Folks,
I'm about to upgrade my GSPs current tank from brackish to S/W (0.002/wk of course!) and am wondering about the frequency of water changes after the completion.
I know my F8 and current setup required changes of ~50%/wk but also know that as a whole, S/W changes are smaller/slightly less frequent. Is this the same for puffs in SW?
Ta muchly!
GSP Upgrade + Water changes
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JustinPSmith
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 209
- Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:21 pm
Depends on tank size, filtration, stocking, water you are using, ect., ect.
IF you have enough Live Rock and a good Protein Skimmer in a big tank, that is not stocked heavily than yes, you wont have to do as many water changes. But you really have to be slow in setting these SW tanks up and stock even slower!
An example is my GSP...He is now in a 65G with a pair of chromis (very small fish), so the tank is "understocked" you could say...I don't think there is such thing as understocked but you know what I mean! I was actually reluctant to keep even two chromis with him but they dont really add to the bio-load too much, so I think its fine (And he completely ignores them, the chromis will pull food out of his mouth when he is eating and he just swims away!). The tank has a good skimmer and 80lbs or so of Live Rock. I also have a small HOB refugium which also helps keep everything clean. Then I use a canister filter, without SPONGES, for some purigen and a nitrate remover. Basically with all this filtration and a small bio load, I do water changes every two months, and even then, I find relatively low nitrates (about 10-20). I do test the water though twice a week to make sure everything is ok, this is a must if you are going a while between water changes! This also will not work if you have corals in your tank as 10-20 for nitrates is too high for them! plus with corals you need to do the changes just to get the trace elements that you loose over time back in the water.The other important thing is, the type of water you use. I find that since I started using RO water, the overall water quality is WAY better!
So anyways, Im not trying to tell people to do less water changes! Im just letting you know how my GSP set up works and that when the filtration is working very well in a SW FOWLR tank that you dont need as many water changes.
IF you have enough Live Rock and a good Protein Skimmer in a big tank, that is not stocked heavily than yes, you wont have to do as many water changes. But you really have to be slow in setting these SW tanks up and stock even slower!
An example is my GSP...He is now in a 65G with a pair of chromis (very small fish), so the tank is "understocked" you could say...I don't think there is such thing as understocked but you know what I mean! I was actually reluctant to keep even two chromis with him but they dont really add to the bio-load too much, so I think its fine (And he completely ignores them, the chromis will pull food out of his mouth when he is eating and he just swims away!). The tank has a good skimmer and 80lbs or so of Live Rock. I also have a small HOB refugium which also helps keep everything clean. Then I use a canister filter, without SPONGES, for some purigen and a nitrate remover. Basically with all this filtration and a small bio load, I do water changes every two months, and even then, I find relatively low nitrates (about 10-20). I do test the water though twice a week to make sure everything is ok, this is a must if you are going a while between water changes! This also will not work if you have corals in your tank as 10-20 for nitrates is too high for them! plus with corals you need to do the changes just to get the trace elements that you loose over time back in the water.The other important thing is, the type of water you use. I find that since I started using RO water, the overall water quality is WAY better!
So anyways, Im not trying to tell people to do less water changes! Im just letting you know how my GSP set up works and that when the filtration is working very well in a SW FOWLR tank that you dont need as many water changes.
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JustinPSmith
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 209
- Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:21 pm
That's just the information I need - very concise and to the point, thanks!
I totally appreciate where you're coming from - I've read up a lot over the past 2 years on SW and although I don't have the budget to go head first into marine, I wanted to try - hence the GSP.
This will go a fair way to helping me out.
Thanks!
I totally appreciate where you're coming from - I've read up a lot over the past 2 years on SW and although I don't have the budget to go head first into marine, I wanted to try - hence the GSP.
This will go a fair way to helping me out.
Thanks!
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JustinPSmith
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 209
- Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:21 pm
Yeah, my GSP started in fresh water (LFS) and went from light brackish to now full marine over the course of a year and a half...It was kind of cool to have him from Fresh to Brackish to Marine and observe the different behaviors in each Salinity! He is the happiest and healthiest he has ever been in full marine too! Never paces the glass anymore unless I go near the tank and he wants food! The LR, crabs, ect. keep him very busy all day. His colors are way nicer than in brackish water. Its kind of cool to be able to see the "pores" where his spikes are now too! I have noticed him growing much quicker in marine but Im not sure if thats just an age thing? Although his water conditions have never been as good as now...Its very hard to get even traces of Nitrates in his tank and I have never had a trace or Ammonia or Nitrites in his marine tank. Just seems very stable! Another thing that I think helps is his varied diet...He never eats the same thing twice in a month I dont think! Maybe mussels but that is for his teeth. He has even been eating the Marine Pellets I put in for the Hermit Crabs! Good luck with the transition!