Rekonn
Premium Member
I have two candy cane corals in my tank, one tan with green inside, and the other a light blue throughout the head. After some time of doing well, the blue one began to shrink back and would no longer feed. Then the same happened to the other. Two weeks ago I did a 15G water change, and the tan/green CC recovered nicely. Last week I did another 15G water change, and the blue CC is beginning to recover.
The only difference I could test for before and after the water changes was alkalinity. Before the changes I was at 2.9 meq/L, afterwards at 3.4. These parameters were the same before and after:
Temp 79-81F
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Calcium ~450
I have a good skimmer, DSB, LR and a refugium with chaeto, so waste export has never been a problem. This however, has made me lazy, and I haven't done a water change in months (prior to the 2 I just mentioned). What do you think attributed more to the coral recovery - the increase in alkalinity, or the export of crap I can't test for via water changes? What would an ideal alkalinity be?
The only difference I could test for before and after the water changes was alkalinity. Before the changes I was at 2.9 meq/L, afterwards at 3.4. These parameters were the same before and after:
Temp 79-81F
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Calcium ~450
I have a good skimmer, DSB, LR and a refugium with chaeto, so waste export has never been a problem. This however, has made me lazy, and I haven't done a water change in months (prior to the 2 I just mentioned). What do you think attributed more to the coral recovery - the increase in alkalinity, or the export of crap I can't test for via water changes? What would an ideal alkalinity be?
