I have had my marine tank for about 2 years and every 2 weeks I change 10% of the water with new water,inbetween I just supplement the level with fresh water.Recently I have been criticised for not changing more water more frequently.What is the general rule for water changes?
Minimum water change requirements
- Thread starter goodisor
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if u have it for 2 years and its going well.. why not keep your method? as long as ur fish and inverts are doing fine, dont make any changes... theres not RIGHT way.. as long as you do it consistently
It bothers me when people say you need to do "x" amount of water changes. Every tank is different. When the nitrates get too high, change the water lol.....it doesnt have to be 50% weekly if your nitrates are never above 10 (just for an example)
I do water changes when I get a chance. The "books" says 10%/week, but it seems like a waste to do 10% a week. If I'm doing good, I'll do 25% every 2 weeks. I once had a tank that didn't have a water change for alomst 2 years! I only had 1 fish in it. It was a 20g and I had the Emperor 400 filtering that tank 
It was sparkling for a long while.
It was sparkling for a long while.If it ain't broken why fix it. I understand why people tell you to complete X amount of waterchanges every week but it depends on your setup, the amount of fish you have, and what type of fish you have. Me for example, my cichlid tank needs to get cleaned out once a week (if not more) malawi's are awsome looking fish but they have more comming out the other end then they do going in. I have never seen another fish who "poops" as much as they do.So to keep the water clean this is what needs to get done, on the other hand, if you have 5 tetras in a 30 gal tank, obviously weekly waterchanges are not required.
If you have been going for 2 years now, then why change the way things are going, it would probably do more harm than good.
If you have been going for 2 years now, then why change the way things are going, it would probably do more harm than good.
IK a guy who has a marine tank, he has never done a water change. Not something I reccomend, but his tank is still healthy and thriving, he just tops off and adds suppliments. His tank has been up 5-6 years.............. I personally change about 40% a month, broken up through out the month. Sometimes I do 2 in a week, other times I do it once a week, and others every 2 weeks. It just depends on how much the skimmer is pulling out. That is my tried and true method.
This is why I asked the question...I have had my tank for two years.The first 1 1/2years went very well with 10 % water changes every two weeks,then my tank started to go down hill.Long green algae started growing everywhere,a coral or two died.I didn't know what to do.So I started to increase the water changes,but very little improvement.With so few fish in my tank and no apparent rotting debris I didn't know what to do.So I stripped the tank completely of all the rocks(I know its a bad thing) and under the one or two rocks I found a thick sludgy accumulation of smelly gunk.I vacuumed it all away and set my tank up again.That was 1 week ago.Now....I thought perhaps the problem might have started as a result of inadequate water changes and this has eventually caught up on me.Obviously I'm wrong as there seems to be people who don't even change water.My sump is as big as the tank,i have very few fish,coral and critters.WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!!!!!!!!(Sorry,but I feel better now)
This is what it looks like now
This is what it looks like now
