# water changes



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I CHANGE WATER, really. I change my tap into RO/DI with never more than 0,zero,no/none Total Dissolved Solids(TDS) . I change my salt tanks 25% on 75 gallon and 50% on 29 every week(maybe 3 times a month) no less. My tanks and ther inhabitants don't just live they thrive(I have lost individual;fish or inverts, coral) but in general I have ;growth, reproduction/propagation.More than what I got(way more). It is enjoyable to me and I have been "fishing"since I was in 6 grade(bred bettas{not through adult, but had bubble nest and fry and then {I was 12}) and have read and questioned and experimented through sucessful reefkeeping.The more people ask the more I learn , I learned "WHAT'S THE BEST CLEANER FISH"just the other day .Thanks NAV! The best cleaner fish is the fishkeeper! So finally my question I would like to hear EVERYONES response to;HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU CHANGE? I will create a similiar thread on freshwater so I can hear from all keepers


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## Hawk1018 (Apr 12, 2012)

I do a 40%-50% every friday.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

very nice.I have heard of salts that change "when necessary".Every week seems necessary to me also.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

so far 18 people have veiwed this thread but only 1 replied .My thoughts are shame on 16 of you and don't wonder"why did***** happened?"


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

I change 25%


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

For Those Of You Who Change Once In A"blue Moon" Tonight Is Your Night!


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

coralbandit said:


> For Those Of You Who Change Once In A"blue Moon" Tonight Is Your Night!


That would be me. I just read that you wanted to know how much we changed, my bad. I change about every 3-4 months. I Carbon Dose, and add to the tank. I change for Trace Elements.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Thanks and it's not wrong or right if it works.Your experience and level of attention may make your schedule very effective for you. If it works,it works. Many lack attention or experience to know "when" so thought if everyone shared some would benefit.Experienced keepers may think this is trivial, but they also have probably come to know what they need.Newbies take for granted the years and years some have learned to be where they are.Thanks!


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

coralbandit said:


> Thanks and it's not wrong or right if it works.Your experience and level of attention may make your schedule very effective for you. If it works,it works. Many lack attention or experience to know "when" so thought if everyone shared some would benefit.Experienced keepers may think this is trivial, but they also have probably come to know what they need.Newbies take for granted the years and years some have learned to be where they are.Thanks!


AH, I see where you were going with this now. Very nicely put sir. With that said perhaps I can put up a how to Carbon Dose to maintain Nitrates and Phosphates?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Experience counts! I love your list for "what is needed"?Do you have the salt pre formatted or print the 18 suggestions every time? Maybe if you didn't know experience counts you'd have 19( never 1litre of grey goose listed!).They will find it if want( and understand) or need it.THANKS! You help all, thought I'd try.You can leed a keeper to water but.....


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

LOL. Good points.
I have the list formatted and just copy and paste. I got tired of typin it all out. The carbon dosing is not a needed item for the must have items. Normally shouldn't be added to a newly established tank.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

would like to hear from you on vodka/vinnegar dosing.I'm sure you could explain process and benefits for many of us.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Welp, I don't like following procedures very well when it comes to that. I don't normally tell people to do it the way I did, if it were to ruin their tanks, I'd be very upset about that.
But, my way. I read up on how to do it, Googled a few high profile people who have and continue to do it, got the size of their tanks and went from there. One guy has a normal operating Dose of 16MLS a day, on a 24 hour automated drip. Now if you go by the weekly starting dose, and get all the way up to usable Dose to start dropping your Nitrates, I was looking at 18 months. And I mean to tell you, NO WAY was I waiting that long. So, every week I upped the dosage by 5MLS until I got to 40MLS a day. Which is the point in my tank where my Nitrates started to drop. Once you see the Trates start dropping off, youi maintain until they are at the point your happy with. Mine happy point was between 20-30ppm. then drop the dosage in half for daily routine maintenance. This will keep your Nitrates where you want to keep them, and not the other way around, where your running all over yourself changing the crap outta water every other day. The vinegar dosing takes alot more dosing than the vinegar. So like where I was using 40MLS of vodka, I was using 75MLS of vinegar. So i had this measured in a cup*J/D*. this did not agree with me at all. So I went back to vodka dosing, and still do it. Now there are some side effects, some. To some it will occur, to some it will not. Cyano sometimes starts to take off while dosing. When this occurs, I switch from vodka to vinegar, and it goes away. Then I switch back until the next time it runs amuk. But this is where I learned how to do them both.
Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com
Reefkeeping Magazine - Vinegar Dosing Methodology for the Marine Aquarium


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## Nereus7 (Jun 13, 2012)

coralbandit said:


> so far 18 people have veiwed this thread but only 1 replied .My thoughts are shame on 16 of you and don't wonder"why did***** happened?"


blasted guilt trip.... Ok so I do a fiddy percent when the nitrates start to show up to 40ppm, meaning I like to hit it off at about the 30 or less point. That said, I started off doing big water changes, but as time goes on I'm thinking to go towards many small water changes. Instead of the 1 massive, do 2-3 littles and keep it constant, and consistent. It's more work and more of a "hassle" but I definatly see the benefits of less more often than a giant occasionally. But I've learned to keep it within the parameters that matter. I just need to not get heavy handed with the filter cleaning, that's a different matter all together, that I still screw up. It's all about balance - N


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## Bawl (Aug 15, 2012)

I aim for about 25% every week. In practice it's usually closer to ever 2-3 weeks. Even so the tank's still doing pretty good. Color on some things could be better but otherwise everything's fine.


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

i have never done a water change on my salt tank. 

the inhabitant of my tank has been thriving though, so im not going to change that unless i have too. when i start seeing problems in my macros, ill probably do a complete water and substrate change and leave it alone again.


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## Scottyb442 (Dec 30, 2011)

I top off my tank every 3 days to a week. I also clean/replace all filter media when I top off. clean my skimmer every other day. i only change water about once a month (sometimes a bit longer) and i change between 20 and 25 %
Don't know if I'm right or wrong but Nothing is dying and everything seems to be thriving and happy.


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## fresh864 (Sep 10, 2012)

me also change 25 %


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