Too Many Water Changes?

[Adriifu]

Hi! I’ve been observing my new acros lately. The polyps seem to close up after water changes, but come out maybe a day before the next water change. My torch coral also seems to be happier today, the day before my next water change. It’s brighter and more open. I usually do 30% water changes every week. The tank is 25-gallons with two clowns, a royal gramma, and a pistol shrimp. I feed the tank twice a week, but I usually aim for three times. I also plan on getting more fish, specifically a goby for the pistol shrimp, a firefish, and maybe a neon goby. I have Duncans, two acros, a monti, two favias, pulsing Xenia, green star polyps, birdsnest, palys, hairy mushroom, one anemone, and a torch. Should I do smaller water changes? I tried directing the flow to the acros because I thought that was the problem, but this might be it.
Parameters: phosphates 0.03-0.1
nitrates: 10
mag: 1400
cal: 460
alk: need to get tested

 

[Samina]

You use RODI? I would be curious as to the parameters of your tank water versus water change water. If the parameters are not quite aligned (Alk, Ca, Mg), you maybe shocking the animals with the difference and that may explain the reason everything closes up.

 

[Adriifu]

You use RODI? I would be curious as to the parameters of your tank water versus water change water. If the parameters are not quite aligned (Alk, Ca, Mg), you maybe shocking the animals with the difference and that may explain the reason everything closes up.

Yes, I use RODI and I mix it with IO reef crystals the night before. I check to make sure the salinity and temperature is the same. I have never checked the parameter differences, though.

 

[NanoDJS]

Im going to assume ( test for yourself) that your newly mixed IO mixes up at 11-13 dkh , by the time your doing water changes its gone down to a much more reasonable 9-10 which makes everybody appear happy, then you do a water change and bam shock them with dkh again . This is exact reason I switched from IO to a diff brand that mixes up @ 8.2- 8.8 then buffers up to stable 9 ish , I run a mixed reef so I need WC that is good for all the types of coral . I know some people talk about increased dkh but I have always noticed a " pale" "deflated" look from dkh above 9.5 from sustained periods .

 

[Adriifu]

Im going to assume ( test for yourself) that your newly mixed IO mixes up at 11-13 dkh , by the time your doing water changes its gone down to a much more reasonable 9-10 which makes everybody appear happy, then you do a water change and bam shock them with dkh again . This is exact reason I switched from IO to a diff brand that mixes up @ 8.2- 8.8 then buffers up to stable 9 ish , I run a mixed reef so I need WC that is good for all the types of coral . I know some people talk about increased dkh but I have always noticed a " pale" "deflated" look from dkh above 9.5 from sustained periods .

I used to use Red Sea’s salt mix, but my LFS didn’t have it at one point and I really needed salt, so I had to switch to IO’s Reef Crystals. Should I go back to that one once I run out of this salt? Unless there’s a cheaper option, of course. I’d appreciate that. And until I do run out of this salt, is there anything I can do about the alkalinity difference?

 

[Samina]

I agree with @NanoDJS. Also, Reef crystals is more suited for a tank with a good amount of coral livestock due to higher alk requirements because the salt has high alk when mixed. Maybe look into the regular IO salt mix if you have a hard time sourcing a salt that results in ~8-9 dKH when mixed.

 

[Samina]

And to answer your question about using up your current salt before you switch, maybe try smaller water changes, like around 10% or less and see if that helps. I would also recommend getting a test kit for alk, especially since your getting into acros now. Salifert makes a good one, also Hanna (but more expensive)

 

[Adriifu]

All righty, thank you! I will try 10% water changes for now and see how it turns out. Hopefully I can get my hands on a good salt as soon as possible. I’m thinking Red Sea will be my best bet, but I will have to double check the alkalinity on that one.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

All righty, thank you! I will try 10% water changes for now and see how it turns out. Hopefully I can get my hands on a good salt as soon as possible. I’m thinking Red Sea will be my best bet, but I will have to double check the alkalinity on that one.

I think the 10% change is a fine plan. You might have been suddenly altering alkalinity too much.

 

[Adriifu]

I think the 10% change is a fine plan. You might have been suddenly altering alkalinity too much.

Thank you very much Do you think a switch in salts will be necessary? If so, Red Sea claims to mix at 8-8.5 dkH and that is what I will purchase.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you very much Do you think a switch in salts will be necessary? If so, Red Sea claims to mix at 8-8.5 dkH and that is what I will purchase.

What is your tank alk target?

It is not hard to adjust a salt mix downward if you want.

I used ordinary IO for years and was (am) happy with it.

It is fine to use a mix with far higher alk than the tank if you do small water changes. I changed 1% daily, slowly and automatically.

 

[Adriifu]

What is your tank alk target?

It is not hard to adjust a salt mix downward if you want.

I used ordinary IO for years and was (am) happy with it.

It is fine to use a mix with far higher alk than the tank if you do small water changes. I changed 1% daily, slowly and automatically.

Honestly, I don’t really know what my exact target should be. It’s a mixed reef, so I guess the alk shouldn’t be too low or too high; right in the middle. I’d like to continue using this salt, but I don’t want the phosphates to increase with smaller water changes. That won’t be a problem, will it?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Honestly, I don’t really know what my exact target should be. It’s a mixed reef, so I guess the alk shouldn’t be too low or too high; right in the middle. I’d like to continue using this salt, but I don’t want the phosphates to increase with smaller water changes. That won’t be a problem, will it?

What is the phosphate now? Water changes are not a great way to export phosphate. A 50% water change won’t drop phosphate by 50%. A lot of it is bound to rock and sand, and when you drop the concentration in the water, some cones off the rock and raises the level to just a bit under where it was when you started,

 

[Adriifu]

What is the phosphate now? Water changes are not a great way to export phosphate. A 50% water change won’t drop phosphate by 50%. A lot of it is bound to rock and sand, and when you drop the concentration in the water, some cones off the rock and raises the level to just a bit under where it was when you started,

That makes sense. My phosphates looked to be between 0.3-0.1 ppm last time I checked. It’s hard to tell with the Salifert results because all the shades of blue are so similar.