How would this be done?

For those that have a 1000 gallon or bigger aquarium, do you still do water changes or do you have something in place to help prevent that?

I was thinkin that, on my 130 gallon, I have a 10 gallon tub filter that has a 320GPH pump running it and I would use that same idea, but using a couple 60 gallon tubs.

Not that I am in the process of getting a 1000g tank or anything. Am just curious how they're maintained.

Sandman1969 wrote:Not that I am in the process of getting a 1000g tank or anything. Am just curious how they're maintained.

You got me all excited for nothing

I had a vision of a huge build when I started reading this.

Anyway I will add my $.02 worth

In theory no matter how big or small your aquarium is if you have a way of removing all the waste that your fish put in the water you will never need to do a water change. I will use a couple of my own examples.

The ponds I have in my back yard contain a total of 2000gal of water and during the summer have a pretty high bio-load. Yet I never do water changes and the levels are pretty much zeros across the board once it settles in. The only time I add water is when we have a dry spell and I need to top off for evaporation and Myrtle can't get up on her island.  

This balanced ecosystem is achieved with 4 primary components...

1. Mechanical filtration to remove the solid waste
2. Biological filtration to turn the Ammonia from fish waste into Nitrite-Nitrate.
3. UV filtration to zap the free floating algae and most parasites.
4. Plants to absorb the Nitrates.

The end result (for me anyway) is a pond that requires no intervention other then to feed the fish and remove some of the floating plants if they get to out of control.

During the Spring, Summer and in the Fall I have similar results with a 800gal system in one of the greenhouses. Once again the bio-load is pretty high, but the system is balanced and does not require regular water changes. Depending on your water you could actually be adding nutrients to the water by changing it out. During the late Fall and Winter I will do 200gal weekly water changes as the water gets fairly cold and I don't run plants in this system over the winter. So I don't have a way of removing the Nitrates without doing water changes. During the warmer months I will just drain the solid waste from the vortex filter once a week and then replace the 40gal of so I drain from the system in the process.

The recently commissioned 1200gal tank is still without a permanent filtration system so I do do some water changes. However the fish are not eating right now as the water is in the 40f range. After Christmas I plan on getting a more permanent filtration system plumbed up and operational. However do to the lack of natural light where it is located plants will not be an option and regular water changes will be a part of the maintenance for this tank.

Now having said all that, this is from my experience with goldfish/Koi. I have no idea how a system that requires a very specific type of water would perform.

Steve

Sorry SB. That won't happen unless we win big and can build our own home.
It wouldn't be for the goldfish/koi, but for the ID sharks & plecos.