Regular to SPS Mix a good idea?

[krc23]

Hi, I have a 40 gallon nano reef tank. All my water parameters are in-check except that my nitrates run at 10-20ppm. I have been using Blue Treasure for the past 6 months and everything was doing great. Just last month I tried to use Blue Treasure-SPS(was suggested by my LFS and pls note that I dont have any SPS corals) and a few days after a 20% water change, my hammer coral started to gradually stop opening(other corals are fine). Its been 2 weeks now and it still is not opening like as it did before.(almost only the tips are showing with 1-3mm extension-Before it extended from 4-6 inches). I'm suspecting the problem is with the salt mix, but why just the hammer? Should i revert back to the regular salt mix or still use the SPS and see if the hammer will adapt to it? Or could there be another problem? I thought that an SPS salt mix would be better since it has more nutrients than a regular one. Need your expert advice on this please. Thanks in advance.

[loidimi]

Ako no problem ako sa regular blue treasure, yung friend ko sps gamit niya parehas ng problem mo din,

Pag nag WC siya using sps parang na stress yung corals niya for awhile.

[krc23]

I see. I plan to do 1 or 2 more water changes with Blue treasure SPS. If ganon pa din, I guess I'll just switch back to the regular one. Is that a good idea? or balik na kagad ako sa regular? Thanks for the feedback.

[rolandgelo]

Whenever I switch to a different saltmix, I always shift slowly. i.e. first water change has 75% of the old saltmix and 25% of the new saltmix, succeeding water changes 50% old salt + 50% new salt, 25 % old salt + 75% new salt. etc.

It's like acclimating your LS to the minute changes in water chemistry, even if the saltmix is of the same brand.

[krc23]

Thanks for the immediate reply. So should I continue with the SPS mix and add it "more" gradualy or should I revert back to my old one?. Its been almost a month since I switched to SPS mix and my hammer still doesnt open up as it did before.

[albert_abadicio]

I use blue treasure as well and did the same shift from the regular to sps. I only change 10% weekly for my 20 gal reef. No change on my hammer coral. It is even constantly being pestered by a clown that hosted it. I believe its not the saltmix. Any new addition that might be bullying your hammer perhaps?

[seth]

The saltmix can be the cause when the new one has a different alkalinity reading than the old one.

Mix a small batch and check the alk and ph. Would also be good if you can test for other parameters. Tapos ikumpara mo sa lumang salt mo at sa tank water mo.

But before you conclude the saltmix is the reason, it's always good to check your tank first.

Did you add anything? Media, new sand or equipment?
Did you change anything in your regular husbandry or did you dose anything?

Anyway FWIW, BT is fine to use, regular or sps version man. Like any other salt, dapat talaga gradual ang pagpapalit ng saltmix.

BTW, speaking of mixing salts, dati yung friend ko gamit tropic marin na regular at reef version. Pinaghahalo rin nya, no problems at all.

Ako naman dati gumamit ng BT SPS bago dumating yung reef crystals ko, wala rin namang significant effect since gradual din ang change.

[krc23]

Thanks for the troubleshooting tips guys. Appreciate it!

@ Albert - I have 2 clowns that are hosting on my hammer as well. But they've been hosting on it for several months now and didnt have any problems then when I was still using the regular BT. What's weird is, only the hammer is affected. Will observe other causes on this as well.

@ Seth - I guess I should be more careful when changing salt mixes next time. Will try to check alkalinity and ph. Though I dont think I can compare my past water parameters to the new one since I already did 3 20% water changes in 3 weeks and I already ran out of the regular BT. For now I'll just finish what's left of the BT SPS and observe some more. Its just really weird that only the hammer got affected. The others(zoas,bubble,brain,plates gsp,ricordea,mushrooms,torch etc) looks good and healthy. Maybe my 2 clowns are being too rough with the hammer. I'll just observe more at this point.

Thanks again guys!

[symphiii@gmail.com]

Hi blue treasure user din ako the regular one. curious lang ako kung ano bang pinagkaiba ng regular blue treasure sa SPS na blue treasure? mas mahal ng 100php price ng sps blue treasure so siguro mas maganda yun? mas malinis?

[aarongo222]

[symphiii@gmail.com]