Brian Ward March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 I'm getting virtually no polyp extension on my SPS corals. My milles are not hairy (they were in the source tank) and I rarely see the polyps on my acros, etc. What parameters tend to affect this? I know my Alk has been moving around lately as I try to tune in my calcium reactor. I'm getting that set up on my ACIII, so I should have better control of it in the future. Whatever you guys might know is appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefhunter March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 do you have red bugs or any kind of angel fish? I had a nipper fish and red bugs and now after fixing those problems my PE is excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward March 6, 2009 Author Share March 6, 2009 do you have red bugs or any kind of angel fish? I had a nipper fish and red bugs and now after fixing those problems my PE is excellent! No angel in the tank. The only thing that goes near the corals is my citron goby, he hangs out in the branches. I don't think I have red bugs, but I do have flatworms. No flatworms on the corals. Haven't made it to the store to get eXit yet. I don't think I have red bugs, but I was just reading over on RC and they're supposed to be very tiny? If they blend in color-wise, I probably won't see them as I'm slightly red-green color blind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaze98 March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 you have to look very closely for the red bugs, they are very tiny. They are seen on lighter colored acro's easily. You just have to look real close, a magnifying glass helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward March 6, 2009 Author Share March 6, 2009 you have to look very closely for the red bugs, they are very tiny. They are seen on lighter colored acro's easily. You just have to look real close, a magnifying glass helps. And what's the treatment? Is it reef safe, or do I have to tear things apart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaze98 March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 Interceptor is the treatment, some say you should dose 3 times spacing the treatments a week apart. I only dosed once as a couple of club members suggested that was all that was needed. I dosed my tank for 6 hours no skimming or carbon. I took out as many inverts as I could find and moved them to another tank, I missed a few, around 8 or 9 and the interceptor did kill some of them, I would say 4 or 5 of the ones I missed, I noticed they turned up shell up a day or two later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefhunter March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 they are very tiny and they will multiply... I had no clue until someone told me I had them... interceptor works good but kills shrimp and hermits... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward March 6, 2009 Author Share March 6, 2009 they are very tiny and they will multiply... I had no clue until someone told me I had them... interceptor works good but kills shrimp and hermits... Yea, I don't have any shrimps, but have many emerald crabs, hermits and snails. removing them would be a PITA. I'm hoping that's not a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBoy98 March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 (edited) Do Wrasses like 6 line or Yellow eat them? How about those pipe fishes? Edited March 6, 2009 by DJBoy98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward March 6, 2009 Author Share March 6, 2009 Do Wrasses like 6 line or Yellow eat them? How about those pipe fishes? I read one post about a 6-line nipping at them. I think that's rare though. Are there any other contributing factors other than pests that irritate them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaze98 March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 If you are talking about frags from Chris...I could never get my frags to get the polyp extension they had in his tank, I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. He must sprinkle some kind of magic dust on his tank or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward March 6, 2009 Author Share March 6, 2009 If you are talking about frags from Chris...I could never get my frags to get the polyp extension they had in his tank, I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. He must sprinkle some kind of magic dust on his tank or something Not just his. I get some from my montis (caps & digis), but nothing from acros, milles, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilan March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 Whats your flow like? My SPS that are in direct line with my CL output have much better PE than ones that are elsewhere in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 March 6, 2009 Share March 6, 2009 before you go and dose anything pull a acro out (or a few ) and take a look at it with a magnifying glass. You will see them if you have them. If you have a camera with a macro lens you will see them in the photos. Can you list you parms? also have you taken par readings on your tank? What were they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward March 6, 2009 Author Share March 6, 2009 Whats your flow like? My SPS that are in direct line with my CL output have much better PE than ones that are elsewhere in the tank. Flow: About 1000 - 1200 gph through the filtration loop (overflows to sump to returns). Closed