Why I don't do water changes on my reef tank

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Most popular comments
for Why I don't do water changes on my reef tank

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#Rossy's Reeftank - 6 years ago

what about the buildup of heavy metals?? heavy metal toxicity how do you deal with that should it occur?

Lesslie Johnson - 6 years ago

My project right now is fusing metallic green to red and chocolate montipora . So far the red and green have fused , and the chocolate is thinking about as only a coral will lol .

Lesslie Johnson - 6 years ago

I used to work at Tropic Seas on Colfax ave back in the day .I remember when Ron Myer was working out how to put the best Wet Dry together , glad to see the Hobby is alive and well in the Mile in the Mile High City. Fixing to upgrade my little 38 nano reef tank up to a 90 gallon reef ready tank, you've given me some excellent idea...Thanks!

Damion S - 6 years ago

I love my Natureef inspired Methanol Denitrator! Much less maintenance than Bio Pellets, and turf scrubbers. I have too many fish and feed 3x a day, and dialed in my Nitrates at 2.5. A very unknown method to many still. I have ran mine for 14 years. I went 6 years with 0 water changes, but now do 1 gal a day with my DOS AWC for the "unknowns", and my SPS are a little happier.

Marissa Gurule - 6 years ago

do you ever send your water off to an ITC test?

Aaron Cunneen - 6 years ago

Wondered how he was doing it .... he explained in almost every episode

Fish Life-Bettas And More - 6 years ago

What what, did he say that fish pee? I did not know that

Sailing Free At Last - 6 years ago

I feel the same way! although i have a planted fresh water tank. but now i am going to start a saltwater tank

J.J. Pierson - 6 years ago

I've watched a few of your videos, and I just want to say thank you for sharing your great knowledge with the world and with the detail that is often not found with other sources. You do a great job. And remember, 99.9% of people with negative comments or vocal critisms have no idea what they're talking about!

J.J. Pierson - 6 years ago

MileHighReefers ah. Perfect!

MileHighReefers - 6 years ago

Thanks man The haters aren't a big concern of mine.

10. comment for Why I don't do water changes on my reef tank

otto leeverink - 6 years ago

so... you do do water changes

ROY SHAW - 6 years ago

BRILLIANT VIDEO, BUT WHY DONT YOU JUST USE A ANOXIC FILTER SYSTEM

Rock Shoulder - 6 years ago

Should add a couple of gold fish

mxr - 6 years ago

I do 15gal to 20gal water changes in a 150 reef and I have fish over 15years old. the reef in the ocean doesn't sit in the same water where everything releases waste.

Anthony Scianna - 6 years ago

What do keep your salinity at

Rakhu Rakhu - 6 years ago

I have a 90gal SW with a 40gal sump. And I do a 15gal water change about every two weeks. But what helps me with keeping everything stable is purchasing good salt and fresh water from my LFS. In addition, I have about 5 lbs of ceramic media bio balls in the sump along with a skimmer. I also converted a canister filter into a media reactor.

MaverickMentality - 6 years ago

https://youtu.be/0BFpTM7DiA4

For the no water change crew!

Carlos Guerrero - 6 years ago

How often do you clean the glass?

LittleLargeMouth - 6 years ago

I’m from the freshwater side of the hobby but I found this really informative and a well done video. Thanks!

Matt Rivers - 6 years ago

do you own a Ferrari?

20. comment for Why I don't do water changes on my reef tank

kevens pets - 6 years ago

Dang thst is an awsome tank im gonna put togethere a 10 gallon nano reef tank

Chris Hayes - 6 years ago

Great video Scott! Want to take the no water change plunge, but it's a bit scary. Keep up the awesome work.

Kodane - 6 years ago

Loved the vid. But my question is what about salinity? My tanks evaporate so fast by the time a week comes around I’ve added at least a quarter to half the tank of RO. So my salinity drops. Any ideas or answers would be useful. I’m still trying to figure the whole saltwater elements and stuff out. How to keep them in check and also the best ways to keep my tank stable and what filtration to exactly use.

Partrick S - 6 years ago

What about if you didn't want to do icp testing. Do you have any recommendations for dosing TRACE elements?

michoel goldin - 6 years ago

Gr8 stuff thanks

Juan Bolanos - 6 years ago

I’m doing something similar. 50 gallon tank. Live rock with sand bead . 30 gallon sump with refugium. With two blocks of Marin pure. 1 gallon of Marin pure balls. And dosing. So far I’m 2 months with no water changes and coral is doing better now than before. I think the point of you saying when water changes are done it does a quick change to the water that affect the coral is true. Thanks for video.

