today i did an 30 percent water change and it seems like all my sps is stressed out. all paremeters are good. checked salinity,alk,dkh,ph. and this is the first time i use an rodi and mixed salt at home. right now all my sps is all webbed up and my lg bubble tip amenone is all shrunk but the rest of my coral is looking okay. i'm wondering has anybody had this happen to them. hope to hear from somebody soon.
will changing water shock your corals?
- Thread starter Weiboy718
- Start date
reefworm
New member
that's a big change IMO, but the stress should be temporary. The one vital you forgot to list was temp. If the change water was different that may be a factor. How did you add the water? Also, did you test before and after the water change? Alan raises a good point - mix the new water overnight to remove phosphates and make sure it's thoroughly mixed. Phosphates, however, would not have the immediate stress affect you've noticed, but it will encourage algae blooms a bit later
vijaym85
New member
Yeah a larger water change can irritate some corals. Corals which are more sensitive will react more obviously by shrinking and closing up. IF your params vary between before and after the change you could see certain side effects to it. If your tank is a 90 and you took out About 30g of water and replaced it with 30g of new water all in one abrupt sitting your corals may not take too well to the change. I personally don't like large water changes on my coral tank. Also consider that when retailers sell you a coral they suggest accimilating it slowly to the new conditions so if you have changed any params like salinity, pH calcium, or alkalinkity to name a few very quickly you could experience this negative physiological signs.
In what kind of time frame did the whole water change take place in, and are you 100% sure your make up water is simmilar to your old water params,.
You mentioned you used RODI for the first time, what did you use before? This could be a potential source of your problem as well.
In what kind of time frame did the whole water change take place in, and are you 100% sure your make up water is simmilar to your old water params,.
You mentioned you used RODI for the first time, what did you use before? This could be a potential source of your problem as well.
yeah i did the change right away. water out and water in and as for my params they're pretty simalar except the sg. my original was 1.025 and my new water is 1.023.
i usally use natural sea water before but i just bought an RODI unit so i thought of trying to mix my own water. thanks for replying.
i usally use natural sea water before but i just bought an RODI unit so i thought of trying to mix my own water. thanks for replying.
vijaym85
New member
Happy to help you.
I think that if your tank was perviously 100% sea water then you put 30% synthetic water you will have a problem. I think you should have slowly adjusted the tank to the synthetic salt water. As good as salt mixes are becoming they are not 100% the same as sea water. Heck sea water from 2 diff places could conceiveably have some variability in local regions around the world. So I would say that doing such a large water change with synthetic water from ocean water will be a problem.
I think that if your tank was perviously 100% sea water then you put 30% synthetic water you will have a problem. I think you should have slowly adjusted the tank to the synthetic salt water. As good as salt mixes are becoming they are not 100% the same as sea water. Heck sea water from 2 diff places could conceiveably have some variability in local regions around the world. So I would say that doing such a large water change with synthetic water from ocean water will be a problem.
vijaym85
New member
Well hopefully the damage is not already done and everything makes it through ok.
IF your stuff lives and is now in a 30%synthetic 70% ocean mix. From this point on I would be concerned with just simply trying to top off the evaporation with your RODI water each day when you get evaporation. This is a slow means of getting closer to greater % of synthetic water. I imagine you would one day want to be 100% RODI so I would say try to do that. And also try not to overfeed and cause a need for doing large water changes. If anything I would do nothing this week but top off. Then in the coming weeks I would continue to top off and just do like a 5g water change. Changing over from 100% ocean water to home made is significant and you really have to do it slowly. EVen when your tank is 100% home made water I would try to avoid 1 large water change and try doing multiple smalelr ones personally.
IF your stuff lives and is now in a 30%synthetic 70% ocean mix. From this point on I would be concerned with just simply trying to top off the evaporation with your RODI water each day when you get evaporation. This is a slow means of getting closer to greater % of synthetic water. I imagine you would one day want to be 100% RODI so I would say try to do that. And also try not to overfeed and cause a need for doing large water changes. If anything I would do nothing this week but top off. Then in the coming weeks I would continue to top off and just do like a 5g water change. Changing over from 100% ocean water to home made is significant and you really have to do it slowly. EVen when your tank is 100% home made water I would try to avoid 1 large water change and try doing multiple smalelr ones personally.
okay! thanks for the advice. as of right now everything seems to be okay! the sps webbs is slowly floating away but the bta is still shrunked up.
ah! one more thing. do you think i'm moving too fast? i have over 35 corals and 10 fish and five cleaner shrimps and two bta. the last death was a blue sea star. and everything in a 90. do you think i could add more. i'm planning to add more sps.
ah! one more thing. do you think i'm moving too fast? i have over 35 corals and 10 fish and five cleaner shrimps and two bta. the last death was a blue sea star. and everything in a 90. do you think i could add more. i'm planning to add more sps.
vijaym85
New member
Definately don't add anything for say a month and half. You really need to get your water situation straight and get to the point where you are running 100% synthetic water with no problems. After that I would say you have a decently stocked tank but not overstocked if you have quality filtartion. You could definately do more corals IMO, but fish wise maybe like 2-3 smaller fish around 3-4 inch max. I used to think SPS could not do well in heavy stocked tanks but I have seen some videos of tanks with lots of fish. Just make sure your filtration can handle it.
Seriously give your tank a chance to normalize with the water situation, its best for the long term IMO.
Seriously give your tank a chance to normalize with the water situation, its best for the long term IMO.
If I mix the water the day before the change and let it sit with a pump circulating the mixed water overnight then my corals never have a problem, even with the occassional 30% water change. Usally I do a 15% change on established tanks and a 20% on new tanks. Be sure that the new water is basically at the same temp or within a few tenths of a degree that the aquariums water temp is. Also check to see if your salenity is the same in both new and old water. I have seen my corals regress some if I don't do the these things each time I change the water. Just my 2 cents worth..............
