Longest time without water change

[cutebarra77]

Read a similar thread in RC, and thought it is pretty interesting for Fowlr keepers to share.

My 1 year old 322 Fowlr has no water change for last 3 months (since Aug 2013).

Everything is ok, fishes are healthy and zero casualty.

Only did water top up every week.

Weekly maintenance:

- skimmer cup cleansing

- water top up

Every 2 weeks maintenance:

- change filter wool

Monthly maintenance:

- Top up bio-pellets

- Clean wave makers

- Replace bacteria balls every 3 months

[Martian]

Wow... That's a long time. I dun dare to exceed 15 days without WC. I'm paranoid about my fishes dying when I wake up in the morning... LoL...

[kenyee]

Read a similar thread in RC, and thought it is pretty interesting for Fowlr keepers to share.

My 1 year old 322 Fowlr has no water change for last 3 months (since Aug 2013).

Everything is ok, fishes are healthy and zero casualty.

Only did water top up every week.

Weekly maintenance:

- skimmer cup cleansing

- water top up

Every 2 weeks maintenance:

- change filter wool

Monthly maintenance:

- Top up bio-pellets

- Clean wave makers

- Replace bacteria balls every 3 months

best la bro.. check ur fishes size & number, skimmer capacity, return pump flowrate?

[cutebarra77]

Hahaha...

Skimmer is deltec apf600 for up to 1000L,

Return pump is eheim 1264 w 4500l/get,

Has 19 fishes, 1 shrimp and some snails and hermit.

Biggest is queen angel at 20cm long.

I know getting crowded. Will be selling away some soon as they are getting big...

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[kenyee]

Hahaha...

Skimmer is deltec apf600 for up to 1000L,

Return pump is eheim 1264 w 4500l/get,

Has 19 fishes, 1 shrimp and some snails and hermit.

Biggest is queen angel at 20cm long.

I know getting crowded. Will be selling away some soon as they are getting big...

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

wow bro.. a 8" Queen Angel with 18 more fishes.. any video of ur tank?.. mine 16 fishes with naso tang being the biggest at 6" oredi quite cramp liao..they will knock into each other sometimes..haha

[cutebarra77]

Wait... think I got it wrong...the queen can't be that big...shd be 12-15cm long...

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[dnsfpl]

water change is like cleaning your room

you can clean once a week, once a month or even once a year

some people have sensitive nose, so no choice have to clean more often

like human, some fish are more sensitive to water

i will not play the limit and risk my livestock

its not easy to fix once problem arise

good husbandry will make your reefing hobby more enjoyable

[Digiman]

Mine is FOWLR. I change 20% water every 3 months.

Even if i change it to 20% every half yearly, i think it wouldn't make much of a difference either.

Changing water to me is more of a placebo effect.

It eases my mind when i do a bit of water change every few months.

But if i don't, i don't think it hurts my fishes either.

[Bulldozer]

Mine is FOWLR. I change 20% water every 3 months.

Even if i change it to 20% every half yearly, i think it wouldn't make much of a difference either.

Changing water to me is more of a placebo effect.

It eases my mind when i do a bit of water change every few months.

But if i don't, i don't think it hurts my fishes either.

Mine is also FOWLR but I do it once every 3 weeks ...

How did you manage to do it once every 3 months ???

Fierce ...

[Uptempo]

I change mine once every 1 - 1.5 months for 50%.

I think if your bio system is robust and don't overstock, the water quality deterioration will be at much much slower pace.

I have ever seen a reefer keeping a 5inch blueface only in a 5ft tank with no water change entire year. Skimmer also those less powerful type.

[Bulldozer]

I change mine once every 1 - 1.5 months for 50%.

I think if your bio system is robust and don't overstock, the water quality deterioration will be at much much slower pace.

I have ever seen a reefer keeping a 5inch blueface only in a 5ft tank with no water change entire year. Skimmer also those less powerful type.

WOW ... that fish must be freaking happy. Alone in a Penthouse.

[vidextreme]

No WC for 2+ years. I got some live rocks and a spotted snake eel (Ophichthus ophis). It could have been longer but I accidentally dosed some citric fruit juice into the tank. (I didn't know my father used my jerrycan which should only be used for distilled water).

