have fond small changes work better for me and much easier to do

I used to change out 10 gallons ever 2 weeks but after doing a lot of research
i tried 3 gallon ever week and i like the results i have had with the more often
and smaller change

[butterfly_babe4200]

You need to keep the water new because it replenishes stuff we do not test for. As well as oxgenating the water more then pumps and waterfalls can.

[dakar]

On the smaller tanks <30g they get a 20-50% change every other week or so, mostly because 5 gallons is easy to tote around. For the 55g I was doing 10-15g water changes every couple weeks. On the large tank > 250 total it gets a 35 gallon every couple three weeks.

They are important to replace the trace elements that are consumed by various coral/critters and others that are skimmed out of the water column.

[dsfdbutterfly]

Well here it goes, I know that some will be shocked at the care that some of my fish received but you asked a question. As I

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

On my 125 + 30g sump I change 30 gallons every other Sunday. On my 20g sea horse tank I change 5 gallons every other Sunday and 10 gallons on the opposite sunday (no sump) . Once I get the horses transferred to the 45G that has a sump I will do 15 gallons every other Sunday.

[davejnz]

My old 40gal reef i did a waterchange in every 3months.My current 40 gets a 5gal change every 6-8weeks.I do however repace all skimmate with fresh SW and i feed my corals often.Quality foods do have iodine,minerals,and other vitamins in them.

[maxfischer]

come on lets vote, 140 people have looked and 9 have voted??????
this is how people learn stuff.

[Fally]

To be fair, I have looked at this about 5 times... So 140 could easyly be a handful of people checking the thread everytime a new post pops up...

[dakar]

Add in few dozen hits from search engines and the # of views really climbs up quickly. But keeping it bumped to the top of the pile will definately help get some opinions.

[maxfischer]

just to keep you all posted, i did a small water change of 5 gallon two days ago. i think i will try a 5 gallon a week for the next month and see how that is. i just might do a 10 gallon a week for a month and see what i like best.

[davejnz]

The reason i didn't vote,is because there was no option for "other".Since i only do WC's 4 times a yr in my old reef,and once every 2 months in my current 40,I just posted my maintenance practices.

[at]

I am new to the saltwater thing about 18 months, but I change about 20% every 2weeks. I have a leather coral and if I let the water go for 3-4 weeks it shrinks to about 1/4 of its size.The nitrates only rise from 5 ppm to 10 ppm but it seems to make a huge difference. Overnight after a water change the coral is huge.

[gobbler]

Just started a 20 gallon 2 months ago but looking at a 65. Been doing 2.5 gallons every week so far until the tank matures.

[Reptoreef]

haven't done one since September... doing a 22 gal in the morn, though.

[at]

I change 25% every 2 sometimes 3 weeks