water changes?

7 posts

Discuss all topics related to saltwater / reef tanks.


Deltasigpony3648
 
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:21 am

water changes?

by Deltasigpony3648

why does it seem that not doing water changes works better for me than doing water changes. I dose with calcium and alk and other trace elements and i have a kick ass protien skimmer, but when i do a water change i get these random problem ich, flatworms, missing fish, dead inverts. whats the deal with this?


dick_headers
 
Posts: 424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:59 pm

by dick_headers

How often you do water changes? How big is the amount you change? Are you using tap water and prime?


Deltasigpony3648
 
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:21 am

by Deltasigpony3648

well i use to do water changes every 3 weeks and use ro water about 20 gallons on a 55 gal tank and a 40 gal sump and then i stopped and i havent done one in 2 months and in that time ive seen healthier fish, a significant amount of coral growth and a bloom of coraline algea


saltwaterpimp
 
Posts: 1307
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:22 am

by saltwaterpimp

all of that is because of nutrients in the water,water changes are very important. the flatworms are caused by not quarintie, adding new live stock.same with ich stress also will cause ich. not trying to sound like a prick..but just because a coral grows dosen't mean it healthy. i think the lack of water changes will cause a imbalance, once finaly do a water change.

hey dick do you use prime ? lol.i have heard you guys talk about it but never used it, what is it a ro buffer ?


puffedupseagull
 
Posts: 623
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:38 am

by puffedupseagull

Agree with the pimp.
Unhealthy Humans grow, and we don't have blood transfusions every month,
Did that sound rude, it did hey
Well sorry if it does, not intentional, but true. Because of the irregular water changes, the fish probably get stressed due to imbalanced pH etc. Stress = ICH


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

try smaller more freaquent changes as to not shock the system with "steral" water - - - like 5 gallons every week - - -match the water temp and salinity exactly to the display

also - -are you hot mixing your water or seasoning it for a couple days?? - - i have a tub for my 20 long and there is always 3 gallons of mix going, heater, powerhead running all the time, set to the tank specs
if your hot mixing you water...............your salinity could be spiking within the first 24 hours of the water change stressing everything and leading to ich and or death

Boss


dick_headers
 
Posts: 424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:59 pm

by dick_headers

Yes, more frequent and small water changes with qualified (RO) water is the key.

Pimp,

Yes I used Prime when I started the hobby a few month ago. They use Prime to dechlorinate tap water + reduce ammonia and nitrate. The catch is that Prime doesn't remove but only temporarly reduces those levels.

water changes?

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