Water changes in a 150 G aquarium

[Edison Coltro]

Hey guys,

I have an 150 G aquarium that's been running for roughtly 2 months.
In it I have 2 clowns 1 sainfin tang and 1 lawnmowner blenny.

I've been wondering how often I should do my water changes since the aquarium is so lightly stocked.
I'm currently doing 7-10% every other week, what do you guys think?

Also I'm new to the forum so nice meeting you guys!!

 

[Ludders]

welcome to r2r.
I would say your water changes are subjective and you need to go off your nutrient levels as an indicator.
Some people don't do water changes frequently at all, so there are no hard and fast rules for this area.
If you have good biological and mechanical filtration coupled with a balanced way to consume/remove excess nitrate and phosphates, you'll be on to a happy balanced reef.
Bear in mind some nitrate and phosphate levels need to be maintained, as systems with low to zero traces run into other issues.
Hope that helps.

 

[Dbichler]

On my 210 I do one water change a month fill the 32 gallon brute and that’s it. I also carbon dose though with skimmer and algae turf scrubber. I also have a large bioload of fish though. With little bioload you probably don’t need to do water changes as often unless you have corals and your alk mag and cal get depleted.

 

[Edison Coltro]

thank you guys so much for the replies!!

Ludders you do have a great point!! Currently my aquarium has 0,1 NO3 so I guess I'm good?

Dbicheler I only have 3 soft corals at the moment and they don't seem to be consuming a lot of alk since it hasn't changed at all. hahahaha

I wonder if I should be doing water chages at all. Should I procrastinate until nitrates and phosphates can raise a bit for algae and microlife to flourish?

 

[Dbichler]

Nope continue just maybe less frequent and see where it leads.

 

[harley32907]

I have a 210 do water change 1 a month 14 fish and corals about 40 gl

 

[Edison Coltro]

Dbchler thank you so much for your help.
I'll try doing once every 3 weeks then see where it leads me.

Thank you for your reply harley!
A once a month water change is what I'm aiming for.
I'm just afraid bc I've never kept such a big aquarium.

 

[Tired]

Don't do water changes unless needed. Water changes are needed if nitrates or phosphates are too high, or things that are added by your salt (calcium, magnesium) are too low. There are some other things that can contribute, but most of them are usually only relevant if you haven't done a water change in months. Test your water and see what happens over time.

 

[Edison Coltro]

Thank you tired!

how often do you change your water?
I do agree that less water changes create more stability, but my aquarium is only 2 months old does that apply in this case?
I've never tested for trace elements so I have no idea how fast they can be depleted.

 

[tvan]

Howdy, and welcome. Two months you barely got your salt wet. Unless you have a few corals, your trace should be find depending on the salt your using.. Let your system settle in. Watch the fish. Top it off. Rinse repeat.

 

[Edison Coltro]

Thank you tvan.

Good point hahahaha
I'm using aquaforest salt. Any experience with it?
I only have 3 small colonies of soft corals, zoanthids and 2 pieces of toadstool.
Not planning on adding anything for a while to let the sistem settle.

 

[Tired]

You probably don't need to worry about trace elements for quite awhile yet. Mostly corals use those up, so until you have a lot of corals, those shouldn't be lacking any. Unless you were going months at a time between water changes.

Less water changes means more stability in all tanks. A water change is a fast change in parameters, whereas most things are relatively slow. Also, if given the option, do multiple smaller water changes rather than one big one. Less of a change at a time.

I change about 30% of the water in my tank once a month. I'd like to space it out to multiple smaller water changes, but I have a chronic fatigue issue, and I'm more able to do one larger water change than several smaller ones. If/when I can get more energy, I plan to try to space it out to more like 10% a week.
I currently have a pico tank that's comparatively more heavily stocked than yours, at least as far as coral and inverts go, hence the 30% changes. The same principles of water changes and parameters apply to all tank sizes, which is nice- it makes research easier. Keep your salt-related trace elements up, don't take out too many nutrients but be sure to keep them from getting too high, do big water changes if something gets into the tank.

 

[mike550]

@Edison Coltro welcome to R2R! As you're just starting out with this tank and it's got a very light bio-load my sense is that 10% every two weeks should be fine for now. If you only have fish right now, then I think that watching your nitrate levels will give you a good sense of how frequently you need to do a water change. Good luck!

 

[Edison Coltro]

You probably don't need to worry about trace elements for quite awhile yet. Mostly corals use those up, so until you have a lot of corals, those shouldn't be lacking any. Unless you were going months at a time between water changes.

Less water changes means more stability in all tanks. A water change is a fast change in parameters, whereas most things are relatively slow. Also, if given the option, do multiple smaller water changes rather than one big one. Less of a change at a time.

I change about 30% of the water in my tank once a month. I'd like to space it out to multiple smaller water changes, but I have a chronic fatigue issue, and I'm more able to do one larger water change than several smaller ones. If/when I can get more energy, I plan to try to space it out to more like 10% a week.
I currently have a pico tank that's comparatively more heavily stocked than yours, at least as far as coral and inverts go, hence the 30% changes. The same principles of water changes and parameters apply to all tank sizes, which is nice- it makes research easier. Keep your salt-related trace elements up, don't take out too many nutrients but be sure to keep them from getting too high, do big water changes if something gets into the tank.

Awsome advice!!! Thank you so much tired!!
I always try doing smaller water changes but I seem to struggle to find a way not to stress the fish while doing them, that is the reason why I do once every two weeks. But you are absolutely correct.

Thank you for your reply mike!
I'm currently testing every weekend.

 

[Tired]

Fish will generally be somewhat stressed during a water change, but will probably get used to it to some extent. A good way to not stress them as much is to not lower the water volume too much, if possible, as this makes it harder for them to stay in water while hiding in the rocks. Also, pouring the water back into the tank more gently will make less noise. I pour the water for my changes on top of a rock that has sturdy corals on it, and add it slowly.

This would be a silly way to do it, but you could always do water changes by just scooping out 1 gallon of water with a bucket, then replacing the water, and doing that however many times was required to do many, many very small water changes. But remember that fish get a little scared by storms in the wild, so a small scare now and then is fine.

 

[Aero]

With proper husbandry and filtration I’d say you can get by with less water changes than the conventional recommendation.

 

[Super Fly]

Dbchler thank you so much for your help.
I'll try doing once every 3 weeks then see where it leads me.

Thank you for your reply harley!
A once a month water change is what I'm aiming for.
I'm just afraid bc I've never kept such a big aquarium.

That's the beauty of having a larger tank, it's more forgiving when it comes to tank husbandry. I'd monitor the NO3 & PO4 levels and do WC as needed, w such low livestock you probably can get away w monthly if not bimonthly. Just don't keep the water too clean or else dino will show up uninvited.