Why my corals look better next day after WC?

[Surykor]

Hi reefers
I found some posts like " omg my corals are dying after WC they are all shriveled up and dying help..."

BUT this is pure opposite. I do weekly 10% WC with 2 hours mixed red sea coral pro salt and some cleaning of algae (base rocks still leaching phosphates :uhoh3:. )
next day afternoon when i get home. BOOM- Candy cane polyps are 50% bigger. Acans about 20% bigger.
I never counted how long this persists .. maybe few days.. only two logical things that come to my mind are: depleted trace elements from salt- when refilled corals expand more? .. and second was KH...bought brand new salifert test kit and both looking fine .. ~10.2dKH
your thoughts? thx


setup 35G running Rowaphos, daily dosing VSV and KZ amino acid LPS.
corals tridacna crocea, caulastrea, acan lord, euphyllia and little browned monti confusa (spongodes) and some mushrooms.

 

[MondoBongo]

are you supplementing alkalinity in any way? apologies if that's what VSV is, i'm not familiar with it.

i know for a long time i was having alk swings, that would be replenished when i changed water. so i would often see for a few days after the WC my corals, especially LPS, looking much better, more inflated, just generally happier.

now i dose kalk, and they tend to stay a similar happy level of inflation with much higher consistency now.

 

[Surykor]

VSV - vodka sugar vinegar is type of carbon dosing for bacteria to be skimmed out - reduces no3 and little of po4
I do not dose alkalinity. However new salt water mix from red sea coral pro salt has declared KH about 12-13 and tank about 10...
I used to dose kalk and stopped about half year back. Instead I do more WC because of green hair algae andnow with only small and few coral colonies it is enough to maintain KH

 

[MondoBongo]

i was getting good alk numbers with my water change, but then it would get used up fairly quickly, so the dosing for me stopped that problem, and allowed me to stabilize my alk numbers.

that, along with my ato, are the two biggest changes i made that i contribute to better coral health in my tank. i'd be curious to see how your alk tracks day to day, and if you're experiencing any dips in it as the week progresses. even with low coral load on it, things like coraline algae can take up a surprising amount.

 

[Surykor]

Well another story is that my phosphate level is high -still leaching from god damn base rocks so I have a lot some stringy green algae, some bubble algae, some GHA.. => low coral growth and absolutely no growth of coralline. purple algae is only on live rocks but not spreading
well my PH is low as it always been from the very beginning so it also reduces the alkalinity uptake from what I know

measured 2 days after WC -wednesday KH10.9
typycally I have KH around 10.2 at saturday- I measure KH once per week on saturdays along with no3 and add to log

 

[blueramSeattle]

If you are stirring up filth the lps might just be in feeding mode? Get a coral food and spot feed to see if you get the same response?

 

[Surykor]

If you are stirring up filth the lps might just be in feeding mode? Get a coral food and spot feed to see if you get the same response?

I vacuum with pumps off so minimum of detritus is blown into water..
I target feed twice a week microbe lift LPS pellets and it does not seem to be like feed response.. just generally more inflated corals without feeder tentacles out.. (except acans. they have those opened all time )

I think it's more chemistry related... from what I know Kalkwasser also reduces CO2 levels => raising PH So MondoBongo's observations may be right direction

 

[Dan_P]

Hi reefers
I found some posts like " omg my corals are dying after WC they are all shriveled up and dying help..."

BUT this is pure opposite. I do weekly 10% WC with 2 hours mixed red sea coral pro salt and some cleaning of algae (base rocks still leaching phosphates :uhoh3:. )
next day afternoon when i get home. BOOM- Candy cane polyps are 50% bigger. Acans about 20% bigger.
I never counted how long this persists .. maybe few days.. only two logical things that come to my mind are: depleted trace elements from salt- when refilled corals expand more? .. and second was KH...bought brand new salifert test kit and both looking fine .. ~10.2dKH
your thoughts? thx


setup 35G running Rowaphos, daily dosing VSV and KZ amino acid LPS.
corals tridacna crocea, caulastrea, acan lord, euphyllia and little browned monti confusa (spongodes) and some mushrooms.

Coincidence? 10% isn't very much water.

 

[Timfish]

This is just shooting in the dark but maybe there's an increase in turbidity that takes a couple of days to clear up? Try taking some light measurments the day before and day after a water change. (Pesonally I'm betting on pH/alkalinity however.)

 

[Surykor]

Coincidence? 10% isn't very much water.

Well It does not seem much but I think chemistry CAN be affected, however I'm not any kind of chemist

This is just shooting in the dark but maybe there's an increase in turbidity that takes a couple of days to clear up? Try taking some light measurments the day before and day after a water change. (Pesonally I'm betting on pH/alkalinity however.)

Hmmm this option is out because I dont know anybody who has lux-par measurment tool in my proximity. However by gueswork there always is some turbidity after WC but after few hours it's gone.


Now I'm trying slow kalkwasser drip. I do not want to raise ALK too much too fast. Even now it's on high side...