Coral help

[Deontae]

I just did my weekly 20% water change and now all of my corals look bloated and unhealthy. I don’t know why this would happen since they have all been fine for over a month all of my fish and inverts are acting normal. The floating particles in the pictures are just from the sand being stirred up
Thanks for any help

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Perameters?

 

[Deontae]

Perameters?

Ph-8.0
Ammonia-0.25
Nitrite-0ppm
Nitrate-0ppm
The only thing I did differently was add my new water after 3 hours of mixing compared to usually using water I mixed a week ahead of time

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

What salt? Did you match temp , salinity , Alk from your DT?

 

[tankstudy]

If you just did a water change. I would wait a few hours. See how they look after a bit before becoming worried.

Double check to make sure your water change was the correct salinity as well.

 

[Deontae]

What salt? Did you match temp , salinity , Alk from your DT?

I use instant ocean reef crystals and the temp might have been 1 or 2 degrees cooler but it is usually like that when I do a water change. I don’t have a test kit for alk, but they have been doing fine for over a month so I didn’t think I needed one

 

[Deontae]

If you just did a water change. I would wait a few hours. See how they look after a bit before becoming worried.

Double check to make sure your water change was the correct salinity as well.

I double checked and salinity was good. It just worries me because they didn’t do this after any of the other water changes

 

[KrisReef]

I'm gonna guess you use API for your Ammonia test?
If yes, please throw it out, or re-calibrate your eye to read that green color as zero. These tests are famous for being difficult to read at the bottom (zero) end of the color scale.

Also, did your lights just come on? Many of my corals look "bloated" at night as they swell up to feed and look different than during the day light.

 

[Deontae]

I'm gonna guess you use API for your Ammonia test?
If yes, please throw it out, or re-calibrate your eye to read that green color as zero. These tests are famous for being difficult to read at the bottom (zero) end of the color scale.

Also, did your lights just come on? Many of my corals look "bloated" at night as they swell up to feed and look different than during the day light.

Yeah I use the api I kinda was think ammonia should be at zero. But no my lights were on for a couple hours and all my coral looked fine till after the water change

 

[Deontae]

I just did my weekly 20% water change and now all of my corals look bloated and unhealthy. I don’t know why this would happen since they have all been fine for over a month all of my fish and inverts are acting normal. The floating particles in the pictures are just from the sand being stirred up
Thanks for any help

Update: coral no longer looks swollen, but they all closed up other than gsp

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

IORC has high Alk . What is your coral bioload? Have lots of sps? I’m leaning Alk burn as the issue

 

[Deontae]

IORC has high Alk . What is your coral bioload? Have lots of sps? I’m leaning Alk burn as the issue

Mostly just softies and lps

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

nitrate 0 is bad you want 5-10
Reef crystals is formulated for high demand reefs. Softies and lps does not need this elevated salt mix . Regular IO would suit you better

If you’re planning long term success with corals you will need to test your Alk

 

[Ed Hutchings]

IORC has high Alk . What is your coral bioload? Have lots of sps? I’m leaning Alk burn as the issue

This. Reef crystals has high alkalinity. This is your main problem.

 

[Deontae]

nitrate 0 is bad you want 5-10
Reef crystals is formulated for high demand reefs. Softies and lps does not need this elevated salt mix . Regular IO would suit you better

If you’re planning long term success with corals you will need to test your Alk

I have a bucket of reef crystals and it’s been working for the last month, should I dump it and just get the regular or should I use it up first?

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Don’t throw it away. Just save the dry salt mix until a time when it’s needed.

As long as your store it in a dry cool place it should last a while. Or use it when you need to bump up your levels. Just don't use it as your basis of water change until you have corals that uses it ....mostly stoney corals SPS

 

[Deontae]

Don’t throw it away. Just save the dry salt mix until a time when it’s needed.

As long as your store it in a dry cool place it should last a while. Or use it when you need to bump up your levels. Just don't use it as your basis of water change until you have corals that uses it ....mostly stoney corals SPS

Alright thanks for the help

 

[Calpoly2103]

You'll want to start measuring ALK CAL MAG....if you dont, then your water levels will slowly keep going down, when you do water changes, with new much higher ALK/CAL/MAG you could potentially cause big swings which would hurt your coral. Lots of folks measure daily, some weekly. Some dose manually some have dosers. Personally I figured out how much ALK my corals use in a 24 hour period, and every night before bed I add some B-IONIC. I have mostly LPS in my tank.

 

[Deontae]

You'll want to start measuring ALK CAL MAG....if you dont, then your water levels will slowly keep going down, when you do water changes, with new much higher ALK/CAL/MAG you could potentially cause big swings which would hurt your coral. Lots of folks measure daily, some weekly. Some dose manually some have dosers. Personally I figured out how much ALK my corals use in a 24 hour period, and every night before bed I add some B-IONIC. I have mostly LPS in my tank.

What’s a good test kit for alk cal mag?

 

[Ed Hutchings]

If you're doing weekly water changes your system won't consume the alk/cal/mag fast enough for it to depreciate at least not for a while. Switch to using regular instant ocean for now. As for test kits, hannah checkers are hard to beat.