10 Minutes a day to keep your water perfect

[reefer916]

I bought my own RO/DI unit after getting bad water about a month ago. Verified 0 TDS (I check with a meter every single time).

 

I am just going to change one gallon every day for a few days (at least try). There's no difference in doing that vs. changing two gallons that have been mixed 50% I wouldn't think.

 

I don't think it should be too much of an issue. Might have some pissed off corals for a few days but they'll like the change.

 

That's what I would do. A gallon a day to ease the tank with the new salt shouldn't cause issues. Since I got these chalices I've been putting a lot of food in my tanks, so we'll see how they do. I've had the BGM colony for a little over a week and it went from 84 eyes to 90. I'm stepping up my water changes in my 95 gallon from a 25% water change every 2-3 weeks to 15-20% weekly. Have too much invested in these tanks now to let any water quality issues hurt anything. Let us know, how thing progress with your salt change.

 

Chris

[tomase]

I going to make the experiment. I have a few questions before I start.

How often do you mix saltwater?

How do you store it, do you have a pump and a heater continuosly running on the 33 gal trashbin?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Sunstar]

I am having to do more frequent smaller WC due to sun coral I need to feed. I remove bubble algae too while at it. WC fo rthe win!

[d9hp]

I going to make the experiment. I have a few questions before I start.

How often do you mix saltwater?

How do you store it, do you have a pump and a heater continuosly running on the 33 gal trashbin?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I know some people just have a 30+g bucket or trash can and they can keep water on hand at temp at all times but due to space constraints I mix 2g after every change. It sounds bad but I can take care of it while I'm cleaning up other things or making dinner or something. It's far easier now that I have the RO/DI unit in the house.

 

I let the water mix for 24 hours at least, sometimes it's as long as 72. I leave heater and pump running continuously.

[sublime1996525]

Marking this!

[reefer916]

I use a 30 gallon Brute trashcan that's constantly mixing in my kitchen with a large powerhead and 100 watt heater. I usually keep between 15-30 gallons mixing for water changes and emergencies. I've had to use it a few times for emergencies after overdosing my tank accidently by being half asleep and dumping about 5x my normal dose of Iodine one day. Fortunately, I have my water right next to my 24 gallon, so I had 50% of my water changed within 5 minutes of the accident. It's just my idiot insurance..lol

 

Well, I decided to take down my 95 gallon and 24 gallon due to obligations at work and the family. The time and mostly the money between both tanks has gotten to be a little overwhelming. However, I'm not getting out of the hobby because it's a true addiction:) I purchased a 45 gallon Oceanic Tech tank with Starfire glass and am in the process of setting it up. I'm selling some of my corals, but most of the LE pieces are going into my new tank:)

 

I will be using this method after the transfer of livestock from my other tanks to the new one. I can't afford any spikes or any form of cycle due to all of the sps pieces I've collected. My plan is to put 30 gallons of water from my 24 gallon over the period of a few weeks during my water change into the new tank. Leaving a powerhead and heater in the new tank to keep the water at it's current temp and salinity. Move the livestock and LR over and add a new batch of Live sand. Once the tank is setup and everything is transferred I'm going to do 3-4 gallon daily water changes to keep this system clean like my 24 gallon. Wish me luck and I'll post my results as I go.

[Mojorizn]

I skimmed throught the thread ...

 

My tank is a 65. I do 3-4 gallon WC's twice a week with a good "tank feed" the night before. I have 7 fish at the moment and feed them 2-3 times a day in small amounts.

I run Rox.08 + GFO and an Octo 160 skimmer.

 

This tank is a recent upgrade from a 40B. It's only been a month since the move and I have noticed an improvement in color and overall tank condition.

 

Thanks for getting this idea out ... again. Hopefully, more people will have success as a result.

[reefer916]

I skimmed throught the thread ...

 

My tank is a 65. I do 3-4 gallon WC's twice a week with a good "tank feed" the night before. I have 7 fish at the moment and feed them 2-3 times a day in small amounts.

I run Rox.08 + GFO and an Octo 160 skimmer.

 

This tank is a recent upgrade from a 40B. It's only been a month since the move and I have noticed an improvement in color and overall tank condition.

 

Thanks for getting this idea out ... again. Hopefully, more people will have success as a result.

