Acro not opening

[nodough]

I have about 4 different types of acro's and none of them are opening their polyps fully. They have been in the tank for about 2 months, water parameters are kept at 1.027 salanity, temp 89F, calcuim always betweem 400-450ppm, mag at 1380, I have moved them up, down and sideways in the tank thinking water flow was a problem but to no results. Any ideas?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Any ideas?

Yeah, get a dog
Serously, what kind of lighting? How are their coloration? What kind of fish? Ever feed the coral? Skimmer? How much water flow?

 

[nodough]

I have a 1800 GPH return pump from sump with 2 1200Gph powerheads. My tank is 180 gal. Coloration looks good, my lighting is 750 watts MH, with 2 160 watt VHO's. i don't think lighting is an issue. Flow maybe

 

[nodough]

I feed the tank with Cycopese, marine swow. Run Aqua-C skimmer constantly, As for fish a Purple Tang, a coral beauty, 2 blue damsel, 2 clowns, 2 cleaner shrimps

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Not a lot of flow for a 180.
In my 180, have that much on my returns plus an additional sea swirl powered at 1200 gph and 2 SEIO 2800s and a hydor 4. Even with all this, barely getting by.

Add some powerheads and mayby have them on a controller to change up the flow

 

[LakeEd]

Nodough,

Did you really mean you keep your tank at 89 degrees F?

I would venture a guess, that most people strive for around the 80 degree F mark, and start fretting if things get up much over 83 degrees.

From your descriptions, this would be my guess, too warm on your water. Hopefully other's will join in and between all of the knowledge level here, someone will hit it on the head for yas!

 

[LakeEd]

Also,

Not sure which version of the Aqua-C you have... but I think they are really only rated up to about a 75-gallon system???

What do your tests look like, and which test-kits are you using? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate and pH?

 

[class clown]

1.027 salanity is probably acceptable, but I've always kept mine closer to 1.024 or 1.025. oh and yeah.. hope the temp is a typo.. otherwise if not, there's your problem ....

 

[nodough]

Yes it is typo, it is kept at 79f , test all show nitrites, nitrates, ph, calcium, mag all to be okay. I am using topic marin test kits, with ph, temp and orp probes,

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Many species of Acropora do not extend their polyps during the day. Have you observed these corals with polyps out during the day? Coral Beauty angels are known to nip corals which will cause retraction of the polyps but often no damage to the coral. Be sure to note that polyp extension in Acropora is not a sign of health. It is a feeding response which normally occurs at night when micro plankton is abundant and predators are asleep. Do the corals have a known rate of growth and are they exhibiting that rate? If so you can most likely eliminate water parameters and flow as a problem.

SPG of 1.027 is a bit high especially if you do not have an auto-topoff. 1.025 would be better and the fish will thank you unless they are from the Red Sea

HTH,
Kevin