Doing a waterchange everyday?

[jjohnson3]

My tank is 38 gallons. It is a reef. Can I do a 1-2 gallon waterchange everyday instead of once a week? Will this be more efficient? Will I be taking out the same amount of waste products that I would if I did a weekly change? Also, since I change the water daily, do I have to dose calcium, strontium, or iodine? Thanks for the advice!

[StevieT]

You won't gain much by doing this. And you will end up forgetting or skipping a day very soon with this method.

 

Use your test kits to let you know what and how much to dose for. Without SPS corals you will not have very much calcium depletion.

 

Weekly water changes are fine, daily changes to a new person can lead to other problems by changing the chemistry of the system quickly. IE. PH, trace elements, temp..

[lgreen]

stability.

 

i do water changes maybe once a month if that.

 

don't over stock, don't over feed.

[jjohnson3]

stability.

 

i do water changes maybe once a month if that.

 

don't over stock, don't over feed.

Ok. Do you think I could get 3 falso percula clowns, a 6'' sebae for them to live in, corals, and 3 reef chromis?

[Scott Riemer]

Ok. Do you think I could get 3 falso percula clowns, a 6'' sebae for them to live in, corals, and 3 reef chromis?

 

No.

[masterbuilder]

Many small water changes actually remove LESS waste that a few larger ones. 15-20 percent weekly is my pref. (can get by with fewer changes if you have a skimmer)

 

Play with this calculator........ you can see that small water changes dont do much for you.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/RODICalc.php

 

or...for example...lets say your nitrates were 20...its clear how ineffective small water changes are:

 

 

p.s. I would not be dosing strontium or iodine in the 1st place

[makonut]

10% or less change should not hurt; a natural reef sees a " close to 100% water change" practically every minute or whenever the tide changes (4 hours). The concern would be making sure that the salt water you are using is aged properly; mixing and adding the same day is not a good idea.

 

I do a 10% water change every week. I either do 5% on separate days or 10% on the weekend. The key is my saltwater has been aging for over a week and I have established a time to do it that fits my schedule. I have noticed that when I travel and I can only do the 10% on the weekend, as long as my wife adds the proper make-up freshwater, the tank still looks good, so the 5% twice a week is for my convenience and not the tanks necessity.

[Scott Riemer]

The concern would be making sure that the salt water you are using is aged properly; mixing and adding the same day is not a good idea.

Why isn't it a good idea? Or, what makes it a bad idea?

[ermartin]

Ok. Do you think I could get 3 falso percula clowns, a 6'' sebae for them to live in, corals, and 3 reef chromis?

 

 

YES with the right care and the right feeding right equipment and the right lighting

[jjohnson3]

YES with the right care and the right feeding right equipment and the right lighting

My lighting is on the way. It is a nova extreme pro. 6-t5 bulbs that are 39 watts each. I think thats 6wpg. My current filtration is a lot of live rock and 40lbs of live sand. I also have a aqueon 55 galon filter with filter pads. Would you reccommend a protein skimmer?

[masterbuilder]

The key is my saltwater has been aging for over a week

 

Uh oh... I mix mine up, bring it to temp and dump it in...guess I am doomed.

[lakshwadeep]

Uh oh... I mix mine up, bring it to temp and dump it in...guess I am doomed.

 

me too.

[ermartin]

My lighting is on the way. It is a nova extreme pro. 6-t5 bulbs that are 39 watts each. I think thats 6wpg. My current filtration is a lot of live rock and 40lbs of live sand. I also have a aqueon 55 galon filter with filter pads. Would you reccommend a protein skimmer?

I dont currently run a skimmer as all of my tanks are AIO the largest being 24G so the water changes take care of the excess nutrient's. If you have the space to add one I say go for it. If i can ever find an efficient reasonably priced one I will add it to my setup. When I had large tanks I always ran a skimmer. I am a fan of the euro-reef.....

 

me too.

 

+1

[Scott Riemer]

YES with the right care and the right feeding right equipment and the right lighting

IMO, stick with a pair of clownfish, not three.

