Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:51 am GMT   Reply      

I'm one of those people that like to know exactly why I am doing something that takes up my time, so basically my question is what is the water change exactly doing to the water? What is it adding/taking away to/from the tank? What is it doing to the PH, alklinity, calcium?

Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:30 am GMT   Reply      

the water change is dilution. corals produce noxious compounds as well as your fish. the longer you dont change your water the lower the ph + more toxic compounds.= slow coral growth or even death .may not be right away but give it time . your corals take in calcium alkalinity + much more outside or the basic test kits. water changes provide your trace elements {read the back of your salt} you will probably need to add some calcium/alkalinity on top of water changes . in my opinion frequent water changes are one of the most important things you can do as long as you do them right. ihope this helps if not post it