Gosh, years ago when I did a small SW tank.... I would change 1/3 - 1/2 of the water each week. Main thing is I ran two filters in addition to the undergravel filter. One that hangs on the back of the tank and one of those little plastic ones filled with floss and charcoal (like the ones used for kid's goldfish). The trick was to only clean one filter each week, and always innoculate the new filter material with some of the old filter material, to transfer the good bacterial to the new and jumpstart the filtration process. They also sell a bacterial product for this, which is great for new tanks.
Hope this helps.... |