The Importance of Water Changes for your SPS Colors?

[jackson6745]

So you have a BIG skimmer? You have a BIG fuge? You have lots of flow that sweeps detritus into your overflow and into a micron sock? You run GFO to absorb phosphate? You run activated carbon to absorb impurities? Perhaps you are on a carbon dosing regimen of some sort to deal with a high fish load? You may even dose trace minerals to replenish whatever the system has consumed?
Why do a water change?

In the last 8 years of SPS keeping, I noticed that the tanks with the best SPS colors in general have a good fish load, feed heavy, and export wastes effectively. These are not starved reefs with faded acros, these are not dirty reefs with dark colored acros (sometimes this looks awesome on certain corals). Just about all these tanks that I admire find it necessary to do a good amount of water changes.

I use just about every method that I listed in the first paragraph except for carbon dosing and trace minerals. My nitrates are undetectable and po4 is always from .01-.05. Cal, alk, and mag is on point. However, when I do a water change I notice a response in most of the SPS. Polyp extension is improved and sometimes I even see added growth for the next couple days. Corals appear more vibrant IMO. These water changes also help me maintain the a low nutrient level even though I feed heavy. My colors stay rich, survival rate is excellent, and my reef is algae free (unless I slack). The explanation that read is that keeping organic phosphate in the water column helps keep SPS colors vibrant, at the same time not allowing problematic inorganic phosphate to store in your rock and sand? My experiences seem to agree with this explanation.

*What is your water change schedule percentage and frequency? What are your overall thoughts and experiences on this topic? Obviously there is no right or wrong answer. Proof is in the results.*


I do about 15% weekly water changes. My goal is to change around 50% of the tank volume per month.

 

[jf2381]

I just started changing about 5 gals every other day. I notcied that my sps have started to respond positively to this change.

 

[CristianD]

I have a 75g SPS dominant tank. About a year-year and half years ago I started doing a 5g weekly water change rather than 15-20g a month. By doing weekly water changes instead of monthly, hair algae in my tank is virtually non existent, I've been able to add more and more SPS corals and essentially taken my tank from a softie to a SPS dominant tank with almost no more room for coral (SPS).

I know this isn't due to just water changes. I've changed my skimmer around that time also (SWC 160), started dosing, using a Kalk stirrer, as well as GFO and activated carbon. All of these help keep stable parameters, but I can honestly say that water changes are still the biggest thing in keeping stable parameters and high water quality.

Here are some pics one from Dec 2011 and one taken today Feb 2013 (i don't know why the last pic is upside down. any ideas on fix?)

 

[E.intheC]

Good thread Rich.

I've been reading a lot lately, concentrating mostly on successful SPS keepers, and the methods they use to achieve success. One of the common themes is water changes. Often, and in sufficient amounts.

I absolutely believe that "what goes in the system must come out". In addition to this, I'm starting to see the importance of matching your tank water parameters with the newly made saltwater. If your alk is 7.5, you don't want to complete a 20-30% water change with a salt that has an alk level of 12.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

This is a good point about the alk of new water.
If it was 12. How would you bring it down to 7.5?

 

[NYreefNoob]

i did them once a month 10g on 80g over stocked fish and coral tank while running a decent skimmer and bio-pellets, no gfo and no carbon, there are many ways to reach the goal line

 

[E.intheC]

This is a good point about the alk of new water.
If it was 12. How would you bring it down to 7.5?

I think just doing smaller water changes would be best in that instance. Or, mixing additional water with a much lower alk level, and combining the two.

 

[Mattl22]

That's why I really like instant ocean salt mixes alk 8

 

[Tonyscoots84]

I have a 75g SPS dominant tank. About a year-year and half years ago I started doing a 5g weekly water change rather than 15-20g a month. By doing weekly water changes instead of monthly, hair algae in my tank is virtually non existent, I've been able to add more and more SPS corals and essentially taken my tank from a softie to a SPS dominant tank with almost no more room for coral (SPS).

I know this isn't due to just water changes. I've changed my skimmer around that time also (SWC 160), started dosing, using a Kalk stirrer, as well as GFO and activated carbon. All of these help keep stable parameters, but I can honestly say that water changes are still the biggest thing in keeping stable parameters and high water quality.

Here are some pics one from Dec 2011 and one taken today Feb 2013 (i don't know why the last pic is upside down. any ideas on fix?)

How do you keep all the corals, water, rock, and sand in that tank the last pic :lol2:

Great thread rich but there are many ways of skinning a cat.

 

[jackson6745]

Eric I am with you on the what goes in must come out philosophy.

Rick I have no experience with bio-pellets. I don't understand how they work. Is it like a time released carbon source? That's cool that you didn't need GFO. Every time I tried to stay away from GFO I had problems. How many fish did you have in this tank?

Tony I know 100% there are different ways to do things but some ways are more effective than others. I am not saying my method is best. The purpose of a thread like this is to see who is doing what and what results they're getting. Make your own decision. If I ignored my sense of observation and listened to agenda driven authors like Julian Sprung, Mark Weiss, Bob Goemans, and Ron Shimek, I would have a deep sand bed filled with crap, fighting my tank crash with black powder, adding more mangroves for nutrient export, dosing corval vitalizer, and wondering why my tank looks like Chit! HAHA

 

[bigcapct]

I only use a skimmer no carbon /Gfo. And dose only Lugos solution. Water changes maybe once a monthLol in my 75 mixed reef.

