Why do my corals open up after a water change?

Michel

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I don't do waterchanges so often in my 10g nano because the corals are looking good and all the water parameters that I check are good.

Water parameters before I did my last water change (they are most of the time like this) :

Salinity: 35 ppt
Temp: 25 C
Kh: 8.6
Po4: 0 - 0.06
Mg: 1500 mg/l
NO3: 5 mg/l
Ca: 465 mg/l
pH: 8.1

I think those paramaters are pretty good, right?

But when I do a water change I do see my corals opening up a bit more.

Do I need to check/dose for more parameters?

Picture of my tank:

20210122_150007.jpg
 

Macbalacano

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How long do they stay more open for after the water change?

I think its either there is something in the old water that they do not like and now there is less of it, so they open up more

OR

there is something that is lacking in the old water and when you introduce new water, they get it and are happier as a result.
 
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Michel

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How long do they stay more open for after the water change?

I think its either there is something in the old water that they do not like and now there is less of it, so they open up more

OR

there is something that is lacking in the old water and when you introduce new water, they get it and are happier as a result.
only a few days (maybe 3-4 days).
 
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Michel

Michel

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I do filter over active carbon once in a while so I don't think there is something "bad" in the water.

Can I just add trace elements to see if it makes a difference? Or isn't this recommended?
I don't know if I can overdose trace elements when im not testing for it? (when following the recommended dosage on the bottle)
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I do filter over active carbon once in a while so I don't think there is something "bad" in the water.

Can I just add trace elements to see if it makes a difference? Or isn't this recommended?
I don't know if I can overdose trace elements when im not testing for it? (when following the recommended dosage on the bottle)

Yes, you can just dose and yes, overdosing is possible.

The dose for any commercial supplement is both given by the manufacturer, and is mostly a guestimate. I'd just try one from a company you like and/or trust.
 
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Michel

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I still didn't had time to go to my LFS to get a bottle of trace elements so I havent tried that yet. I might just order something online.

But this is what im talking about:
Yesterday I did a 25% water change.

Water parameters BEFORE the waterchange:

Temp: 25 °C
Salt: 35 ppt
kH: 11.4 dKh
po4: 0 mg/l
NO3: 7.5 mg/l
Mg: 1500 mg/l
Ca: 480 mg/l
pH: 8.2


Pictures before the water change:

20210210_145300.jpg
20210210_145309.jpg
20210210_145313.jpg
20210210_145332.jpg



Pictures today (day after waterchange)

20210212_154508.jpg
20210212_154515.jpg
20210212_151603.jpg
20210212_155352.jpg


The corals open much more after a water change even though I had good parameters before I changed the water.
 

LeftyReefer

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The easy answer is to just do more water changes.

But this is what im talking about:
Yesterday I did a 25% water change.

Water parameters BEFORE the waterchange:

Temp: 25 °C
Salt: 35 ppt
kH: 11.4 dKh
po4: 0 mg/l
NO3: 7.5 mg/l
Mg: 1500 mg/l
Ca: 480 mg/l
pH: 8.2
What are the parameters in the tank right after a water change? since those are the conditions that apparently make your corals the happiest.... that is what I would shoot for.
 
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Michel

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The easy answer is to just do more water changes.
Thats the point, because the tank has a really low bio load I would like to do less water changes.

Dosing missing perameters is way cheaper than water changes.
I'm already dosing NO3+ and PO4+ becasue they always drop to 0 when I stop dosing.
When doing water changes more often the tank would even get cleaner and I would need to dose a lot more NO3 and PO4.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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IMO, it might be:

1. The corals are trying to feed on stirred up particulates (likely)
2. They like something that came in with the new water (less likely)
3. They dislike something that declined on water changes (least likely)
 

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In agreement with Randy here. Re-analyzing the pictures, I'm able to see the duncan's open up their feeding tentacles once the water change has been completed. Seems to be triggering a response.
 
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Michel

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IMO, it might be:

1. The corals are trying to feed on stirred up particulates (likely)
2. They like something that came in with the new water (less likely)
3. They dislike something that declined on water changes (least likely)
1. Sound right for most of the corals like the Caulastrea Curvata and Duncans but how about this coral?:

This coral was already closed up for a few days.
20210210_145313 - kopie.jpg


After the water change the coral immediately looks a lot better (usually for only a few days) and I would like this coral to do well because he looks really nice when fully opened (it was way bigger when I bought it)
20210212_154515 - kopie.jpg
 

Nano sapiens

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Do you make your saltwater a few days beforehand in a container that doesn't get thoroughly cleaned each time? (like most of us). Studies a while back from Ken Feldman showed that bacteria counts are typically substantial in the makeup water.

https://reefs.com/magazine/bacteria...ing-and-granular-activated-carbon-filtration/

(scroll to around the middle of the article for all the juicy details :))

So, among the other good things mentioned regarding water changes, the corals are also happily feeding on bacteria each time you do a water change. And on top of that, if you are using Red Sea salt it has been shown by Feldman to contain a significantly higher level of bacteria than lab manufactured salt since it is based on evaporated ocean salt.
 
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Michel

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Do you make your saltwater a few days beforehand in a container that doesn't get thoroughly cleaned each time? (like most of us). Studies a while back from Ken Feldman showed that bacteria counts are typically substantial in the makeup water.

https://reefs.com/magazine/bacteria...ing-and-granular-activated-carbon-filtration/

(scroll to around the middle of the article for all the juicy details :))

So, among the other good things mentioned regarding water changes, the corals are also happily feeding on bacteria each time you do a water change.
Oke thank you, I will check that out.

I have a 6 gallon container that I only use for making new salt water. Most of the time I mix the water with salt (TM pro reef) and use the water after 1-2 days mixing with a heater and a pump. I don't really clean the container between uses.
 

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1. Sound right for most of the corals like the Caulastrea Curvata and Duncans but how about this coral?:

This coral was already closed up for a few days.
20210210_145313 - kopie.jpg


After the water change the coral immediately looks a lot better (usually for only a few days) and I would like this coral to do well because he looks really nice when fully opened (it was way bigger when I bought it)
20210212_154515 - kopie.jpg

If that's a Gonipora, they need amino acids to survive in a tank. It's makes things pretty clear that your water changes are adding trace elements and amino acids that have been consumed by the tank between water changes. Either start adding amino acids or trace elements between water changes or do more frequent changes. Maybe check which nutrients are in the salt you are using to determine whether you need additional amino acids versus trace elements. Vivid Aquarium has some fantastic videos explaining both subjects on youtube.
 
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Michel

Michel

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If that's a Gonipora, they need amino acids to survive in a tank. It's makes things pretty clear that your water changes are adding trace elements and amino acids that have been consumed by the tank between water changes. Either start adding amino acids or trace elements between water changes or do more frequent changes. Maybe check which nutrients are in the salt you are using to determine whether you need additional amino acids versus trace elements. Vivid Aquarium has some fantastic videos explaining both subjects on youtube.
Thank you! I knew it wasn't an easy coral but I didn't know the exact needs. I already have it for around 2-3 years but it never looked as good as in the LFS. I will take a look at that YouTube channel!
 

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