loop: 2x 2" drains to a reeflo barracuda & an OM 4-way. 6 outputs - 2 in the back center, 4 in the front. flow alternates between the back and front. no difference based on being in direct flow or out of the flow. I'll look for the red bugs this weekend before I dose anything. As far as PAR: it's about 1200-1300 just above the water surface. Drops to about 650 after you go under the surface. Decreases from there. I don't have accurate numbers across the whole tank. I have some corals directly under the light near the surface, others closer to the bottom of the tank, some in shadier areas. Lots of variation, but no difference in PE. I have 2 Deresa clams at the bottom of the tank, 1 in shade, 1 in the open, both seem to be fine. Haven't done detailed testing in a while. A couple days ago my Alk spiked and was over the range of a salifert kit, so 14+ dKH. Alk has varied from 7-12, trying out different levels with no change. Did a water change to pull the alk back down, need to test again before I turn the Ca reactor back on. pH hangs out around 8.2 - 8.4. Salinity is 1.025. ORP is usually around 350. Ammonia and nitrite are both 0, there may be some nitrates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary March 7, 2009 Share March 7, 2009 I got back to weekly water changes and increased flow and have good polyp extension again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte March 7, 2009 Share March 7, 2009 (edited) The original question, "What affects polyp extension?" is of course directly related to coral health. So, what affects coral health...??? Wow - run the gamut of potential factors: Flow Lighting Water quality - Ammo, 'rites, 'rates, pH (swings or no), phosphates, alk, yadda, yadda, yadda... Pests Disease Anything else that can cause stress. What am I forgetting...? It sounds like you have a good handle on many of the above. To truly figure it out, it would be best to systematically change one thing at a time. The "red bugs" have already been mentioned. IME, if you have acros and have never treated for them, then you almost certainly have them. And, you're looking for something rougly the size of a pinhead. You "NEVER" find them on millis - many people claim this b/c of the "hairy" appearance of millis and prostratas - but I will tell you that I have manually removed T. acroporanus from green millis before. There are two, maybe three in this field of view - Red Bug I was just at a conference talking with a guy at Shedd Aquarium who said he mixed up a cube of mysis in some DI water and tested it for phosphates. He then rinsed it and retested, and the results were significantly lower. After a few months of following this protocol, he anecdotally noticed better polyp extension on his corals and his sea horses resumed breeding. So, I did this here when I got back - mixed up a cube of mysis in 100 mL of DI, and the spectrophotometer read 2.75ppm/limit. Basically, I had reached the upper limit for that PO4 test, and who knows what the actual value was. I then rinsed that same mysis in DI, put it back in 100 mL of water and retested. The results were 2.63ppm, but I had not reached the upper limit for the test - actual value. Keep in mind that PO4 should be 0.1ppm or lower in a tank for corals. Yes, this was in only 100 mL of water, but you can easily see how over time these values can build up. I'm going to continue these tests with other foods - live brine, oyster eggs, golden pearls, frozen rotifers, etc. Is it only acros? I assume you have other genre of corals in the tank...? Do you get polyp extension at night with any others? Cheers Mike Edited March 7, 2009 by OUsnakebyte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefhunter March 7, 2009 Share March 7, 2009 What do you feed your tank? Do you feed your corals? when I was feeding alot my PE was less. When I stopped feeding the tank frozen food and stick to just a small amount of flake and nori everything started doing alot better... after a few water changes to get the water cleaner... I dont feed my corals b/c I dont want dirty water... Everything does great... some corals eat flake food... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets March 7, 2009 Share March 7, 2009 Get rid of the citron and u will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte March 7, 2009 Share March 7, 2009 Get rid of the citron and u will be fine. Agreed. These guys can be tough on Acros too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sikryd March 7, 2009 Share March 7, 2009 +2 lol My buddies caused havoc in his frag tank too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward March 7, 2009 Author Share March 7, 2009 +2 lolMy buddies caused havoc in his frag tank too. really? there's only 2 or 3 corals that he's ever near and doesn't seem to be doing anything that bad. and the PE problem is on all the corals (except the montis) not just the ones hes near Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets March 7, 2009 Share March 7, 2009 Trust us. More than likely the goby is where ur problem lies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte March 8, 2009 Share March 8, 2009 Can you capture the goby and put it in a frag tank, sump or qt tank for a while - just to test out the theory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward March 8, 2009 Author Share March 8, 2009 Can you capture the goby and put it in a frag tank, sump or qt tank for a while - just to test out the theory? haha. i can try .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now