 

I'm glad the more frequent water changes are working out for you. Sounds like you found the sweet spot for your tank maintainence:) It's going to be interesting to see how everything does when I move my 95 gallon and 24 gallon into a 45 gallon:)

[d9hp]

Just wanted to say that I knocked out another change (15%) yesterday bringing me to 5 changes in 8 days this week. Absolutely no ill effects and everything seems to be doing fantastic. My skimmer barely does anything and I have six fish in the tank (all small and underfed, but still).

 

I think I'll continue with this strategy. I am currently installing a fuge and a phosban reactor so I may be able to scale these back some but I'll most likely just begin feeding the corals in the tank heavily.

 

My next tank will have a semi-automated water change process that will change 25% of the water volume over a one hour period (meaning it will really be closer to like a 10-15% actual water change). Currently designing all that now.

 

This is a great thread. Anyone else doing something similar?

[reefer916]

Alright, I got my new 45 gallon up and running on Sunday. However, instead of taking the Fiji rock from my 95 gallon tank I decided to go with all new Pukani Live Rock from the LFS. I'd like to get this tank up and running without any aiptasia or other pests. My plan is to change 4-5 gallons per day and I'll gradually start adding corals from my other tanks by the end of this week or 5 days after the tanks initial setup. Some of my live rock from my two other tanks will be added to the tank as well. Obviously, I'm going to start off with just some easy to keep corals before adding my more delicate sps or nice chalices. However, the only thing different is that the LR I added to the new tank doesn't have the nice coraline algae and organism that the previous LR I had used in my other systems. I'll post some pics as I go..

 

Here's my current setup:

 

45 gallon Oceanic Tech tank

Aqueon Proflex 1 fuge (Center compartment LR rubble and chaeto) Lighted with Odyssey 36 watt pc fixture.

SWC 120 cone skimmer

Coralife 250 watt MH with 2x65 actinics and moonlights

MP40W set on 8 power in Reef Crest mode.

53 lbs of premium Pukani LR

40 lbs of Livesand

[reefer916]

Here are pics of the new tank. It's been up for 5 days now, but I haven't had time to test the water. Everything looks clear and there's very little skimmate being picked up by my SWC 120. I'll probably start doing my daily water changes this weekend. I will also be putting my first corals in this weekend to see how they do.

 

[kriskristofferzen]

This topic is very interesting! What would you all recommend for a 20 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump for the daily water changes? Also, just to beat a dead horse some more. All I need to do for my saltwater source is fill a bucket, drop in a powerhead for circulation, and add my heater? stupid question but does this need to be covered or washed out weekly? Thanks!

Also what are folks using for their salt? I was thinking of trying Marin Reef Pro? Any suggestions?

[peewee1467]

OH SH*T....!

 

BRB, forgot to do my water change today =[ haha

[reefer916]

This topic is very interesting! What would you all recommend for a 20 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump for the daily water changes? Also, just to beat a dead horse some more. All I need to do for my saltwater source is fill a bucket, drop in a powerhead for circulation, and add my heater? stupid question but does this need to be covered or washed out weekly? Thanks!

Also what are folks using for their salt? I was thinking of trying Marin Reef Pro? Any suggestions?

 

My 24 gallon consists about 16 gallons of water volume and I do 1-2 gallon water changes a day. You could probably do 2-4 gallons a day with your current setup.

 

All you need to do is drop a powerhead and heater in a bucket add your salt. Make sure to use good quality RO/DI water during mixing and top offs. Just make sure temp and salinity are within your tanks parameters and your good to go.

[kriskristofferzen]

My 24 gallon consists about 16 gallons of water volume and I do 1-2 gallon water changes a day. You could probably do 2-4 gallons a day with your current setup.

 

All you need to do is drop a powerhead and heater in a bucket add your salt. Make sure to use good quality RO/DI water during mixing and top offs. Just make sure temp and salinity are within your tanks parameters and your good to go.

 

 

Great, what would think would be a good volume for the once a week larger water change? If I did the 2 gallons a day..possibly 4 or so gallons? Thanks for the response!

[kevlow]

Great thread. I have been trying this on my own. It is great to read where others are further along with the idea.

I got out of the hobby for several years. My addiction started to take too much time and money and my kids activities required that time and money. I decided to get back in with what I thought were "new ideas". 10g tank. No sump, filtration, skimmer, dosing, or large time commitments. And to try LED for heat reduction and minimal power consumption.

