150 reasons to do a water change.

[karl wagner]

I'd like to start a semiserious thread about the benefits of a water change. Preferably some of the non-obvious ones.




150. My Rose Bubble Tip Anemone split the following day.

[yaktop]

keeps the salt people in business http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/r/biggrininvert.gif

and replenishes some of thise nutrients we dont supplement.

[Groove]

I haven't seen any benefits. I just do it once a month because I'd rather not know what might happen if you don't.

I've seen threads from people who have never done water changes and had some nice looking corals so I think this thread should be interesting. Congratulations on the BTA split BTW!

[frenchie777]

Because no one else will do it for me.

[Forsaken]

to expirience the smell of low tide...


i did my first one ever last week .. just for kicks

[Cohiba]

Makes you feel good afterwards :D

It's kinda like changing the oil on your car. You know you have to do it and you feel alot better after it's done.

[Kevk]

Because no matter what the problem, some weird algae bloom, unexplained coral recession, or fish looking funny, the main solution is to run out and buy a bunch of new test kits, figure out what is out of spec..........................then start doing water changes until it goes away.

[Teego]

It is much like a diaper change. You just don't want your baby sitting in his own feces for months on end. If fish wore diapers, people would be much more diligent I think. Although, not having legs I am not sure how the diapers would stay on.

Changing keeps police/child services away.

[Forsaken]

i do water changes so i can make nice "protien" shakes .. heh heh one water change lasts me a month .. its perfect

[carpetride]

I've just started doing them, for those with shallow sand beds are you also vaccuming?

[Forsaken]

thats what i did .. i have about a 1.5" sandbed .. mixed CC and black sand .. i syphoned out like 8 gallons ot of my 90.. it was enough to get the gunk out of the sand bed

[karl wagner]

teego, first we'll see if we can sell them. then we'll figure out how to make them.

[loomisreefer]

dont do them

[loomisreefer]

often lol

[karl wagner]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7809cra_2_of_2.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7809cra_1_of_2.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7809abs_fish_2_of_2.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7809abs_fish_1_of_2.JPG

[peacock79]

so my gunk builds up..

[Forsaken]

to serve friends pea soup.. heh heh home made .. heh heh

[DLCanuck]

A fish tank is like a toilet bowl, if you do not flush it, you looking for problem.

I have a 92-corner tank and I take out 5 gallon on Wednesday and 10 gallon on Sunday.

[Groove]

Assuming you filter well enough and have enough flow to no allow stuff to accumulate on the bottom, are we doing water changes to only add new trace elements? I'd like to hear more arguments for why you should do it other than taking out fish crap.

Nice additions BTW Karl!

[Scuba_Dave]

I think someone posted on another thread:

The solution to polution is dilution

When I look at tank the water looks clear. When I drain some out into a pail it looks yellow.

[Beverly]

I do weekly 15% water changes on a 28g seahorse species tank, a 42g softis/lps/sps reef, and a 72g softis/angel/fairy wrasse tank.

Also done weekly, the night before the water changes, I clean the glass then turkey baste each tank to export as much detritus as possible.

Then, on w/c day, I remove the lights, clean the glass between the lights and tank, remove the filtration systems/powerheads for breakdown and thorough cleaning, and do the 15% water change.

Once the tanks have been put back together, I test alk and Ca and adjust each tank, which are usually somewhat low.

I've been doing this cleaning regime for so long that I can, and often do, do it in my sleep :rollface:

[MiddletonMark]

I do it for the same reason I flush the toilet. Not because the waste wouldn't break down anyway ... but because I prefer to have it look clear and not have it around to break down.

I also need a way to remove the minor accumulated detritus in my 1/2" substrate [partial BB]. Despite flow and skimming, some still accumulates in spots.

I also prefer to remove Terpenoids and other chemicals released by the corals, inverts, sponges, etc in my tank. Plenty of weird chemistry, odd compounds, etc released by some coral [esp many softies, leathers ...] and I'd rather have them gone.

---
As for the `solution to pollution is dilution' ... the solution is removing the pollution. But a method for fighting pollution is dilution.

[SMS76]

I do water change so i can replace some tank water with NSW. I try to do around 15-20% at a time. Corals seems so happy after water change.

[this is me]

so that i can taste the salt water when i suck the tube......
reminds me of the beach when i try to swim

[valexia]

gives me a reason to be late for work, and nuthin's better than seeing my hubby talk to an eel when he's doing a water change in the eel tank. ;D

[one eye]

Because the external over flow has overflown externaly again!

[ME2003]

I used to believe that you could go a long time (years)
without a water change. I mantained my tank with just
top off water and additives. I now do a 20-30% change
every 2-3 months. After seeing how well corals looked after
I moved a tank or did a major change, I think water changes
are good occasionally. Not only to remove wastes but to reset the balance of the salts in the water. It might be less expensive
than having a lot of additives.

[Willistein]

...because I have this great bucket that says "Old Water" on it, and it's lonely in the closet...

[drmooncricket]

i have more horror stories from doing water changes than i have from not doing them... but i still do them...

[Beverly]

drmooncricket,

I can't imagine what kind of horror stories you might have when doing a water change if NSW is well aerated, the same temp as the tank, the same salinity, not over 30% at a time and done every week or ten days. Care to elaborate?

I think the biggest errors people make when changing water are that they do large water changes every few months and the pH, temp, salinity is totally different in the NSW than the water in the tank.

[drmooncricket]

this is going back to years of fish keeping... my worse was when someone used my clean water bucket to wash there car and didnt tell me... had a 75 gallon with show discus and a 15" black ghost kick in hours... then there were all those bad batches of IO going around a while back...

[Beverly]

Now I know why I guard my water buckets with such diligence. Husband has his own bucket in the parkade for washing the car :D

[matt-davis sq.]

I change 10% every other week. I used to do 10% every week, but the disruption to the livestock was outweighing any benefit water changes bring.

Water changes convert a closed system into an open system, where clean water is brought in, and old water is removed, thus generating a hydraulic residence time of sorts for soluble material.

Performing water changes replenishes substances present in the salt mix that are consumed by reef inhabitants and not otherwise supplemented.

Performing water changes also helps remove toxins or pollutants which have no other means of leaving the tank,

Matt:cool:

[Scuba_Dave]

I'm not totally sure what Matt just said...:lol:..but I agree totally
I know my tanks seem to perk up after a water change. I try to only do 10% every couple of weeks.
I will be doing a "trickle" change on my 125g, as I bring the 75g frag tank online.
Only a small amount of water from 125g will drain to the 75g, and then same small amount will drain to the sump, and back to the 125g. After 2-3 weeks or so 1/2 the draon water from the 125g will go to the 75g