Problems with water change

[Marke86]

i made my own salt water today for my weekly WC but my PH was at 7.3 an hour after the light turned on so I put a little buffer in the saltwater mix. But when I added it to my tank it made long stringy things come off some of my corals like sea snot.
What is this?
thx \Mark

 

[yote]

Corals produce slime when their stressed.
What brand salt did use and how long did you let it mix before doing the water change?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yote is right, that's a reaction to them being disturbed.

Most salt mixes should automatically adjust to the correct pH. They work best if you let the salt mix in the water for at least 24 hours before adding it to your tank. It will take it this long to completely dissolve.

 

[Doc]

Yup. your corals are pissed at you for something you did. They "slime out" like that when they are stressed and feeling threatened. Anytime you move them, they will shoot out the slime to defend their new territory. Chemical warfare is common with corals. That is why too many soft corals and SPS corals don't mix. the softies have more toxic "slime" then do the SPS and will slowly kill them. Did you follow the directions for the buffer? did you dilute it in water or just add the powder to the tank?

-Doc

 

[ccCapt]

What buffer did you add and how much? Also, as Doc asked, did you dump in the powder(if it is a powder) or mix it with RO water first? Did you test the pH after you added it? Depending on what you used, it may have raised the pH too much and the corals reacted to the quick increase in pH.

 

[Marke86]

Well I waited about 20 min not 24 hrs and I also add the ph buffer to the new salt water in there containers then added it to the fish tank.

 

[Marke86]

I have three soft corals a feather duster and one sps I want a hammer coral for my next coral but if softies and sps dont mix I might have to try out some leathers?

 

[Doc]

I have three soft corals a feather duster and one sps I want a hammer coral for my next coral but if softies and sps dont mix I might have to try out some leathers?

leathers are considered soft corals. they are the most toxic of all the soft corals. You can mix SPS and soft corals as long as you have a big enough system and is it not dominated by softies. xenia is a good choice for a soft coral as are mushrooms and zoas, but not too many if you want to have a lot of SPS corals

-Doc

 

[Bifferwine]

Doc is right, leathers are softies, and some of the more toxic of the softies.