 

I started with the only tank that I kept, a 10g with my son's clown fish of 9 years. Also LR and LS and some LPS and the remains of some Monti Caps. This was all badly neglected, algae filled, and barely alive, though the clown is indestructable. [ My son knocked the light in the water once. Quite a show. Sizzling boiling water with smoke. Clown lived.]

 

My idea was to do wc every other day while keeping only one fish with minimal feeding. Zero dosing or additives. I changed 1g every other day. Tank improved and cleaned up but no real growth. I had achieved an extremely clean tank. I realized that my two part would be needed because the corals were consuming what was in the water from the changes. My LPS looked good with some growth. The couple of acro frags that I added after several months were colored up but zero growth. And the couple of zoos that had survived all this time, gradually shrunk down to nothing and disappeared all together.

 

At this point I decided that maybe it was clean because of all the water changes but I was not putting anything back into the tank. I decided to try over feeding and do wc every third day and push up the nitrates alittle. Nitrate went from 0 to 8. The LPS loved it and tiny polyps appeared on the acros. Next I started alternating days adding DTs one day and Oysterfeast the next day. 10 drops a day. All the corals have loved this. The Lps have multiplied and the acro polyps have begun to extend. What is interesting is the fact that my nitrates have went back to undetected levels. I am not sure why. when the level went up to 8 I started to get alittle hair algae. Now that seems to be at stand still again.

 

What i would like to try now is to continue with the over feeding schedule and return to 1g wc every other day. I believe that this allows me to give the corals the food level they like with out resorting to skimming, testing, and additives. Only the two part. The SPS are showing growth and color and the LPS are multiplying and I am spending about 5 - 10 minutes a day servicing the tank. I spend alot more time looking at and studying the tank.

 

I hope the tank grows out to look like reefer916's tank in the future. Right now this is all a big experiment for me. Basically going against what I practiced for seven active years of reefing. When I get a good system figured out, then I will restart another 10g [which I have already purchased]. Hope fully I can use what I am learning and start off correctly in the new tank.

 

My goal is an 10g acro tank wth no filtration, sumps, fuges, additive supplements. Requiring 5 to 10 minutes aday service. It is great to be back in the hobby again these last four or five months.

 

Please post more pics of these tanks being discussed in this thread.

 

Thank you,

 

Kevin

[reefer916]

Great, what would think would be a good volume for the once a week larger water change? If I did the 2 gallons a day..possibly 4 or so gallons? Thanks for the response!

 

No problem, I'd say 4 gallons should be fine. Started my daily water changes in my new 45 gallon today.I'll probably do the same as you, but maybe 3 gallons a day and 5 gallons once a week.

[reefer916]

Great thread. I have been trying this on my own. It is great to read where others are further along with the idea.

I got out of the hobby for several years. My addiction started to take too much time and money and my kids activities required that time and money. I decided to get back in with what I thought were "new ideas". 10g tank. No sump, filtration, skimmer, dosing, or large time commitments. And to try LED for heat reduction and minimal power consumption.

 

I started with the only tank that I kept, a 10g with my son's clown fish of 9 years. Also LR and LS and some LPS and the remains of some Monti Caps. This was all badly neglected, algae filled, and barely alive, though the clown is indestructable. [ My son knocked the light in the water once. Quite a show. Sizzling boiling water with smoke. Clown lived.]

 

My idea was to do wc every other day while keeping only one fish with minimal feeding. Zero dosing or additives. I changed 1g every other day. Tank improved and cleaned up but no real growth. I had achieved an extremely clean tank. I realized that my two part would be needed because the corals were consuming what was in the water from the changes. My LPS looked good with some growth. The couple of acro frags that I added after several months were colored up but zero growth. And the couple of zoos that had survived all this time, gradually shrunk down to nothing and disappeared all together.

 

At this point I decided that maybe it was clean because of all the water changes but I was not putting anything back into the tank. I decided to try over feeding and do wc every third day and push up the nitrates alittle. Nitrate went from 0 to 8. The LPS loved it and tiny polyps appeared on the acros. Next I started alternating days adding DTs one day and Oysterfeast the next day. 10 drops a day. All the corals have loved this. The Lps have multiplied and the acro polyps have begun to extend. What is interesting is the fact that my nitrates have went back to undetected levels. I am not sure why. when the level went up to 8 I started to get alittle hair algae. Now that seems to be at stand still again.

