How often do you do water changes in your RSM?
- Thread starter nanoreefing4fun
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Nowellsy SNR
Active Member
Ah glad im not the only one
stevesparkes
Member
I do mine every two weeks, did it yesterday as it happens.
Approx 20% - 25 litres of my 130D.
Approx 20% - 25 litres of my 130D.
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I think the novelty wore off for me at close to 2 years. It's needed, but no longer the fun it once was.
echopiece
Member
^^^ LOL, Same here - especially when you have more than one tank. I change 4 gallons (because I have a 4.5 gal bucket :smirk
each week in my 130D.On a side note, I was talking to some old skool reefer at my LFS the other week and he claims he doesnt perform any water changes on his 90gal system. Furthermore, he hasnt performed a single water change in over 5 yrs. He relies on heavy skimming and a 1 gal kalkwasser drip each night. Oh and ro/di top offs ofcourse. He showed me a few pics on his phone and it looked pretty impressive. He was pretty far out and couldnt understand how reefing was fun if you had to do non stop maintenance all the time. He tried to convince me to try this same method. I went 2 weeks one time and my corals never looked worse. So, I am just sticking to my weekly water changes lol. To each his own I guess?
One of the great things about smaller tanks... is the "small" amount of maintenance needed, I spend 15 mins or 20 mins a week
We have some reefers in our local reef club, with huge tanks, 250, 350, 600 & 850 gal tanks. Some do monthly water changes... I think in our smaller tanks, weekly water changes or bi-weekly is a real "key". The frequent water changes help keep the smaller tanks happy, the fresh sw adds to need for less dosing & helps keep our tanks pristine. My tank 1/10th to 1/20th the size of some our my local fellow reefers, but they are always impressed with how clean & in balance it is
Dweezil
Well-Known Member
You're in the very small minority Glenn ~ It takes most people much more than 15 to 20 min a week. I would never tell someone just starting out that's all it will take. I spend several hrs a week. Making your own water and buying it pre-made makes a huge difference in the amount of time you spend
You're in the very small minority Glenn ~ It takes most people much more than 15 to 20 min a week. I would never tell someone just starting out that's all it will take. I spend several hrs a week. Making your own water and buying it pre-made makes a huge difference in the amount of time you spend
I totally agree with Tammy 110%. If I add up all the time I spend on everything related to the tank it's several hours a week for me too. Even subtracting the time for water changes, making RO/DI and SW mixing, the time still adds up in things like emptying/cleaning the skimmer, filling the ATO reservoir, scraping the glass, water tests, dosing, etc. etc. 15-20 minutes per week of maintenance time is very misleading and could draw people that are considering getting into this hobby thinking that running a SW tank is a snap.
echopiece
Member
I agree as well. My wife gets on to me constantly about how much time I spend on the tank lol. Dont get me wrong, I love it! But it is several hours a week. I can honestly say I spend 6-7 hrs a week working on my tank. However, I have been doing a lot of water tests lately trying to keep all my parameters in line. I really need to take my skimmer out and clean the back chambers again, I have just been procrastinating!
I should clarify it when I post 15 mins a week - I do buy my ro/di & ro/di sw pre-made and it does makes a huge difference in the amount of time you spend.
My weekly routine, is empty skimmer cup & rinse, every three days - 2 or 3 minutes.
Water changes - dip 1 gallon out with tupperware jug. Then clean glass with magfloat, then syphon out 4 more gallons, add new water & clean sponge - all done - 15 mins.
I do pay about $150 a year more for this convenience.
Should add... I use quick dip test strips (not very accurate, but a quick peek), then test with API, as needed... this does take sometime & I really don't test as frequently as many do. Test was not added into the equation.
So I should say... if you run your tank, "like I do", you can perform maintenance in as little as 15 - 20 mins. per week.
But same principle does apply for the bigger tanks... every thing has to take several times longer, the bigger the tank, just to add ^ remove water & scrub the glass.
My weekly routine, is empty skimmer cup & rinse, every three days - 2 or 3 minutes.
Water changes - dip 1 gallon out with tupperware jug. Then clean glass with magfloat, then syphon out 4 more gallons, add new water & clean sponge - all done - 15 mins.
I do pay about $150 a year more for this convenience.
Should add... I use quick dip test strips (not very accurate, but a quick peek), then test with API, as needed... this does take sometime & I really don't test as frequently as many do. Test was not added into the equation.
So I should say... if you run your tank, "like I do", you can perform maintenance in as little as 15 - 20 mins. per week.
But same principle does apply for the bigger tanks... every thing has to take several times longer, the bigger the tank, just to add ^ remove water & scrub the glass.
Glenn - You forgot to add the time it takes to heat & aerate your purchased saltwater - all of these little things that you don't count add to the time involved, even if it isn't exactly labor. I gave up on the dip tests back in my FW days - very innacurate and not trustworthy at all in my opinion. 15-20 minutes a week is a gross understatement of the time involved by most of us. Count in the other little things that you don't mention, and even in your case it's more than 15 minutes a week. Very misleading for anyone thinking about getting into this hobby!
I don't have an RSM (yet anyway) but even though I tend to "Tinker" with my tank here and there (been snowed in a LOT lately) my weekly routine is less than an hour or so total for 2 tanks. Granted one of them is a 10g frag tank that needs almost nothing but the other is a full blown 90g Reef with 29g Sump and 18g Fuge. Even with all these "extras" I'm only spending an hour and a half or so. I'm only counting time when I'm "Doing something" to the tank though. I'm not counting the 6+ hours it takes to fill the WC change tank or the 24hrs+ I leave the newly mixed SW aerating. I think if I were to average it out per week over a year's time it would be 90 minutes a week excluding frag mounting and "fun" stuff.
I have purposely timed it (my maintenance), several times, just to make sure it's accurate - don't know what to say... even the time it takes to get out the heater, plug it in, watch TV for 2 hours while it comes to temp, put heater up ( I don't aerate).
I really don't spend much time on maintenance. But I trust... you and all the others, that I seem to be the exception to the rule, that weekly maintenance takes hours.
If when I was researching buying my 1st swt, if I had though it would takes hours a week... I don't think I would have bought a swt, so IMO, I think it's fair to tell other new potential 1st time swt owners, that you can have a sw reef RSM tank & do maintenance, like I do & it will not take even one hour a week ( there I expanded my window) - because that is the case for me
I really don't spend much time on maintenance. But I trust... you and all the others, that I seem to be the exception to the rule, that weekly maintenance takes hours.
If when I was researching buying my 1st swt, if I had though it would takes hours a week... I don't think I would have bought a swt, so IMO, I think it's fair to tell other new potential 1st time swt owners, that you can have a sw reef RSM tank & do maintenance, like I do & it will not take even one hour a week ( there I expanded my window) - because that is the case for me
Thanks for the post Allen -
I think lots of new potential 1st time swt owners, could handle 90 mins a week
I think lots of new potential 1st time swt owners, could handle 90 mins a week
I might need to setup a webcam and stream me doing a water change & tank clean, you would only need to tune in for 15 mins - I promise
and stream me doing a water change & tank clean, you would only need to tune in for 15 mins - I promise