Water Changes.....Too much, Not enough???

[saltyfishdude]

I have just started changing more water per week than I used to (5 gallons week). I have approximately 100 total gallons of water in my system. I Now change 15 each week. However, I have the home ro / di unit and plenty of salt, and I would like to bump it up to 20 - 25 gallons per week..................

My question is, does anyone agree that this would be fine and I wouldn't be changing too much, or has anyone had any bad experiences changing 25 - 30 % a week. Please let me know what you all think...............

Keep in mind that I only have four soft corals in terms of my coral inhabitants. And my alkalinity is about 10 meq / L, it was higher, needs to be about 5 meq /L. This is not because of the salt I'm using, for a while I was blindly adding buffer and builder every week, like a fool...............I have been working on it, past two week I've changed 25 gallons, but normally it is 15 gallons...................would like to keep it at 25

Again, does anyone have any feedback for me, I would like to do 25 gallons a week, approx. 25 - 30 %...................

[Ninong]

Water changes of 25-30% a week are common in some planted freshwater tanks but I don't think I have ever heard of reefkeepers going that far on a regular schedule. I have heard of 25-30% a month or maybe 15-20% every other week or 10% per week but that's about the most that I have heard of people doing with reef tanks.

This is one of those personal preference issues but unless you have an emergency situation that you are trying to correct with dilution, I think 25-30% a week is a bit too much. IMO, 10% every other week or 15-20% a month is plenty.

[smpolyp]

There are many factors in water changes. How much can range all the way up to 100%. This can be done. Things like calcium, magnesium, spacific gravity, pH, and alkalinity need to be addressed. The higher % and how often will determine the more care that you will need to apply.

[weez1959]

I have 75 gallons and I do 12 gallon water changes every 2 weeks, that works out to about 15% and I find it's more than enough.

[Waterwidget]

I change about 10 gallons every other week and use the company version of Real Ocean Water by Catalina and the fish don't seem to mind. Every since I picked up the hobby and realized that a closed system isn't all that good for some species I switched to more frequent water changes. Plus my nutrients and ph are alway there and my peppermint and Cleaner shrimp are molting regularly so I know things are right.