Jared c - 7 years ago

Did you cover how you keep your salinity up? I was just wondering because I have salt creep all the time haha

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Its never really been a problem. I do test salinity on a regular basis so ill catch it when its off.

Maria Edwards - 7 years ago

You can adjust by adding a little dab of salt to your auto top off if you have one a couple of times a year.

Josh Mellard - 7 years ago

Thank you, yours is the most scientific explanation I’ve heard cycles. The information is very well laid out and described.

Thomas Nguyen - 7 years ago

how do you clean sand bed with this method?

Dustin A. - 7 years ago

I run a deep sandbed (Thanks to nysteelo's videos for convincing me) and have <1ppm Nitrates! 3in of ultra fine sand does wonders.

30. comment for Why I don't do water changes on my reef tank

AusReef Guy - 7 years ago

Great video scott, good solid info, i basically run my 30 gallon the same, skimmer, ATS & carbon + dosing ca & alk when i need it, also dose seachem fuel & reef roids twice a week for extra nutrients etc only exception is if my corals start to look a bit off instead of doing a water change at that time ill dose prodibio - stronti plus, iodo plus and reef booster which perks them back up looking better then if id done a water change in a few days lol, also run without a filter sock too keep all the good stuff suspended in the water column .. works for me lol :) .. cutting water changes back to once a month now that my system is 7 months old and my scrubber has broken in alot more.
Look forward to your next vid !
Feel free to checkout my reef on my channel mate !

Melain Kinney - 7 years ago

i'm new salt water hobbyist i jumped in the game feb 2017 . learned a lot today i never new much about . I have tiny tank 75 gallon compared to your its tiny . learned alot in 10 months few bumps managed to only lose 2 fish 1 cyno out break and the fish i lost one decided it be awesome to swim upstream in my out put water flow .. i had the 75 gallon tank resting in my basement 15 years i had given up freshwater fish never got rid of the tank . any way I LIKE THE TURF Scrubber will research it more i waited 3 month to add my first fish now only have
about 12 clown Gobi green ,citron ,tang variety of harptails and the elusive lawn mower goby any how hoping to start corals after the first of the year Tidal Gardens is local to me i could litterly throw rock at his place i'm that close . he seems to get rave reviews .Awesome video chalk full of tips loved it you rock

eFISHancy - 7 years ago

I remember nysteelo!! I haven't thought about his videos in a while. This was a great video! Nice job. One question... how do you keep humidity down in the basement?? I recently put a big frag system in my basement and even with a dehumidifier on the humidity never goes under 60%

Maria Edwards - 7 years ago

Wow awesome post thanks eFISH. I am considering making a closed system with sola tubes and have thought about humidity. You have the wheels rolling as I already have a dehumidifier just have to figure a way to run it outside to water something and it just takes up too much space under tank, maybe I'll run it by cutting a hole in the ceiling out of the attic and put it on a dedicated switch.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks! I have an exhaust fan that pulls the air out of the room. Without it the room would be very humid.

Seahorse Whisperer - 7 years ago

Great video!

Alex Kingcole - 7 years ago

Great info!

#Rossy's Reeftank - 7 years ago

The real question is.....Do you test for your trace elements??????

Maria Edwards - 7 years ago

https://www.marinedepot.com/Brightwell_Aquatics_Replenish_Liquid_Trace_Elements_Coral_Trace_Element_Additives_Supplements-Brightwell_Aquatics-BW01056-FIADTECS-vi.html#

I imagine with a 450 gallon or so system a low dose of something like this above would be all you would need for trace elements. I would worry about an accumulation of a certain element tipping the balance of something else in the system more than depletion though.

AusReef Guy - 7 years ago

Dont think testing for trace elements would be worth it .. when you can get balanced additives like fuel or prodibio etc, ive barely been doing water changes on my 30 gallon since i introduced my turf scrubber a month to two months ago, wanting to run my system like this but a little different.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

I don't, there's no good way other than ICP testing

Inappropriate Reefer - 7 years ago

Thank you for this video Scott, it really puts into perspective on how a water change actually benefits our tank (I thought it'd do more...). I watched your video and BRS' on the Triton method back-to-back and both of your videos really encourage me be lazy, lol!

thatsLITfam 22 - 7 years ago

this video was very informative, thanks scott!!

