How often do you do water changes on a 125 gallon 5 foot tank?

[Porcupine Reefer]

Haven't done a water change on my tank for a long time, only relying on red sea no pox for nitrate and phosphate control, last I checked I had 40ppm in nitrate and 0.4ppm in phosphate. Would I do water changes for my tank and if so how often? also my parameters are pretty stable but will the fish benefit from water changes or will it stress them if I do weekly water changes? Am feeding my blue hippo tang nori everyday.

 

[MattPLaw]

Haven't done a water change on my tank for a long time, only relying on red sea no pox for nitrate and phosphate control, last I checked I had 40ppm in nitrate and 0.4ppm in phosphate. Would I do water changes for my tank and if so how often? also my parameters are pretty stable but will the fish benefit from water changes or will it stress them if I do weekly water changes? Am feeding my blue hippo tang nori everyday.

What al is in your tank is this just fish and live rock? Or do you have corals as well. Is anyone showing signs of stress?

 

[Porcupine Reefer]

What al is in your tank is this just fish and live rock? Or do you have corals as well. Is anyone showing signs of stress?

no hair algae, had some stress occur in some fish, do have coral mainly lps and fan worm.

 

[MattPLaw]

I perscribe by a 10% water change every week. For me this is less about the water change and more about exporting waste. I take the opportunity to suck the sand bed, and clean the sump. I get a lot of muck in my sump, which if I don't mechanically export just breaks down into nitrates phosphates and other undesirables.

In my opinion when trying to lower nitrates and phosphates you should try to reduce the waste settling and degrading. For me this means not over feeding, and mechanically exporting what has settled. Choosing which method is best for you depends on so many factors.