I didn't use any special filtration just live rocks and some growing caulerpa in the tank. Though I have a DIY protein skimmer (using a mineral water bottle, rubber bands, and an airpump).

I fed the eel by using a long chopsticks. I knock-out some guppies and fed it one by one. I had also some critters in the tank, banded shrimp, some rock crabs and a green grouper. The grouper was fun to watch when it's eating... well you don't really see it, because the moment you drop some guppies it jets to catch its prey and jet back to the rocks. Unfortunately, it face its early demise when it jumped over the tank while I was away.

I should have taken a picture of that tank. But that was 2002-2004, a time long ago when digital cameras are only for the rich folks.

[DerrickLim]

No WC for 2+ years. I got some live rocks and a spotted snake eel (Ophichthus ophis). It could have been longer but I accidentally dosed some citric fruit juice into the tank. (I didn't know my father used my jerrycan which should only be used for distilled water).

 

I didn't use any special filtration just live rocks and some growing caulerpa in the tank. Though I have a DIY protein skimmer (using a mineral water bottle, rubber bands, and an airpump).

 

I fed the eel by using a long chopsticks. I knock-out some guppies and fed it one by one. I had also some critters in the tank, banded shrimp, some rock crabs and a green grouper. The grouper was fun to watch when it's eating... well you don't really see it, because the moment you drop some guppies it jets to catch its prey and jet back to the rocks. Unfortunately, it face its early demise when it jumped over the tank while I was away.

 

I should have taken a picture of that tank. But that was 2002-2004, a time long ago when digital cameras are only for the rich folks.

what is your nitrate level b4 the latest water change? Just curious what is the highest nitrate that fish can tolerate.

[kenyee]

Different fish different tolerance.. Normal most fishes can survive in high nitrate level (of Coz not sky high la..) as compared to corals.. My nitrate is always at 25-50 no matter how much water change (using salt mix with dechlorined tap water)..fishes very happy in my tank..

[vidextreme]

what is your nitrate level b4 the latest water change? Just curious what is the highest nitrate that fish can tolerate.

I didn't test at all. But the caulerpa was growing nicely. Surprisingly, no brown algae or hair algae.

[vidextreme]

Different fish different tolerance.. Normal most fishes can survive in high nitrate level (of Coz not sky high la..) as compared to corals.. My nitrate is always at 25-50 no matter how much water change (using salt mix with dechlorined tap water)..fishes very happy in my tank..

I think you can still lower your nitrate with water change. Have you tested your tap water for nitrate level? Cause I know, tap water and even mineral bottled water have substantial nitrates, except for distilled of course. My suggestion use, RODI or distilled water when you do the next wc.

[kenyee]

I think you can still lower your nitrate with water change. Have you tested your tap water for nitrate level? Cause I know, tap water and even mineral bottled water have substantial nitrates, except for distilled of course. My suggestion use, RODI or distilled water when you do the next wc.

Thanks bro for the suggestion. Using RODI or distilled water would be too high a cost for FOWLR I feel. I have NP Biopellet running. My cheato dun seem to survive in my sump (find it weird as if nitrate is high, cheato should grow but...). I have tested my tap water for nitrate b4, the result was 25-50 oso. I have tested NSW and pre salt mix water from LFS, the result were 25-50 oso. Maybe my tester is spoilt.

[DerrickLim]

 

Thanks bro for the suggestion. Using RODI or distilled water would be too high a cost for FOWLR I feel. I have NP Biopellet running. My cheato dun seem to survive in my sump (find it weird as if nitrate is high, cheato should grow but...). I have tested my tap water for nitrate b4, the result was 25-50 oso. I have tested NSW and pre salt mix water from LFS, the result were 25-50 oso. Maybe my tester is spoilt.

What test kit r u using?

[vidextreme]

Thanks bro for the suggestion. Using RODI or distilled water would be too high a cost for FOWLR I feel. I have NP Biopellet running. My cheato dun seem to survive in my sump (find it weird as if nitrate is high, cheato should grow but...). I have tested my tap water for nitrate b4, the result was 25-50 oso. I have tested NSW and pre salt mix water from LFS, the result were 25-50 oso. Maybe my tester is spoilt.

what lighting do you use for your sump?