HalfMan HalfCichlid - 7 years ago

what do you use to measure your nitrates?

Ryan Duncan - 7 years ago

How do you replace all of the micro elements?

baseballhunter42 - 6 years ago

Ryan Duncan dose

rygrun1 - 7 years ago

Could you give me more details on your turf scrubber that's on your nano? I'm having a hard time finding one that will work. Is there a model number or do you have a website or link to the one you have?

David Lanzendorfer - 7 years ago

Fantastic tank! BRS is currently running a series on the Triton system with their BRS160 tank: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/brstv-investigates-10-weeks-into-the-triton-method-and-an-update-on-the-brs160/

Kanda Yanuar Muhammad - 7 years ago

I think its all about nitrogen cycle. When nature can handle it you will be no-water-change reef tank owner.

But how to achieve it when i dont have some good tools. Like skimmer, testkits, etc
New to the hobby but i still learning about it.

Kanda Yanuar Muhammad - 7 years ago

Maria Edwards thanks for your reply. Right now i kept my bio low and boost with good bacteria. I hope my refugium have enough space for bacteria and they can get rid of excess nutrients.

Maria Edwards - 7 years ago

Well without a good skimmer I think you have to get the nutrients to somewhere. What about running a refugium or keeping the bio-load on the low side? Maybe running a DIY scrubber with refugium and running a reactor with carbon to save $.

Terry Yang - 7 years ago

Small water changes should still be done to remove detritus, otherwise I agree to all your points.

Riff to Reef - 7 years ago

Terry Yang

Shane Gossman - 7 years ago

Terry Yang eh, that's what a healthy clean up crew is for

LoganC1258 - 7 years ago

You're a weirdo man....

John M - 7 years ago

Do you use RODI water to top off your tank?

Peter Howarth - 7 years ago

Very good video! I have had several birdnest die offs while using bio pellets. I never associated the addition of new pellets with it, but looking back I feel that may be the answer :)

Santa Monica Filtration - 7 years ago

Nutrient talk... my fav :) And yes... baby your water!

Flavio Design Aquairums - 7 years ago

I don't think you're crazy.make a lot of sense.but I believe if your going to go that route you should still do a large waterchang 1,2,or 3 times a year. Just because of all the unknowns thats in the water. there's stuff in the water chemistry that we as hobbyist just don't know about.good video.

ben howard bath - 7 years ago

Love your work Scott! Great Vid!!!!!

50. comment for Why I don't do water changes on my reef tank

Ash - 7 years ago

Hi Mike subbed to your channel...great info...and yes like you i was one of the reefer who watched newyorksteelo's videos all the time...hope he comes back to the hobby again..

Dan Crocker - 7 years ago

great video Scott lots of info. Love your channel!

Peter Derrick - 7 years ago

Hi Scott...the Triton method is a system designed around the no water change needed concept...not just ICP testing...it is a complete and effective system...give it a complete look ...love your tank as always..

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Its so tempting to go this rout :)

Simon Grimwood - 7 years ago

I love the idea of no water changes and ran my 130 with no water changes for years. I have set up a 250 and didnt water changed either, I dose alk ca and mg, carbon dose with nopox and run a gfo reactor, I also run a skimmer. All was great for 10months sps was growing like weeds lps was doing good. Then I changed my lights from t5 to led and the tank crashed, I of course put it down to the lights, by this point I had lost all my sps and my lps was melting away slowly. No matter how I adjusted the lights nothing changed for the better, I added new sps frags they stripped and died. So after speaking to the guy at the lfs he said it would be down to the lack of water changes so I did a few 10% water changes and then a 50% water change and immediately things have started to look better, my lps that were almost lost bounced back. My measurable parameters had always been in line, so there must have been either a build up or depletion of something I haven't a test kit for? I really believe it's possible to run a successful tank without water changes but I think overall there's more to water chemistry than water we usually test for? I may try the no water change approach again if I can work out what was wrong last time.
Great video by the way and beautiful tank.

Maria Edwards - 7 years ago

You probably had a biological die off that caused higher nitrates and it went down hill from there. I like the idea of this method from a maintenance perspective or having a dedicated holding tank for auto water changes. Good advice though oh maybe breaking in new lighting slowly with a lot of corals. I am thinking of trying this method in the non too distant future short of biopellets but with the idea of anything being off starting water changes right away.