 

What i would like to try now is to continue with the over feeding schedule and return to 1g wc every other day. I believe that this allows me to give the corals the food level they like with out resorting to skimming, testing, and additives. Only the two part. The SPS are showing growth and color and the LPS are multiplying and I am spending about 5 - 10 minutes a day servicing the tank. I spend alot more time looking at and studying the tank.

 

I hope the tank grows out to look like reefer916's tank in the future. Right now this is all a big experiment for me. Basically going against what I practiced for seven active years of reefing. When I get a good system figured out, then I will restart another 10g [which I have already purchased]. Hope fully I can use what I am learning and start off correctly in the new tank.

 

My goal is an 10g acro tank wth no filtration, sumps, fuges, additive supplements. Requiring 5 to 10 minutes aday service. It is great to be back in the hobby again these last four or five months.

 

Please post more pics of these tanks being discussed in this thread.

 

Thank you,

 

Kevin

 

Hey Kevin,

 

Thanks for the compliment..I'm still not there yet.Can't wait to get my corals transferred to my 45 gallon:) I'm hoping in 2 years it'll be TOTM material:)

I definitely understand the kids and time commitment this hobby takes.That's why I feel I need to consolidate my 95 and 24 gallons.I picked the 45 gallon because its still small enough for the daily water changes.

 

Feeding definitely has an impact on color and growth. Keep us posted on your progress. I'll post updated pics of my 24 gallon before I transfer everything over. Just to warn you its really crowded and cluttered right now:)

[kevlow]

I will look forward to watching the progress in your future pics. I need to learn more about photography. I used the wife's camera and looked at pics of my tank. It did not look anything like my corals do in person. When I learn to do this half way descent I will post some pics as well.

 

Originally my thinking was to have a clean tank with no filtration by having virtually no bio load. This was not good for the coral. Then I started slowly increasing the bio load but doing the rapid water changes. Now last night I added a second fish. A tiny six line wrasse. to futher increase the bio load and to also let him hunt pests on the LR. Acclimated him to the tank and then kept him seperate from the clown for the entire day by using a large dip net. At first they stayed at distance from each other. Then the clown killed him the first evening. After 8 or 9 years alone, the clown is only going to allow CUC in the tank. I guess a second fish will have to wait for the next nano reef.

BTW, the next one I may try a very simple and uncluttered scape. I like alot of LR for maintaing bacteria and for all the mounting spots for coral but I have really enjoyed the "clean" looking tanks that I see in these threads.

 

Keep posting. I look forward to following yur thread.

Thanks,

Kevin

[reefer916]

I don't think its necessary to change the water that often. If the biological process is complete, nitrates should turn into gas and leave the tank altogether, leaving clean water. Silicates, phosphates, and other possible contaminants can be filtered with removal media. I test for nitrates pretty often and have never had a problem with the water being unclear or high contaminant levels. At the beginning of the week nitrates are 10ppm and at the end they are 10ppm. You're not wrong to change the water often, its just cheaper to let the filters and the sand do their thing letting the water age a little bit before it is changed. Also its very bad to have a hurricane of a power head as it interrupts nitrate gas conversion if too close to the sand bed.

 

Hey FishStrings,

 

There are definitely different methods to this hobby and I'm glad that utilizing your system is providing you success. I found over the years that this method helps for those of us who purposely overfeed our tanks due to many different factors. I feed my tank Oyster, Phyto, Roti feast, cyclopeeze, and Formula 2 daily, along with Brightwell Coral Amino's. This helps with coral growth, color, and overall health.

 

The cost is very minimal when it comes to the salt because I also don't have to dose trace elements as much. However, as the corals grow and after adding several new large LE chalice and sps colonies over the last 2 months I"ve had to increase dosing. I do run a phosphate reactor with Chemi-Pure Elite to help pull out anything the water changes don't. Unfortunately, I don't have a fancy camera to show the true colors of the corals, but any reefer that comes by enjoys the results this method has provided me.

 

Regarding the high flow and disturbing the sandbed. I really don't utilize the sandbed as a necessary part of my biological filtration. I've had deep sandbeds in my 95 gallon display and it was too much trouble. The sand would get dirty looking and I tried not to disturb it and provide good flow to the corals, but it didn't really work. Sandbeds do help, but for the most part I like the clean look. You'll also notice that many reefers with nice tanks have no sand in there display because they want a cleaner look. However, I like the look of nice white sand, but that's just my preference.

