Frustrated With my Hammer

[Afrashz]

So it seems overtime I do a water change my corals seem grumpy for a day or so after the change. Is this normal? I try my best to keep everything constant, temperature, salinity etc. However this week when I did my water change I noticed my hammer coral seemed extra upset and wasn't opening as fully as it used to. Here's how it looked after I first got it and when it is happy:

And here it is today, 2 days after my most recent water change:

Im just very confused and frustrated as nothing has changed as far as parameters, lighting and flow. However I am only testing ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. Is this considered normal after a water change or is something wrong? Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

 

[ncaldwell]

I know you said you try to keep the parameters the same but does that include alk and calcium?

 

[Afrashz]

I know you said you try to keep the parameters the same but does that include alk and calcium?

No it does not, I know it sounds naive but to be completely honest I was trying to get away with not testing or dosing alk and calc. Seems like that plan is beginning to backfire. I just thought doing frequent enough water changes with fresh salt would provide me with stable levels.

 

[Edudek]

What type of salt is it? I know the coral pro salt i use is super high in alk and when i do water change the next day you can see the difference in the coral. In my situation the coral looks better

 

[Afrashz]

What type of salt is it? I know the coral pro salt i use is super high in alk and when i do water change the next day you can see the difference in the coral. In my situation the coral looks better

Im not exactly sure as I buy it from the local fish store. Kind of limited currently until I move to my new place in a few months then hopefully I can have a nice setup to mix my own.

 

[BootyPup]

Next time you pick it up ask them what it is they use.

 

[Afrashz]

Next time you pick it up ask them what it is they use.

Yeah your right I really should have asked previously. Honestly evrytime I do water changes I have problems with a different coral. It really makes me dread water change day...

 

[Afrashz]

Well now only a day after the water change the one head of the hammer is fully opened and happy, while the other still looks as it does from above. Is this uncommon? It doesn't look sick or anything (knock on wood) but just isn't expanding like it used to...

 

[OriginalUserName]

This may be a stupid question, but are you doing all your mixing etc. by the book? Something is irritating your LPS. Temp, salinity, stirring up junk in the tank.

 

[Afrashz]

This may be a stupid question, but are you doing all your mixing etc. by the book? Something is irritating your LPS. Temp, salinity, stirring up junk in the tank.

Honestly my water changes never go extremely smooth. Im either rushing before or afterwork, I spill something, my temperature never gets to the exact heat I would like, etc. I think that could be my problem. Also I have been stirring my sandbed lately, you think that could have something to do with it??

 

[OriginalUserName]

Honestly my water changes never go extremely smooth. Im either rushing before or afterwork, I spill something, my temperature never gets to the exact heat I would like, etc. I think that could be my problem. Also I have been stirring my sandbed lately, you think that could have something to do with it??

I know how that is. That was my mode of operation for a long time with my tank. Temp never seemed to bother my LPS, but if the salt wasn't dissolved properly or I stirred up a bunch of crap from the sump I could see them act grumpy. They always sprang back though.

 

[Afrashz]

I know how that is. That was my mode of operation for a long time with my tank. Temp never seemed to bother my LPS, but if the salt wasn't dissolved properly or I stirred up a bunch of crap from the sump I could see them act grumpy. They always sprang back though.

That sounds like it could be it. The store I get water from keeps their salinity mourned 1.024 while My tank sits around .025/.026 Im going to try to somehow get the salinities to match. But now that your brought it up I think it could really have something to do with my stirring of the sandbed recently or other disturbances during my water changes.

 

[Zack K]

It sounds completely normal. It’s just the sudden bump in trace elements and sudden drop in nutrients. You are disrupting the stability when you perform a water change. Expect every time you make a change to the tank, every thing to be grumpy for a day or so. They just need to settle back down.

 

[landlubber]

Honestly my water changes never go extremely smooth. Im either rushing before or afterwork, I spill something, my temperature never gets to the exact heat I would like, etc. I think that could be my problem. Also I have been stirring my sandbed lately, you think that could have something to do with it??

it reads like it's a stability issue but who knows.
you disrupt your parameters with: new saltwater, water that isn't temperature corrected and water that is poorly mixed. you didn't mention how you measure your specific gravity or any of your current parameters either.
lastly, refusing to do water testing is like refusing to wear a helmet on a motorcycle, it's no big deal until get hit and die in a minor accident that you could have protected yourself from to begin with.

 

[Afrashz]

it reads like it's a stability issue but who knows.
you disrupt your parameters with: new saltwater, water that isn't temperature corrected and water that is poorly mixed. you didn't mention how you measure your specific gravity or any of your current parameters either.
lastly, refusing to do water testing is like refusing to wear a helmet on a motorcycle, it's no big deal until get hit and die in a minor accident that you could have protected yourself from to begin with.

I never said I refuse to do water testing... I test ammonia, nitrite, nitrite, and ph, check my salinity with a refractometer. I don't currently have phosphate test kits or calc or all but plan to get them soon.

 

[landlubber]

I never said I refuse to do water testing... I test ammonia, nitrite, nitrite, and ph, check my salinity with a refractometer. I don't currently have phosphate test kits or calc or all but plan to get them soon.

my apologies, refuse wasn't the correct word.
Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium are the kits you should be concentrating on here though. there should be NO ammonia or nitrite present in your system if you have a cycled tank and some biological stability. are these kits showing any detectable levels?

 

[Afrashz]

my apologies, refuse wasn't the correct word.
Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium are the kits you should be concentrating on here though. there should be NO ammonia or nitrite present in your system if you have a cycled tank and some biological stability. are these kits showing any detectable levels?

Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0, nitrate-around 20ppm ( I know its high, working to bring it down)

 

[landlubber]

Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0, nitrate-around 20ppm ( I know its high, working to bring it down)

20ppm nitrate honestly isn't really high at all. an alkalinity test is what you should set your sights on as keeping it stable along with good flow and strong lighting are what's most important to your coral.

 

[Afrashz]

getting my hands on a used vortex mp10, hope its not too much for my 14g