Simon Grimwood - 7 years ago

MileHighReefers the only thing I did differently was change lights from t5 to led so I put it down to that! But after the change the tank took a downward spiral and just wasn't recovering. Once I did some big water changes things improved pretty much over night! I'm still not 100% sure why it happened as everything was great without a water change for a year before, my thoughts are there was something a miss that was stressing the coral but they were coping with it once I added another stresser with the change in light it was just to much to handle and it crashed. I reset the tank with some big NSW changes and everything is now growing under led? But otherwise I don't know?

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Any idea what the root cause of the crash was?

camille swindell - 7 years ago

tank looking great

Cesca's Reef - 7 years ago

Nice video with some good information :)

Reef Roid - 7 years ago

Loved this ,,,, made so much sense

Doug Ahern - 7 years ago

Tons and tons of great information and really gets the reef tank keepers into thinking outside the box. Thank you, awesome tank and unbelievable clam. Keep the personal videos coming.

Juss Less - 7 years ago

You know how hard it is to find some to break down the process the way you did thanks bro this will be my recommend vid on my channel keep up the good work luv your channel this helps soooo many reefers

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks I really appreciate it!

SpaghettiKillah - 7 years ago

Why am I watching this? I don't even have an aquarium

You mad Bro - 6 years ago

SpaghettiKillah lmao

TheDarthloki - 7 years ago

Great video. just wanted to add that a refugium will be a huge positive effect for zooplantkon which will be awesome food for Fish and corals. I personally will go with a refugium and alcohol for my next tank. But there won't be that many fish in it anyway.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Refugiums have a lot of great benefits there defiantly the way to go for lots of people.

EZreefin - 7 years ago

Now I'm going to look into a bio pellet reactor...lol did you make your own? If so could you do a video on it ? Or just explain more about it?

EZreefin - 7 years ago

Ok thanks! I'll have to look it up. Yeah, you got my wheels turning...lol I'm thinking about adding one.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

My biopellet reactor is a DIY kalk stirrer that I got with my old 90g tank. I modified it to run biopellets. There is some video on my channel explaining how it works.

gabriel avens - 7 years ago

As allways, GREAT vid and tanks looking great. Cheers Scott !

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks!

Ash Greninja MLG pro gamer - 7 years ago

So im going to have to have the gear that you use for your reef tank so i can have one like yours?

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

No, there are a lot of ways to run a tank and still get great results. I've found the way that works for me :)

Addy Reef - 7 years ago

Amazing breakdown, I'm becoming a big fan lol.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks its much appreciated.

Random dude - 7 years ago

Reefers do water changes to replenish trace minerals. I'd rather install a system that changes water automatically every day instead of having to dose.

Maria Edwards - 7 years ago

What if your tank is in your dinning room and is 300 gallons thus not having room for a separate 40 gallon container just to do low dose daily water changes? Not everybody can have a dedicated fish room and I would rather take that 40 gallon space and having a bigger skimmer, CA reactor, and refugium and use a 50 gallon trash can for the occasional water change myself.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

In my seystem I use a CA reactor to keep up with trace elements. Without ICP testing its going to be hard to know how well any method really works.

Am Fit Elite Reefer - 7 years ago

Bro awesome video as always keep up the great work

Am Fit Elite Reefer - 7 years ago

MileHighReefers anytime bro

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks man!

Bunker Buster - 7 years ago

NY Steelo serving 20 -Life

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Really? I hadn't heard that one.

Andrew Anaruma - 7 years ago

Awesome great info

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks!

Reefkpr - 7 years ago

Great video Scott. You covered it all. I recently transitioned off of Carbon dosing and am currently running Santa Monica Turf scrubbers in both of my tanks. Working Fantastic! You going with Kalk a bigger Ca Reactor or dosing to keep up with your alk drop????

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Right now I have the PH turned down to 6.3 and a high drip rate and my ALK is holding 8.7. Fingers crossed this will be enough to get me where I want to be.