 

[MIKE NY]

I have a large bio-load and feed alot so I believe heavy in and out. I have been doing 10% weekly WCs for as long as I can remember..I run a big fuge, skimmer phos, carbon, carbon dose and use kalk so not only does it help lower nutriants etc....it replemishes minor trace elements as well.

 

[prattreef]

I don't disagree with any of the above, but I can't say I practice it either. My system is unskimmed as most of you know, and I am very inconsistent with water changes. I use large amounts of Chaetomorpha as the primary nutrient export, carbon 24/7 and GFO if PO4 starts creeping up. My system seems to run better with NO3 in the 5-10 ppm range. I have too many fish swimming around harmlessly picking on things to worry too much about polyp extension. Ideally, I would be a bit more consistent with water changes, but I'm currently not and it seems to be working--for me.

 

[ReefMonkey13]

Great thread . . just subscribed.

Well I don't (not yet at least) qualify as knowledgeable SPS keeper but am always looking for methodologies on keeping and maintaining a variant tank.

It never occured to me how normal feeding adds to the water chemistry and can impact SPS colors. I will change my feeding quantity to a little heavier than i have normally been (i feed blended up seafood, pellets and flakes). And will report back in a few weeks to see how my corals react.

I have also just finished a scheme to do a daily waterchange of approxiamately 2 gallons a day on my 75G tank. I'm doing this because I too have noticed how my corals react and look after a 10-15 Gallon/biweekly water change.

 

[jackson6745]

I have a large bio-load and feed alot so I believe heavy in and out. I have been doing 10% weekly WCs for as long as I can remember..I run a big fuge, skimmer phos, carbon, carbon dose and use kalk so not only does it help lower nutriants etc....it replemishes minor trace elements as well.

Mike when you started carbon dosing did you have any problems growing your macros? Which carbon method are you using @ what dosages?

 

[jackson6745]

I don't disagree with any of the above, but I can't say I practice it either. My system is unskimmed as most of you know, and I am very inconsistent with water changes. I use large amounts of Chaetomorpha as the primary nutrient export, carbon 24/7 and GFO if PO4 starts creeping up. My system seems to run better with NO3 in the 5-10 ppm range. I have too many fish swimming around harmlessly picking on things to worry too much about polyp extension. Ideally, I would be a bit more consistent with water changes, but I'm currently not and it seems to be working--for me.

I didn't know you were unskimmed. WOW! It obvisouly works well for you. I always admired you colors. I think a big part of your success is your bacterial population. IMO your system will process wastes better than more of these new type reefs with sustainable rock cycled with bottled bacteria strains. I kind of fall into this category since I started my reef with once-live rock thanks to sandy
Randy how old is your system? How many gallons? How much rock approximately? I know you have several systems. I forget which is plumbed where. I am specifically referring to your SPS system.

 

[jackson6745]

Great thread . . just subscribed.

Well I don't (not yet at least) qualify as knowledgeable SPS keeper but am always looking for methodologies on keeping and maintaining a variant tank.

It never occured to me how normal feeding adds to the water chemistry and can impact SPS colors. I will change my feeding quantity to a little heavier than i have normally been (i feed blended up seafood, pellets and flakes). And will report back in a few weeks to see how my corals react.

I have also just finished a scheme to do a daily waterchange of approxiamately 2 gallons a day on my 75G tank. I'm doing this because I too have noticed how my corals react and look after a 10-15 Gallon/biweekly water change.

Years back I ran an SPS system for a year with NO FISH! Man it was a boring tank lol but a learning experience. My acros all became pastel in color. They didn't have great polyp extension either. I can't really say they were unhealthy because they all grew and no death. They definitely didn't appear healthy and vibrant like you see in the ocean and large healthy aquariums.

Soon after I realized that I need to feed the tank to darken up the colors and make everything look better. Well, I went on the opposite end of the spectrum. i added loads of fish fed like mad and had lots of coral losses mostly due to phosphate.

My point is, since you consider yourself an intermediate SPS keeper(I think), definitely stay on the side of low nutrient until you figure out just how much feeding is needed to tweak your colors. If you feed too little your colors will fade but corals will be fine, feed too much Phosphate may cause deaths. Let the colors of your corals guide you on how much to feed.

HTH

 

[bigcapct]

I run my mixed frag tank skimmer less

 

[prattreef]

I didn't know you were unskimmed. WOW! It obvisouly works well for you. I always admired you colors. I think a big part of your success is your bacterial population. IMO your system will process wastes better than more of these new type reefs with sustainable rock cycled with bottled bacteria strains. I kind of fall into this category since I started my reef with once-live rock thanks to sandy
Randy how old is your system? How many gallons? How much rock approximately? I know you have several systems. I forget which is plumbed where. I am specifically referring to your SPS system.

Rich, The system is going on 7 years now and the rock dates to the previous system. It is a 240G. tank with a 75g. sump. There is a lot of rock --too much really but I don't have a clue how many pounds. I'd say there is about 220g. of actual water including the sump. The tank has never seen a skimmer and relies on a novel, algae based filtration method developed by Tristan Wilson one of my former Pratt students and subsequent aquarist at Atlantis.

I totally agree about the bacterial population being vitally important.

 

[NYreefNoob]

rich, when i used vodka, and then bio-pellets my macro's all died off and i am pressuming it was due to lack of nutrients for them