 

The zoas and chalices on the sandbed benefit from the alternating flow of the MP10ES. Think about the natural reefs and how much the sand is disturbed. Granted the water exchange is much more efficient, but I like providing the corals with as realistic reef conditions as possible. When the MP10 goes to full power it sucks in air and blows it across the corals and I've noticed the polyp extension and growth of the corals have improved, since the addition of the Vortech and placing it at 100%. It reminds me of diving and watching the waves hit the reefs. The extra current brings the food to the feeders of the chalices at night and some of them have over 2" feeders. The flow also keeps the chalice tissue from being covered while the Nassarius snails come out to feed. Reduces the chance of sand staying on the chalices and creating bacterial infections. This is always happening in my 95 gallon and I'm tired of getting a turkey baster out everyday to blow the sand off the chalice colonies. I can't wait till my 45 gallon is ready for the transfer. My 45 gallon will have two MP10ES's and my intent is to have them alternating at 100% reef crest. I may try other modes out to test the different configurations utilizing two MP10's. Hope this explains why so many reefers, including myself are utilizing this method. Again, this is not the only method, but it's just what some of us have had success doing.

[reefer916]

Damn, I've been waiting for my MP10ES for two weeks now, so the tank doesn't have any flow and I can't add any corals yet. The tank still has brown diatoms and the chaeto is growing well in the fuge. I've started the 4 gallon daily water changes, so I could get this guy up and running and some of my corals from the 95 gallon moved over. I'll post some updated pics and I'll see if my test kits are still good, but it's been almost 2 years since I've used the API kit. I usually only test Ca, Mg, Alk, and salinity these days.

[CoralWhisperer]

Hey Chris, did you already sell that 90g wave tank and stand, I know somebody who is interested if its still available.

[reefer916]

Hey Chris, did you already sell that 90g wave tank and stand, I know somebody who is interested if its still available.

 

pm sent..

[reefer916]

Just an update on my 24 gallon AP because there's been some questions about whether or not daily water changes will eliminate the need to dose. This is a very effective method to provide stable parameters and reduce excess nutrient build up in the tank from daily feedings. However, as the tank matures and the corals begin to grow there does come a time where the small daily water changes can't keep up with the consumption of trace elements by the corals.

 

Over the last 2 years of daily water changes and I'm the first one to admit that there have been periods, where I would only do a few larger water changes a week due to my schedule. However, the best results I've seen has come from the daily water changes. I even took my Tunze 9002 offline and sold it because it really wasn't doing anything for my system.

 

I started adding sps corals about a year ago and the year prior my tank was predominately lps and zoas. As the sps frags began growing into colonies and of course the addictive nature of this hobby my impulse to a larger variety of corals has created a collection of over 100 different kinds of sps, chalices, and zoas in this little tank. Over the last 2 months after adding 3 large colonies of YR Norcal Watermelon, Tyree Emerald Mummy eye, and Bazooka Joe I began tracking my Alk, Ca, and Mg, more closely because there was a huge shift in Alk consumption. My corals are now growing into eachother and the upgrade to the 45 gallon Tech tank is a much needed relief for additional space. I'm hoping the additional water volume will help stabalize the dosing regiment and I plan on adding dosing pumps this year.

 

Today to keep my Alk at 9dkh I need to dose 11ml of Alk to 5ml of Ca of Bi-Ionic in addition to 2-3 gallon daily water changes to keep my Alk stable at 9dkh. I dose 8ml of Alk in the morning with 5ml of Ca and a additional 3ml before I go to bed. If I miss a day of dosing my Alk will drop 1-1.5 dkh per day.

 

As in any system the dosing and water change regiment isn't set in stone due to the variety of livestock each of us keep and as our tanks mature and knowledge increases these methods will also evolve. I'm sold on the daily water changes in Nano's, but in the long run they will not replace the need for dosing trace elements in heavily stocked systems. Hope this helps.

 

Chris

[kevlow]

I am still amazed at the effect of daily small water changes. If my schedule causes me to miss aday, everything is still ok. But as soon as I do a one g wc then the sps gets better PE. I dose two part 5ml each daily. This is only a 10g so a gal every one or two days goes along way.

 

Kevin