Water change question

mvcg2001 · 07-27-2006, 07:40 PM

Hi All,
I'm new to this forum. I heard about this site from the TalkingReef podcasts. About 3 years ago I bought a 32 gallon reef with integrated filtration system on the back of the tank. Unfortunately I've neglected it severely for the past several months, only replacing evaporated water as necessary. I've cleaned it up nicely, but have a couple questions.

First, is it better to change 5 gallons every two weeks or 2.5 quarts every other day? That may be a silly question, but I liken it to feeding fish... a little fed often is better than a lot fed infrequently. What do other people think?

Also, I have a TON of zoanthids and they're spreading throughout the tank (see attached picture of a little section. Notice them climbing up the walls?). Any advice regarding how to get rid of them? Do I have to roll up my sleeve and go on a zoanthid harvesting binge?

Thanks for the help and thanks for a great podcast!!!

-Mark

gwen_o_lyn · 07-27-2006, 07:46 PM

to TR!

I would do 5 gallons about every week-2 weeks. Every other day sounds like too much work.

Do you belong to a reef club in your area? TCMAS? I would start trading them out. That's a lot of zoas!!

**wwest** · 07-27-2006, 07:54 PM

Mark, welcome to TR

i am almost sure you could find someone on this forum to trade some frags with, or maybe in your local area. i have taken coral frags to the local fish store and traded them for other corals as well. not sure if they would do that there but its worth a try

**Amphibious** · 07-27-2006, 08:00 PM

to Talking Reef Forum and Podcast, Mark.

I think Gwen's got the right answer to your question.

Dick

**CarmieJo** · 07-27-2006, 08:39 PM

Hi Mark,

Welcome to TR. I'm with Gwen, too!

mvcg2001 · 07-27-2006, 09:49 PM

Wow! Thanks for the quick responses. If the concern is for the amount of work, I really find it easier to do the 2.5 quarts every other day rather than the 5 gallons every other week. Is there a disadvantage to the smaller amounts more frequently.

I was considering trying to trade to zoas to a LFS. That picture is only a very small section. They are starting to invade other corals (torch, hammer, and xenia). Can I just pull the zoas out?

Thanks again,
-Mark

Raggamuffin · 07-27-2006, 09:52 PM

the only real disadvantage to little bits often is every water change creates stress to your animals to some degree, doing achange every other day would keep them in a permanent state of stress to some degree.

***Rob*** · 07-27-2006, 10:31 PM

Mark,

to Talkingreef, great to have you here.

i agree, either trade them in with a LFS or give/sell them to local reefers

for the water change, i dont think it really matters. for me i would rather mix 5 gallons of saltwater once a week over mixing up a bit every few days... but thats just me.. i dont see any real issue with it either way

fat walrus · 07-28-2006, 01:06 AM

if you have the time, go for the smaller changes more often. i would minimize any mistake or oversight.

fat walrus · 07-28-2006, 01:08 AM

oh, excuse my rudeness. welcome to TR, mvcg2001!

mvcg2001 · 07-28-2006, 11:19 PM

Thanks for all the replies. One question remains though. How do I manage the spread of the zoanthids? Some of them have moved onto the base of my anchor coral. Is it acceptable to take the coral out, put it in a bucket with original aquarium water and use a toothbrush to scrape off the hitchhikers?

Thanks again for all the assistance,
-Mark

gwen_o_lyn · 08-07-2006, 07:33 PM

Yes, I have used a toothbrush myself to keep the zoas at bay.