Acans Health

Jay6363 · Nov 5, 2013

Any ideas on how to nurse so acans back to health...... Switched over to LEDs they did not like it. Back to t5s

They look very receded. Not all but about half. I had cut back on feeding do to a phosphate issue. Amy ideas appreciated

Kimberlee · Nov 5, 2013

I wouldn't keep switching lights on them....I made the jump from T5s to LEDs over my acans and they had to be moved some out of the stronger light and re acclimate to the new LEDs. Some of them reacted badly to the LEDs and sucked in so I moved them like I said to lower light and just slowly worked them back to their origanal spots. If the lighting was all you changed this would be my thoughts and you should decided whitch light you want to use and take a little extra care w/ acclimating.

Tab28 · Nov 5, 2013

I just move mine to a low light area with a low but good flow. They seem to get puffy and start sending out new heads in no time. If they were growing well before the switch they should recover. I use power coral foods with some amino acids. I have brought back acans you would have thought was a lost cause.

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Wkrout · Nov 5, 2013

I also have mine under leds I Acclimated mine slowly and have my lights turned down

TJ's Reef · Nov 5, 2013

+1 Not the LED's but lack of acclimating them to a new light source. LED's have a very narrow light spectrum especially in the 430-470nm Blue phase, this being a primary PUR (photosynthetic usable radiation) source it over burdens the Chlorophyll a also a primary symbiotic algae which then is usually ejected causing the 'Bleaching' and/or shrinkage of Coral flesh/polyps.
IME LED's should be started out at around 25-30% and gradually increased over a few weeks time to 50-75% depending on depth of tank, height above water and Coral types. Rarely is there a need to run LED's at 100% and having them run at a reduced wattage will greatly increase their life.
Most LPS including Acans will do much better at lower LED light levels, lower % or in shaded areas of the Reeftank if mixed with higher light demanding SPS Coral and Clams.

Cheers, Todd

Jay6363 · Nov 5, 2013

Thanks guys,

I had been running LEDs for the last year and a half. Before that Mh the only thing that changed was that I upgraded to the radion pro from the gen 1 did not have stellar results with ether but acans did better under the gen 1

I decided to go to t5 fir a few reasons but my acans have taken a beating.

Believe me I did acclimate and try to keep the on the outer edges of the tank.

And I was running at a very low intensity . So I need to get them back on there feet. Some look pretty haggard ...

jservedio · Nov 5, 2013

Jay6363 said:
Thanks guys,

I had been running LEDs for the last year and a half. Before that Mh the only thing that changed was that I upgraded to the radion pro from the gen 1 did not have stellar results with ether but acans did better under the gen 1

I decided to go to t5 fir a few reasons but my acans have taken a beating.

Believe me I did acclimate and try to keep the on the outer edges of the tank.

And I was running at a very low intensity . So I need to get them back on there feet. Some look pretty haggard ...

I am using a Radion Pro over my 20g Tall @ 35% currently in "Deep Water" Natural Mode @ 60ft/10m for an 11 hour light cycle hung 13.5" above the water (previously a custom setup with the same general intensity) and have been using them about 8 months now. I have 6 different Acan Lords, 3 different Acan Echinatas, and 2 Bowerbankii and I came from a 4 bulb T5 with API bulbs and have noticed absolutely no change between T5 and LED on this tank for my Acans. I acclimated from 15% on the Pros up to 35% over the course of about 6 months and my only problem was a single Acan Echinata that had to be moved off to the shade (Orange Crush Echinata) when the intensity hit 25%. My tank is about a year and a half old and dominated by Acros (the bottom half and shaded areas are LPS). Nothing lost color (some of my Rainbows actual got more colorful), I only had "orange shift" one a single lord, and my growth hasn't changed at all.

I don't think it is the lights causing your acans problems.

Tab28 · Nov 5, 2013

Jay6363 said:
Thanks guys,

I had been running LEDs for the last year and a half. Before that Mh the only thing that changed was that I upgraded to the radion pro from the gen 1 did not have stellar results with ether but acans did better under the gen 1

I decided to go to t5 fir a few reasons but my acans have taken a beating.

Believe me I did acclimate and try to keep the on the outer edges of the tank.

And I was running at a very low intensity . So I need to get them back on there feet. Some look pretty haggard ...

I had same issue. I was told wrong fixture, not acclimated correctly, etc. Too many variables. I went back to what worked for me. My zoas and acros looked great under led but i have far to many lps that were suffering. Plenty have great success with led but i did not have the knowledge or patience to use then with the same success.

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BoxerE · Nov 5, 2013

Would it b possible to keep acans in cfls ?

Tab28 · Nov 6, 2013

BoxerE said:
Would it b possible to keep acans in cfls ?

Sorry but your initials use is new to me. Are you asking about compact florescence. I just wrote that as CF. If so same issue acans are lower light. You could keep them just have them in a lower light area. A lower light area can be created through aqua scaping.

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BoxerE · Nov 6, 2013

Yes compact fluorescents . It seems interesting that I'd have to keep them In a lower light area with a 10,000 k / actinic 36 watt setup , 17 inches deep. Basic biocube 29. Primarily I'm worried about buying expensive acan or chalice rainbow frags and then having the. Lose most of their color under my lower power lights .

BoxerE · Nov 6, 2013

Basically that's what happened with an acopora I bought before I really understood the lighting requirements for coral of that kind, the thing grows like a weed but it's doo doo brown lol

Tab28 · Nov 7, 2013

BoxerE said:
Yes compact fluorescents . It seems interesting that I'd have to keep them In a lower light area with a 10,000 k / actinic 36 watt setup , 17 inches deep. Basic biocube 29. Primarily I'm worried about buying expensive acan or chalice rainbow frags and then having the. Lose most of their color under my lower power lights .

I had CF years ago and the one you mentioned is what we use to call 50/50. Half white half blue. Acans can be accustomed to higher light but gradually. They have their best colors under low light. Under med light all my rainbow acans turned red. They gradually got their color back after moving them to a shady area. 10k is a white with deeper par. You can still have chalice, acan, leptoseris, scoly by creating high shade areas with rocks.

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Tab28 · Nov 7, 2013

BoxerE said:
Basically that's what happened with an acopora I bought before I really understood the lighting requirements for coral of that kind, the thing grows like a weed but it's doo doo brown lol

Some acros do have a tan brown look if the lighting is not good. I had a small finger sized frag. It grew to over 10" in diameter as a large tabling type. Being on the top half in my tank with 250 watt mh it was tan. It changed to green when i bought radium bulbs.

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BoxerE · Nov 7, 2013

Interesting . You know tab28, after almost two years of keeping a reef tank, learning about it, and having pretty decent success I still feel so out of my depths sometimes!