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    Thread: Daily water change

    1. #1
      dizzyjay is offline Registered User
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      Daily water change

      I recently adopted the “continuous water change” concept where I’m changing 1.5% of my 250(ish)g system daily. I get the concept of a little at a time to keep params stable but my question is wouldn’t my 3g daily change serve a larger benefit going into the tank at once instead of throughout the day? Throughout the day aren’t you removing (albeit a small amount) of the water you just put in?

    2. #2
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      crabbysd is offline Registered User
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      The theory is, slow keeps alk stable. The amount changed can be done at once if it doesn't affect that. Ie, target alk of 8, dosing balanced to 8, new salt mix is 8.
      a target of 8 with salt of alk 13 will require some extra balancing with dosing.
      The total amount changed will IMO, depend on the parameters you are looking to improve, ie, No3 or Po4 levels, or purely alk.

    3. #3
      Reefer88 is offline Registered User
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      Yes. Because of dilution, when replacing a larger volume of water you’ll remove more of what’s exported (nutrients/biochemicals,etc...), and add more of whats imported (elements).

      That said, in my opinion there are more modern and efficient ways to maintain stability such as: calcium reactors, dosing, refugiums, and carbon dosing. However there are many ways to skin this cat depending on your personal goals.

    4. #4
      Joey’sReef is offline Registered User
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      I don’t know about the “bigger benefit” or the stability part. But I do think that a drain and fill of 1.5% daily is better than a little spread through out the day. Just my .02 cents.

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      dizzyjay is offline Registered User
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      Appreciate the feedback. I use a skimmer, fuge, socks, carbon & gfo to clean and export nutrients in addition to water changes. Settling in on changing x% daily was based on it replacing a 2wk 15-20% regime. I do test for phosphates & nitrates but not often- I rely more on the sand & glass as evidence that the gfo needs replacing. That coupled with the regular change schedule has kept any algae outbreaks at bay (knock on wood). I do monitor alk near daily and dose b-ionic 2p to keep alk in upper 8 range, plus the salt I’m using is juiced (Red Sea pro)- for those that dose and rely on test results as a catalyst for removing nutrients thru a water change, how often do you test nitrates and phosphates?

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      Reefer88 is offline Registered User
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      Testing frequency for me depends on if I’m trying to adjust my levels or not, but I usually do it every 2 weeks or so.

      For example, I just recently I noticed my sps were looking kind of pale. My nitrates have always hovered around 0.2 ppm nitrates and 0.3 ppm phosphates. And after seeing the success livinlocal has had with sodium nitrate dosing, I started to slowly raise my level to 5ppm and set my fuge to a 10 hour photoperiod instead of 12. During this transition I tested every other day. After the level stabilized at 5ppm I went back to every other week or so.


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      dizzyjay is offline Registered User
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      Ok that makes sense... so you change as much water as it would take to bring your nitrates down to your desired level.

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      Osidedude is offline Registered User
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      There is a reefer in OC that has a 500 gallon mostly SPS and other high end corals and he has an automatic water changer that does 5 gallons every day (done in one shot) along with normal top off. My guess is you are on the right track...as I have never seen a more beautiful tank or as high end both in corals or cost of equipment!

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