I am interested in changing less water. . . or maybe NO water. . . please educate me.

[THESTRZA]

I do an auto daily water change of 1.1 gallons with my dos using red sea coral pro.
Has been amazing in terms of lower my nitrate. Water changes consist of me filling a 15 gallon barrel, dumping it in my salt water barrel, and mixing in salt for 14-15 days of changes.

I highly recommend it if you have an apex.

 

[ZoWhat]

Best way to do "no waterchanges" is to sell everything and take up birdwatching or hiking

 

[Rocky Mountain Reef]

I've never done a water change on my 200. It's coming up on a two year anniversary.

This approach has has it's had it's ups and downs for me personally. While I do believe I would have had less headaches had I just started with regular water changes and then backed off to zero once the tank was more mature and I could understand what the parameters likely were based on looking at the algae and corals, being stubborn on my goal of zero water changes did force me to learn how to manage my tank right. Ultimately I think this has set me up better for long term success.

For export I use; corals (every time I add fish bioload, I also add more corals to eat the poop), reef diapers, skimmer, algae scrubber, and a little bit of Phosphat-e if my phosphates are creeping up too high. I have to dose nitrates to keep them from zeroing out.

For dosing/trace; I dose all-for-reef and feed high quality pellet and frozen foods. Haven't had an issue yet on ICP tests.

another thought, as I have almost the exact same situations as you, Griev, with a 210 gallon tank with refugium etc. I am equally determined to never do a water change and I like how you frame the idea of this method making you manage your tank right. My tank is 7 months old and all parameters are in great shape, yet am battling GHA for last few months. I plan and know I will eventually get through it. I have a large bio load with all the fish I have right now, but an equally large number of thriving corals, mostly LPS, but goal is to start SPS soon and have them dominate the upper third of the reef. Finally my other thought, although they are generally very healthy for fish, every pellet food I've seen has wheat as the second or third ingredient. Wheat is completely undigesteable by fish and even corals. So where does it go? Hopefully it's taken up by the skimmer. I've dialed back almost to no pellets for now, until I get the GHA under complete control. Anyones thoughts here?

 

[Koty]

another thought, as I have almost the exact same situations as you, Griev, with a 210 gallon tank with refugium etc. I am equally determined to never do a water change and I like how you frame the idea of this method making you manage your tank right. My tank is 7 months old and all parameters are in great shape, yet am battling GHA for last few months. I plan and know I will eventually get through it. I have a large bio load with all the fish I have right now, but an equally large number of thriving corals, mostly LPS, but goal is to start SPS soon and have them dominate the upper third of the reef. Finally my other thought, although they are generally very healthy for fish, every pellet food I've seen has wheat as the second or third ingredient. Wheat is completely undigesteable by fish and even corals. So where does it go? Hopefully it's taken up by the skimmer. I've dialed back almost to no pellets for now, until I get the GHA under complete control. Anyones thoughts here?

Well, wheat is mainly made of starch. Many bacteria will efficiently utilize it as an energy source. However, these bacteria may not necessarily be what you want in your tank. But I am not a microbiologist.
I would be more careful concerning WC. I would estimate, and that is my fear, that there may be a slow cumulative deviation from the original seawater composition.

 

[MoshJosh]

So I haven't run ALL the tests yet, but changing 5 gallons a week (somewhere between 15-25% a week) in both my tanks Nitrates are 1 and phosphates are 0. I may have screwed up my calcium test, but think it's 350-450 for both. . .

 

[MoshJosh]

So I haven't run ALL the tests yet, but changing 5 gallons a week (somewhere between 15-25% a week) in both my tanks Nitrates are 1 and phosphates are 0. I may have screwed up my calcium test, but think it's 350-450 for both. . .

So changed 2.5 gallons last week just to see and my nutrients, N and P, remain just above undetectable. . . I may continue with this, 2.5 gallons a week, just to see how it goes. . . still, based on the replies in this thread, I don't plan on becoming a no water change reefer anymore. . . but I am ok with less water, especially if it makes my corals a bit happier. . . we'll see.

 

[ReefEco]

I "water change" when I gravel and detritus vac only, which is probably not often enough. I just can't justify the expense of larger water changes. However, there is an emerging trend I see in a lot of videos of very successful coral vendors and stores that they swear by water changes, and that the bagging of corals and constant replenishment through replacing that water they credit as a key factor in the success of their corals...

 

[Jrain904]

I do around 5 10% water changes per year. I do not dose anything. I don’t test any numbers. I run carbon infrequently.