Do corals stop consuming alk/mag when stressed?

[kiMxD]

Hello folks, I am new here!

Some story before the actual question:

"I have a question. I run triton method on my 120 dt and, recently, after having an ICP test done, I was advised to do a 20% water change.

I used to use reefcrystals salt (before switching over to Triton Method - around 4 months ago).
That means that my 120 never had other salts in it.

Having that said, I have recently started to use Red Sea Blue salt, for my other 6ft long 125 tank, which I do not run triton, yet.

So the only salt I had to do the 20% water change was the red sea, so I did it.
It's been around 3 weeks now and my 3 inch diameter red monti never looked worse, lost coloration, bleached a bit and overall, makes me wonder if it will survive. The other small SPS frags I have seem to be fine, which makes me confused."

Having all that said, I used to dose 4ml/day (I just started trying to keep SPS) of all 4 Triton Core Method, my alk used to be right 7.4dkH. After the above event, my alk has increased to 8.6dkH. Which makes me wonder that the monti isn't consuming it because it is stressed. That's why I'd like to ask you guys if this all makes sense to you or not?

Thank you!

 

[Gareth elliott]

Welcome to r2r!

If a coral is no longer growing it will not consume elements needed to build its skeleton.

I would stop dosing and start daily alkalinity tests. Alk swings will cause your corals to stress further you dont want to have more than .5dkh changes a day max to fix any alkalinity drops or build ups for an sps tank. If goal is to slowly change your alkalinity without issue probably closer to .02 a day.

Triton is pretty concentrated so doesnt take a huge amount to overshoot.

Have you also checked your salinity by chance?

 

[kiMxD]

Welcome to r2r!

If a coral is no longer growing it will not consume elements needed to build its skeleton.

I would stop dosing and start daily alkalinity tests. Alk swings will cause your corals to stress further you dont want to have more than .5dkh changes a day max to fix any alkalinity drops or build ups for an sps tank. If goal is to slowly change your alkalinity without issue probably closer to .02 a day.

Triton is pretty concentrated so doesnt take a huge amount to overshoot.

Have you also checked your salinity by chance?

Thank you for the input Gareth.
I have done salinity, alk, phosphate and nitrite last night, readings are: 1.025, 8.6dkH, 0.08ppm and 34ppm(I know, I've been trying to reduce my nitrites, it used to be 64ppm a month and a half ago, so it's going down), respectively.

I thought, last night, about stopping the dosing, but Triton Core 7 also doses nutrients, so I wasn't sure it'd the best route. I will test my alk today again and check if it has increased, if not, I will just leave it until I start seeing it going down again. Will start testing daily for the next week.

Any other thoughts? Thank you!

 

[Gareth elliott]

Thank you for the input Gareth.
I have done salinity, alk, phosphate and nitrite last night, readings are: 1.025, 8.6dkH, 0.08ppm and 34ppm(I know, I've been trying to reduce my nitrites, it used to be 64ppm a month and a half ago, so it's going down), respectively.

I thought, last night, about stopping the dosing, but Triton Core 7 also doses nutrients, so I wasn't sure it'd the best route. I will test my alk today again and check if it has increased, if not, I will just leave it until I start seeing it going down again. Will start testing daily for the next week.

Any other thoughts? Thank you!

Would prepare water for several changes if needed. Will be the fastest way to get your alk back in order to your normal range.

 

[kiMxD]

Would prepare water for several changes if needed. Will be the fastest way to get your alk back in order to your normal range.

Won't it stress the monti even more? Not sure I understood you. Thanks!

 

[reefwiser]

Yes corals will stop growing causing less cal/alk to be consumed. It something I always watch for. As this lets me know how things are going. If corals are stressed they will shut down and stop growing. This can last for several weeks. So if you see an increase in alk dosing the same amount every week then the corals have stopped growing.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Won't it stress the monti even more? Not sure I understood you. Thanks!

Test the make up water, red sea also tracks their buckets if i remember correctly each batch should be able to look up what its stats should be according to them. If alkalinity continues to climb say gets to 9.5 thats almost 2dkh above your norm. The damage of prolonged exposure to alkalinity that rose that fast will lead to bleaching ime.

Can always get more RC for this water too

 

[kiMxD]

Yes corals will stop growing causing less cal/alk to be consumed. It something I always watch for. As this lets me know how things are going. If corals are stressed they will shut down and stop growing. This can last for several weeks. So if you see an increase in alk dosing the same amount every week then the corals have stopped growing.

Thank you for your input reefwiser. Actually I don't know how I never thought of it before lol. It makes completely sense.

 

[kiMxD]

Test the make up water, red sea also tracks their buckets if i remember correctly each batch should be able to look up what its stats should be according to them. If alkalinity continues to climb say gets to 9.5 thats almost 2dkh above your norm. The damage of prolonged exposure to alkalinity that rose that fast will lead to bleaching ime.

Can always get more RC for this water too

So you saying to do a water change that WILL NOT change the total alk in my DT?

 

[Gareth elliott]

So you saying to do a water change that WILL NOT change the total alk in my DT?

If continues to rise higher than it already is instead of plateauing or dropping. Might help to lower with some wc. Your corals have spent x time getting used to your ~8 dkh. The getting water ready for water-changes is a back up plan if things get worse. Sorry if wasnt more clear.

 

[reefwiser]

I never count on a water change in the management of my Alkalinity reading. If one uses that then the corals are not really growing well. One can see drops in alk usage from tank maintenance and corals added to the tank also. You can see how corals react to how you run your aquarium.