 

Uh oh... I mix mine up, bring it to temp and dump it in...guess I am doomed.

Exactly. I notice he didn't answer my question. It's amazing how that gets repeated but nobody seems to know why they do it.

[PoopCola]

yea,

 

why three?

 

go with a pair

 

and sebea's are HARD to take care of

(they are kind of hit or miss as far as survival goes and if they do survive its only for about 8 months...)

 

I recommend a BTA

 

the clowns will still host to it and they look awesome

[jjohnson3]

yea,

 

why three?

 

go with a pair

 

and sebea's are HARD to take care of

(they are kind of hit or miss as far as survival goes and if they do survive its only for about 8 months...)

 

I recommend a BTA

 

the clowns will still host to it and they look awesome

Will a BTA live healthily in a 38 gallon with a nova extreme pro? Ill just get a pair if you say its better. Also, BTAs split regularly if I am not mistaken. How often will this occur? Thanks for the advice!

[121a]

they don't split often. i had one that was doing well and it split into three, one part died the other two are healthy. yes it will be fine.

[vangvace]

Exactly. I notice he didn't answer my question. It's amazing how that gets repeated but nobody seems to know why they do it.

 

Water chemical stability from what I've been told. I don't really buy it though. At least not anymore.

[Phixion]

40lbs of sand seems a bit excessive... I had 20-30lbs in my Finnex 30g and when I moved the tank last week and removed ALL of the sand, I was VERY lucky I never had a crash, the muck locked up within the sand came out BLACK, it was that dirty!! That amount of sand gave me a 2-3" sand bed. Not enough to be a true DSB, but enough to be borderline crash prone apparently...

[travisurfer]

40lbs of sand seems a bit excessive... I had 20-30lbs in my Finnex 30g and when I moved the tank last week and removed ALL of the sand, I was VERY lucky I never had a crash, the muck locked up within the sand came out BLACK, it was that dirty!! That amount of sand gave me a 2-3" sand bed. Not enough to be a true DSB, but enough to be borderline crash prone apparently...

According to Calfo, the best sandbed for smaller aquariums is .5" to 1" where you still get the filtration properties from housing a sufficient amount of bacteria but also allows the sandbed to be easily stirred and cleaned, thus preventing any accumulation of organic solids.

[Khayman]

Uh oh... I mix mine up, bring it to temp and dump it in...guess I am doomed.

 

Me three...we are all doomed

[makonut]

IMO, stick with a pair of clownfish, not three.

 

 

Exactly. I notice he didn't answer my question. It's amazing how that gets repeated but nobody seems to know why they do it.

Sorry about not responding quickly enough to why I said to age the saltwater. I was away from my computer until this morning. My experience has been that allowing the saltwater to age for a day resulted in a more stable pH and salinity reading.

 

But, as it appears several people have had success with mixing and immediately adding, then disregard my comment and do what you feel is best.

[Scott Riemer]

Sorry about not responding quickly enough to why I said to age the saltwater. I was away from my computer until this morning. My experience has been that allowing the saltwater to age for a day resulted in a more stable pH and salinity reading.

 

But, as it appears several people have had success with mixing and immediately adding, then disregard my comment and do what you feel is best.

Thanks for your reply. I don't think you're wrong and it works for you. I usually let mine sit for 24 hours with a heater and powerhead, that works for me. But, I'm not convinced it makes that much difference, I've never tested to see. I only questioned you to see if you had an answer. I see too many people give that advice only because that's what they've been told. I didn't mean any disrespect to you, you obviously have a reason.

[makonut]

Scott:

 

No need to apologize.

 

When it comes to reef keeping, I am learning something new every time I read the forums!

[Whacked]

40lbs of sand seems a bit excessive... I had 20-30lbs in my Finnex 30g and when I moved the tank last week and removed ALL of the sand, I was VERY lucky I never had a crash, the muck locked up within the sand came out BLACK, it was that dirty!! That amount of sand gave me a 2-3" sand bed. Not enough to be a true DSB, but enough to be borderline crash prone apparently...

nothing to stir the sand like nass snails?