Acan Info?

kangadrew · Feb 1, 2016

I'm looking to get some acans once my 240 is built - it's going to be an 8x2x2 with a few islands in the middle of rock for corals. I've got a few questions on acans before I jump in though:

What is their growth rate like? If I buy a single frag, how quickly is it going to populate a specific area?
Are they generally hardy?
Special dietary, flow, lighting, and/or water parameter requirements? (ie do I need a calcium reactor to keep them?)
Best source for some good cheap ones? (I'm considering buying a few show colonies from Cherry Corals and a few frag packs from Aqua SD, but I would like to find them for cheaper)

Thanks!

Shep · Feb 1, 2016

Acan lords I am guessing? If so...
- Growth rate would be slow to medium, you could expect to see baby heads each month but it will take awhile for them to become full size
-They are some of the hardiest corals around
-You can feed them if you want to but it is not required. As for lighting, they do best in low to medium and the same goes for flow. They can survive in high light but tend to turn one color. There is nothing special to keeping them, they are very easy to keep.
-You can find lots for pretty cheap at LFS but if you want crazy colors and patterns, you are going to need to spend a pretty penny.
-One last thing, they are not aggressive and typically have short sweeper tentacles but if anything does fall into them, it will annihilate in very quickly.

Bugger · Feb 1, 2016

You need to feed them every other night or so its a major pain in the $$$. They grow fast when fraged but after that repair session they are pretty slow to grow. It takes years for them to grow into big sizes. I've had mine for years and they are still golf ball size

kangadrew · Feb 1, 2016

Hmm... I've got two completely different answers here. Let's see some more!

From what I've seen, if nutrients are low and feeding is high they will grow quickly.

mannyhernz · Feb 1, 2016

Mine get daily feedings and grow like weeds

Shep · Feb 1, 2016

Bugger said:
You need to feed them every other night or so its a major pain in the $$$. They grow fast when fraged but after that repair session they are pretty slow to grow. It takes years for them to grow into big sizes. I've had mine for years and they are still golf ball size

You don't NEED to feed them, people say that it helps them grow faster (I never noticed any difference), I do agree that they repair from a fragging pretty quickly but slow down afterwards. They are by no means a fast grower like some zoas are.

WilRams · Feb 1, 2016

Fish poop. I don't feed them or any coral.

sevens_up77 · Feb 2, 2016

I think the necessity to feed is based on the nutrient level in your tank. If you keep sps too and thus have to have very clean water than feeding becomes more necessary, but if you run "dirtier water" than its not necessary. But agree with low-med light and flow and growth rate is about 1 polyp a month.

kangadrew · Feb 2, 2016

Sounds good. Is Cherry Corals a good supplier? I know they sell more "Show" colonies vs little frags, and some of those things are expensive!

TheGrimmReefer · Feb 2, 2016

Bugger said:
You need to feed them every other night or so its a major pain in the $$$. They grow fast when fraged but after that repair session they are pretty slow to grow. It takes years for them to grow into big sizes. I've had mine for years and they are still golf ball size

This couldn't be further from the truth. I've NEVER fed my acans anything other than good ol' fish poop. They do great and always have. I've grown frags into nice sized colonies within 12-14 months.

nervousmonkey · Feb 2, 2016

TheGrimmReefer said:
This couldn't be further from the truth. I've NEVER fed my acans anything other than good ol' fish poop. They do great and always have. I've grown frags into nice sized colonies within 12-14 months.

Agreed. I still feed mine 1X to 2X a week. They respond to feeding pretty aggressively but I have not noticed faster growth by doing that, just fuller fleshier tissue. Acans are pretty hardy though. They can survive a lot of conditions. I have a mixed reef with SPS and LPS with 0.5 nitrates and undetectable phosphates with Red Sea kits but feed them regularly more for overall health than growth. They are used to getting an upwelling at night of zooplankton so they've adapted that feeding strategy at night, when tentacles are out and they are more receptive to feeding. To the OP, Google videos on feeding acans and you'll see some great stuff. They don't need to be fed though.

kangadrew · Feb 2, 2016

Great! I think I will try feeding them (once I get them) and see if I notice any significant growth with mine and if I don't I'll just let them live off of stuff in the tank. Although I might not need to because I'm going to have a pretty high fish load (an angel, harlequin tusk, pair of clowns, 4 tangs, 2 wrasses, and a moray as well as a few smaller fish)

nervousmonkey · Feb 2, 2016

kangadrew said:
Great! I think I will try feeding them (once I get them) and see if I notice any significant growth with mine and if I don't I'll just let them live off of stuff in the tank. Although I might not need to because I'm going to have a pretty high fish load (an angel, harlequin tusk, pair of clowns, 4 tangs, 2 wrasses, and a moray as well as a few smaller fish)

Well technically speaking acans so appreciate more meaty foods then fish poo. Although as stated by Shep you don't NEED to feed them. What feeding Acans does for me is provide better health, fleshier tissue, much better coloration and some amount of protection against higher light as the corals can produce proteins that protect against damage such as what happens when the zooxanthellae get higher light and produce H2O2 as a byproduct. All coral have a built in mechanism for protection against this which allows for more beautiful color and pop without expulsion of the zooxanthellae. That's just what I do though. Not saying anyone else has to.

kangadrew · Feb 2, 2016

Would something like blended shrimp be a good acan food? And how often should they be fed - maybe once every 2 days?

Maritimer · Feb 2, 2016

I've watched my acan polyps swallow food items up to the size of whole mysis. They're not very fussy . . . but they are growing fat!

~Bruce, who has ordered from Cherry in the past - and would again.

kangadrew · Feb 2, 2016

Well that settles it - acans it is for me! Not I just have to wait 5 months or so to build the tank...

TheGrimmReefer · Feb 2, 2016

no feeding whatsoever with my acans.. All those mini colonies started as 3-5 polyp frags.

kangadrew · Feb 2, 2016

Nice, how long did that take?

nervousmonkey · Feb 2, 2016

Maritimer said:
I've watched my acan polyps swallow food items up to the size of whole mysis. They're not very fussy . . . but they are growing fat!

~Bruce, who has ordered from Cherry in the past - and would again.

This^^^
TheGrimmReefer isn't wrong at all. They'll be fine without food and they lay down skeleton with calcium carbonate, along with a wall of organic matrix made up of amino acids, fats, other things that they can get from zooxanthellae. Their tissues do get nutritional support from feeding. They are also photosynthetic however and get the amino acids they need from that, as the zooxanthellae can produce all amino acids and corals have a genetically proven mechanism to import those aminos. So either way you won't go wrong man. Feeding is just an adaptation of corals to a different food source they can utilize, and frankly do quite well at. Read this article for further education on it:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2014/3/corals

Everyone is correct here. Your corals will adapt to what they are given, light only or light and meat. I just like seeing them feed because they are voracious and love it. And for the next few days after feeding they are more full looking, like fat fish, and are more colored (at least I think they are, could just be human psychology playing tricks).
I would spot feed if you feed more than once or twice a week, otherwise your tank will get nasty quick unless you have some awesome nutrient export methods.