OhDearInPubs - 7 years ago

20min vid! Watching while I eat dinner

Maria Edwards - 7 years ago

I really appreciate the video. I am researching a 400 gallon see through when you walk in our house near the dinning room and know I won't be doing 60 gallon trash can water changes regularly. I will be on a massive budget doing it and will be going with a high quality tank1,000-1500$, skimmer450$, mp40's with backup 800$, solatube natural lighting 600$, and the rest DIY like oyster diy rock, natural local sand, I have access to collecting local macroalgae luckily but really liked your video and the insight on keeping water quality in check. Things have changed alot from the 2000 era and I really like the idea of having a set of quality carbon and calcium reactors that are DIY. Dosing via peristalic pumps seem to be legit as well. Being in Florida I have considered a carribean tank as we surf and snorkel a lot not to mention have access to things like seahorses, pinktail trigger, pipefish etc, live bait shrimp, etc. All told I will be into it for around 10k which is really a fret considering the size and 550 gallon capacity. I just wanted to share some ideas and you've got me thinking about raceways and how to capitilze on a working refugium and limiting stoney coral to those that take less calcium and alkalinity thus making it easier. I wanted to write this to anybody considering a large DIY tank without breaking the bank or having the misses kick you out. Nice work on the four clownish in tank and killer clam, that thing is stunning.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks! this one was a lot of work.

MikeTheReefer - 7 years ago

Oh the good'ol days of watching newyorkstello. One of the main channels that got me started in the hobby. Sure do miss his channel and he would be a great additon to the current reefing community

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

I'd love to see NY Stello make videos again. He is still one of my favs.

Rad Perez - 7 years ago

Another great video Scott....

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks Rad!

My Reef Life - 7 years ago

Awesome video!

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks!

George Kazas - 7 years ago

Legit and comprehensible info as always Scott!

I'm happy to see that you confirm most of the conclusions I've reached myself through your vids. Btw I am using Red sea's NOPOX as carbon dosing instead of bio pellets. It does work but the downside is if u don't dose for a couple of days nitrates and phosphates rise instantly. So I'm wondering if I'm stuck w that product for the rest of my reefing days...

My question is: If u didn't have to fill up the QT, would u never do WCs assuming that your water parameters were ok? Or u consider a 10% WC biweekly or at least monthly a necessity?

Keep up the good work, u inspire and educate all of us.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

If it wasn't for the QT, I wouldn't do a water change unless there was something majorly wrong with my water and I couldn't fix it any other way.

Joe's Reef - 7 years ago

I never did water changes on my 200 gallon system it’s just easier to dose or use a calcium reactor and more cost effective. I also dozed a trace elements supplement because I was only using 2 part and not a calcium reactor

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

I totally agree taking care of the water is so much easier then changing it.

Rosco's Reef with Scott - 7 years ago

As usual great video Scott crammed with a lot of awesome information. I would love to send mine to Triton as well to get a complete water analysis. I missed your little guy doing his outro...lol

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

The little guy was in school when I made this video. He loves to be on the show. We have a company in Denver that does ICP testing, I need to get over there and check them out.

googIereallysucks - 7 years ago

No issues with nitrates being undetectable? I always read now people dosing nitrate.

Tuneless Steak - 7 years ago

Mine is always 0ppm.

I have no fish in my tank, but I have lots of sand and rock, so nutrients are being removed instead of building up. I dose phytoplankton daily and frozen artemia weekly and the corals do fine.

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

I do feed my tank a lot of food and I think that helps. While the nitrates don't show on the test kit there still some in the water and it seems to be enough. But your right that some people are dosing nitrates to their tanks. Mike Paletta said at Reefstock he was dosing nitrates to his seystem. As far as my tank goes i'm going to stick with what i'm doing until we know more about nitrates and how corals use them.

MikeTheReefer - 7 years ago

googIereallysucks i feel that some tanks can get away with lower nitrate/phosphates because of the way they feed their tanks. They feed the fish/corals like crazy so the corals are getting the nutrients they need to thrive

Mauricio Cañon - 7 years ago

I don't know Why Newyork Steelo stops uploading new videos. he was a great reefer

twinturbo111 - 7 years ago

Mauricio Cañon his house burned down

reef curtains - 7 years ago

great info. glad I'm subscribed to your channel. its very entertaining as well as informative. thanks

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks! I really appreciate it.

maurice moore - 7 years ago

Great video

Lee and Mandy Battersby - 7 years ago

Fantastic video scott love all the information

MileHighReefers - 7 years ago

Thanks! I'm so glad the CBB is doing so well.

Daily Reefing - 7 years ago

About Why I don't do water changes on my reef tank

The "Why I don't do water changes on my reef tank" video is part of the reef tank, salt water category, which contains similar videos like this one.