Try dosing Iron... but do this in moderation. Just drop a few at first, per 2 days atleast (don't follow the recommended dose, it could be dangerous). Iron is needed by anything that does photosynthesis. There is a danger of algae bloom if you have an elevated nitrate, phosphate, and silicate. If dosed correctly, you will see crazy... I mean crazy cheatos growth.

I can recommend Ferrion by Brightwell Aquatics or Chelated Iron by Microbe-Lift.

My recommendation for your setup is, you prefilter your water change water using GFO, that way you remove much of nitrate of tap water. That should be more cost effective than RODI.

[kenyee]

What test kit r u using?

Salifert NO3 Profi Test Nitrate..

[kenyee]

what lighting do you use for your sump?

Try dosing Iron... but do this in moderation. Just drop a few at first, per 2 days atleast (don't follow the recommended dose, it could be dangerous). Iron is needed by anything that does photosynthesis. There is a danger of algae bloom if you have an elevated nitrate, phosphate, and silicate. If dosed correctly, you will see crazy... I mean crazy cheatos growth.

I can recommend Ferrion by Brightwell Aquatics or Chelated Iron by Microbe-Lift.

My recommendation for your setup is, you prefilter your water change water using GFO, that way you remove much of nitrate of tap water. That should be more cost effective than RODI.

My sump light is just a normal led light from rainbow aquarium.. 2.1W 36PCS LED.. on 24hr a day..

Guess I m gg to give up on cheato on my new tank setup..

I dun see much algae in my DT nor sump.. now I m monitoring my water by looking my fishes..

[vidextreme]

My sump light is just a normal led light from rainbow aquarium.. 2.1W 36PCS LED.. on 24hr a day..

Guess I m gg to give up on cheato on my new tank setup..

I dun see much algae in my DT nor sump.. now I m monitoring my water by looking my fishes..

(Sorry for somewhat hijacking the OP)

I think that's your problem right there, lighting. Is your LED rated for planted aquarium? Because for sump and algae scrub, you will need lighting that we don't normally put on reef or FOWLR.

We need to have the proper spectrum for growing the algae. This is about 6500K-7000K or even lower. Ignore my suggestion with iron suppliments, at least for now. Lighting is the culprit.

I know this based from experience. I used to use LED for sump, one good lesson learned, sump lighting deserves greater attention if not as equal as our main display lighting. If you're not opt to pay for some special LED for growing chaetos, I suggest you do as I did... go extreme cheapo! Fluorecent light which you can buy in any homefix store. Go for Cool Daylight thats around 6700K or 6500K color temperature. Just make sure light doesn't leak to the main display.

As to going back to OP, having a nutrients transporter such as growing and harvesting cheatos, does a great deal in maintaining a good water quality and be more forgiving in not changing water too often. My 2+ year without WC can attest to this. As we feed the fish, phosphate, sulfur, nitrate, etc accumilates and has to go somewhere. Having the chaetos or caulerpas will help to transport these excess nutrients out of our water column.

However, I will suggest to remineralize your tank. When I 'upgraded' to reef, I adopted the same of laziness, not changing water. But to balance this out, considering the enormous requirement for corals (critters, and fish) availability of good ions+minerals, amino acids,etc, I need to remineralize my tank. Through WC we automatically remineralize. Without WC, then we need to put back the lost or consumed minerals. Seachem Marine Trace could be good for FOWLR (I havent personally use). For my current reef tank, I use Tropic Marin Pro-Coral Mineral which claims putting 70 minerals back to tank.

In my current office 24L reef tank (Ocean Free Reef 2), for its 3 months of existance, I have replaced 5-10% WC only two times. Currently, both LPS and SPS are happily growing. Algae growth on main display are kept at bay. I converted the intank sump into a mini refugium by removing partially the black sticker from the back of the tank and put a 24hr fluorecent light pointing towards the exposed glass on the back. Cheatos growing like crazy. I also dose Tropic Marin Pro-Coral Organic daily, except on weekends of course.

I think with all of these components together have helped me and my tank to further my level of laziness to WC to new heights .

[reefer6]

Previously I managed no WC for 2 + years.....that amazed myself too!

[kenyee]

Previously I managed no WC for 2 + years.....that amazed myself too!

So what initialize u to wc after 2+ years?

[Tony LCW]

Interesting, seems like each tank have it own characterics.