No water change Reefing

[Sherman]

6 hours ago, jedimasterben said:

I think I've done one water change (75ish percent IIRC) on my current tank, and my previous tanks have had very very few. It takes both extreme nutrient export AND import to succeed, as using various high quality goods will supply pretty much every trace element one would need. Most people with large, older tanks do very few water changes and the corals don't care. It is sometimes out of laziness, but also simply because water changes aren't the miracle cure they're made out to be unless they are very large (50+%) and frequent to make up for poor filtration.

 

TL:DR get quality skimmers, employ chemical filtration and change it often, feed a variety of high quality foods, and you will see the "need" for water changes slip away with time.

 

 

Edit: the main thing is don't get complacent. Keep up on equipment maintenance and have some backups for when shit hits the fan, test at least monthly for cal, alk, and mag (more often for SPS tanks or if you make any changes to the system, such as adding several corals or adjusting dosing), and if you notice a problem, fix it sooner rather than later.

Hi jedimasterben,

I always has the impression older tanks is the one doing water change. I remember when I start reefing those senior always remind me to do regular water change so that those elements that is use up can be automatic replace with regular water change

 

So is not totally true after all

 

[Najay343]

1 hour ago, Sherman said:

Hi Najay,

Nice to hear you has successfully remove water change after implementing macro algae reactor.

What is this macro algae reactor?

Is it the same as Santa Monica ATS?

I assume it is very similar yes. It only cost $40 and uses macro algae. Doesn't an algae scrubber just use the algae normally grown in the tank such as hair? When I harvest it, the phosban150 canister is completely full and I remove 90-95% of the macro and don't notice any change or spikes in the sudden removal of all that algae. I attached image

1 hour ago, Sherman said:

Hi Najay,

Nice to hear you has successfully remove water change after implementing macro algae reactor.

What is this macro algae reactor?

Is it the same as Santa Monica ATS?

 

[Sherman]

On 2/22/2017 at 10:16 PM, Clown79 said:

My observations have been:

 

Increase in nitrates and phos

Oil build up on surface

More algae

Corals don't look very good

Build up of detritus on rocks and in sand

 

I personally would never go the no waterchange route 

Thank You for sharing your observation. 

[Sherman]

On 2/22/2017 at 10:41 PM, BulkRate said:

Seems relatively easy, provided you are better at limiting your livestock choices than 90% of all nano-reefers out there.   Self included.  I like shrimp, crabs & tiny fish and way too many of 'em.

 

On the times my family and I have gone off on 1+ week trips and just left the petsitter with some buffered top-off water I've always come home to most of the  LPS corals looking more inflated and just generally "happier" than if I'm doing the usual bi-weekly water changes, but I've always attributed this to the "no hands in tank" effect.  This has gotten better as I've gotten better about choosing salt mixes that more closely match the desired parameters of the tank - only took 4+ years and the bulk of NanoSapien's ye-olde reef thread to hammer that one home.

 

But I HATE testing parameters... and all the no-change methods seem to be based on a hobbyist loving them some titration or having a near-dealer/junky relationship with a water test service.  Scoop, mix, pour - repeat 'til everything's happy is more my speed.

Ya BulkRate . You remind me that the reef actually look better everything I went for a short trip.

What salt you using now?

If only someone can develop a tester that is easier to use. 

[Sherman]

10 minutes ago, Najay343 said:

I assume it is very similar yes. It only cost $40 and uses macro algae. Doesn't an algae scrubber just use the algae normally grown in the tank such as hair? When I harvest it, the phosban150 canister is completely full and I remove 90-95% of the macro and don't notice any change or spikes in the sudden removal of all that algae. I attached image

 

Have you try ATS before?

If have which is easier to use and more efficient

[Sherman]

I have being doing water change all these while.

Then last year one fine day I read about Glenn no water change tank.

 

I read about Triton no water change before. But it just never trigger me.

First is the high cost and second it take me sometime to know about my tank water.

 

But Glenn no water change tank just trigger me. I can use test kit from any LFS and I know 

my water condition immediately after testing

 

But I still pondering whether to adapt or not and of course no one around me(Singapore) support the idea of no water change

 

Now I need to think and decide because our government just announce there will be a 30% increase in water bill

 

 

[BulkRate]

9 hours ago, Sherman said:

Ya BulkRate . You remind me that the reef actually look better everything I went for a short trip.

What salt you using now?

If only someone can develop a tester that is easier to use. 

 

Aquaforest Reef salt for the past 5-6 weeks.  Minor color shifts in some of my corals & rock flower anemones, but overall I'm pretty happy with the results  - mainly that doing a 10%, 25% or 50% change doesn't induce a spike/dip in the key parameters (that I test for) and the livestock isn't reacting negatively come change time anymore.  Keep in mind, this is a 9-gallon tank... so we're talking 1-4 gallons of change water, tops.

 

To be honest, I'm much more interested in the modified TLF hang-on-the-back macro reactor Najay343's cobbled together.  I'm THIS close to adding an Aquaclear 50/70 + InTank goodies and frankly the reactor looks more appealing for a variety of reasons.  I'd want to add an opaque housing for it so that the reactor's light spill doesn't illuminate the room, though. 

 

[jedimasterben]

5 minutes ago, BulkRate said:

 

Aquaforest Reef salt for the past 5-6 weeks.  Minor color shifts in some of my corals & rock flower anemones, but overall I'm pretty happy with the results  - mainly that doing a 10%, 25% or 50% change doesn't induce a spike/dip in the key parameters (that I test for) and the livestock isn't reacting negatively come change time anymore.  Keep in mind, this is a 9-gallon tank... so we're talking 1-4 gallons of change water, tops.

 

To be honest, I'm much more interested in the modified TLF hang-on-the-back macro reactor Najay343's cobbled together.  I'm THIS close to adding an Aquaclear 50/70 + InTank goodies and frankly the reactor looks more appealing for a variety of reasons.  I'd want to add an opaque housing for it so that the reactor's light spill doesn't illuminate the room, though. 

 

They're super simple to make. Just wrap a 12v waterproof LED grow strip around it and you're done.

[BulkRate]

Got a particular led strip that hits your preference, or just the 3000K ww usb-powered one the OP listed?

[brandon429]

 

these cheapies run all my planted micro systems I no longer use power compacts

https://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Flexible-Daylight-Gardens-Kitchen/dp/B00HSF66JO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487953210&sr=8-3&keywords=waterproof+led+strip+white

 

any of the white ones off amazon w grow macro or any other plant. Im getting them to grow alternanthera, red plant that is really tricky to grow. love these leds.

 

 

 

[jedimasterben]

1 hour ago, BulkRate said:

Got a particular led strip that hits your preference, or just the 3000K ww usb-powered one the OP listed?

660nm red mixed with either 450nm blue or warm white will give the best results by far, but if those are unattainable, then straight 660nm will suffice.

[Sherman]

I found the 660 nm led work best