I think I have done a bad thing to my Frogspawn

[Sammydog]

Hopefully I am just being paranoid, but I am going to ask anyway.

I did a water change today (about 1/3rd) of the tank. When putting the new water in, there was some salt that hadn't dissolved properly that drifted into the frogspawn.

It closed up straight away and now the lights are on, a few hours later, there is a part of the frogspawn that is still withdrawn properly. It has come out a little, but not like the rest of the that piece of coral.

The colour on the withdrawn part all looks OK, its just not coming out.

Any thoughts? I'm just worried that I have signed its death sentence.

 

[PufferGuy]

i think it will be ok, just give it some time. that salt should dissolve pretty quick, but you really should have your salt water mixed pretty well before you do a water change.

 

[Sammydog]

I normally let it sit over night. Today I only left it for a few hours, with regular stirring of the undissolved salt. It really looked like it had all dissolved.

Hopefully this will turn out as a case of lesson learnt with no long term damage done.

 

[mng777777]

First, you should be mixing your salt for a minimum of 24 hours with a powerhead before the water goes into your display, for this reason. Most of us take more like 2-3 days though. That said, it's not the end of the world. Your coral will probably be just fine. If you see it releasing stringy mucus into the water, then you should be more concerned, but if it is just staying retracted then just give it time. I hope it pulls through for you! You should probably check your salinity again in a day or so to make sure that it hasn't spiked after it fully dissolved.

 

[SeaBee]

Salt mix has to agitate for 24 hrs, so I was told, unless starting a new tank.

 

[yote]

The raw salt probably just burned your frogspawn a bit,so it should recover.
Just be sure to let the water mix for at least 24 hours with a powerhead from now on.ALL your corals will thank you then.:D

 

[littleyea1]

I put my salt in my ro water stir it with my hand till i cant feel it anymore then in it goes , sometimes I think the coral get a little salt burn if you dont mix it all the way but they shoudl be fine

 

[mng777777]

I put my salt in my ro water stir it with my hand till i cant feel it anymore then in it goes , sometimes I think the coral get a little salt burn if you dont mix it all the way but they shoudl be fine

I think you should reconsider this practice! You cannot get it thoroughly mixed, or get an accurate reading of the salinity when you are mixing it by hand. With powerheads available for $10 on ebay, there really isn't a good excuse to cut this corner not to mention that it is far more simple to just dump the salt in and flip a switch than to stand over a bucket stirring. It's one of those things that you can get away with for a while but could wind up coming back to haunt you later. I also suggest testing your tanks salinity as hand mixing in the way you described usually tends to drive the tanks salinity higher over time.

 

[yote]

+1 Justin

 

[dcantucson]

+2 Justin
Following correct mixing procedures will lead to better results in the end.

 

[Rcpilot]

My new salt water mixes for a whole 7 days until the next water change. A 25w heater and a powerhead makes it the right salinity and temp for next weeks water change.

 

[mng777777]

That's another excellent point Chris, people often overlook the fact that temp affects the reading that we get for salinity and can cause big problems in our systems if not accurately accounted for.

 

[Sammydog]

Well the Frogspawn is looking better by the day (hope that doesn't jinx it). It was less than a quarter of the piece that was affected but each day its colour look better and it is starting to really come back out into the open.

Lesson learnt on mixing water I think.

 

[mng777777]

Good Sammy, Glad to hear they are looking alright!