Acans.... no matter what I do, ZERO success...

[CanuckReefer]

Yeah, I'm willing to put money on the angles are picking.

Looks like I am feeding them Caviar, on a Mac and Cheese budget lol...

 

[CanuckReefer]

I had this same issue and once I raised my nutrients I had a lot of success. My nitrates are current 35ppm and Phosphate is .12

I also feed kind of sparingly over the years, I was bottomed on Nitrate and Phos till about 5 years ago... increased, and raised a bit. Might try feeding even a bit more to placate the Angels , if it's them and they get a taste for something else....

 

[jcolliii]

IDK, tissue on the corallite is very round and looks evenly retracted.

What do you mean by 'dropping them in'? Did you acclimate?

Your ALK is pretty high... the ALK from the water they came from was probably quite a bit lower. Say they go into water abruptly that's 3 or 4 dkh higher... I think that could probably have some effect. All depends on what 'dropping them in' means, I suppose.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I also feed kind of sparingly over the years, I was bottomed on Nitrate and Phos till about 5 years ago... increased, and raised a bit. Might try feeding even a bit more to placate the Angels , if it's them and they get a taste for something else....

You know I've got multiple angels with my corals, but the only fish that's taken a chunk out of my acans was the filefish. You could clearly tell that was the case, as it had bite marks all over one side of it. You might want to set up a remote webcam to actually catch the culprit, as it may not be what you think it is.

I find acans are sensitive to rising nitrates; yours are in line, but it's something to keep in mind. Several frags of mine literally disintegrated when nitrates shot up over 50.

 

[PNW_squidz]

If the losses are continually within days I would imagine something is eating them. You can easily test this by getting another one and leaving it in a bucket with an airstone, heater, and cheap led light. Should be able to survive weeks/months like that and the setup costs less than $50. If it melts within days in that bucket then you have a problem with your water. If it lives then obviously it's something in the tank killing them.

What LED light would you recommend for such a setup? I have an Acan colony that got beat up by a blenny and needs a safe place to heal.

 

[ApoIsland]

I tried a few different little bulbs.

Looks like the price has really gone up. I got this 23 watt ABI white/blue bulb a couple years ago for $25 I believe.

They make a blue bulb also but I much prefer the white/blue. I feel the blue bulb is just way to blue.

this 18 watt KINGBO one also works and has a better price point now.

I also tried this nicrew 30watt and really liked it. These prices are crazy now though. Not sure I would pay $70 for it.

would probably go for the 18 watt with the current prices.

 

[damsels are not mean]

So much discussion about water parameters (all of which must be fine if no other animals are stressed, no?)... so little about flow and light(the most important parameters in a reef tank). Too much of either of those are the top acan killers IMO. These corals come from sheltered and shady zones of the reef. They don't need much light and too much will quickly stress them out!

Every other coral you listed is from bright, shallow water and most are used to strong surging currents. They are all more adaptable to higher levels of light. Acans on the other hand live in shady crevices and are actually nocturnal, getting a large portion of their nutrition from capturing planktonic prey.

Too much flow (or even just medium flow in one single direction) will damage the tissue or cause infection. It's probably better to put them in a cave and keep them fed than in bright lights.

 

[ApoIsland]

So much discussion about water parameters (all of which must be fine if no other animals are stressed, no?)... so little about flow and light(the most important parameters in a reef tank). Too much of either of those are the top acan killers IMO. These corals come from sheltered and shady zones of the reef. They don't need much light and too much will quickly stress them out!

Every other coral you listed is from bright, shallow water and most are used to strong surging currents. They are all more adaptable to higher levels of light. Acans on the other hand live in shady crevices and are actually nocturnal, getting a large portion of their nutrition from capturing planktonic prey.

Too much flow (or even just medium flow in one single direction) will damage the tissue or cause infection. It's probably better to put them in a cave and keep them fed than in bright lights.

I agree with all of this. The issue I see though is that they are dying rapidly in a couple days. When my acans shrink and eventually melt and it takes weeks/months.

 

[Bars]

Since all your other corals are doing fine, I highly doubt there's any other cause than your angels. Acans are angel magnets, they can't resist them. I've done my fair share of beginner mistakes with coral and acans never died within days. Always a longer process of a few weeks or months.

Dwarf angels can be sneaky. I had a flameback dwarf angel for a little while. All day long it would pass the acans and take a quick nibble, without me noticing. With 4 possible nibblers I can imagine any acan getting eaten within days.

 

[TheBiochemist]

If nipping is not a case I would consider either a light or a flow. I have several acans and none of them is exposed to direct light (rather shaded) and they are doing great. I also had to optimize a flow a bit. Even medium flow bothered them and they stayed more retracted. I dont feel they are too susceptible to water parameters but I have never kept alkalinity so high, so this is something I cant comment on.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

So much discussion about water parameters (all of which must be fine if no other animals are stressed, no?)... so little about flow and light(the most important parameters in a reef tank). Too much of either of those are the top acan killers IMO. These corals come from sheltered and shady zones of the reef. They don't need much light and too much will quickly stress them out!

Every other coral you listed is from bright, shallow water and most are used to strong surging currents. They are all more adaptable to higher levels of light. Acans on the other hand live in shady crevices and are actually nocturnal, getting a large portion of their nutrition from capturing planktonic prey.

Too much flow (or even just medium flow in one single direction) will damage the tissue or cause infection. It's probably better to put them in a cave and keep them fed than in bright lights.

I was just about to say this. I was having a LOT of problems with my acans. I had them on the floor but directly under light and a spot of medium flow...they were not doing well (although not melting). Once I put them in a very quiet corner as far away from the light as possible..they started looking happy!!

 

[homer1475]

Acans, one of the reasons I got into corals. I could keep anyone alive and growing in my previous tanks.

In this tank, they just wither away and die. No idea why either. I can keep the most finicky SPS alive, colorful, and growing. Most LPS grow and thrive, but acans just die.

I just do not buy them anymore, and have come to the crushing conclusion some corals do not due well in certain tanks.

 

[Dburr1014]

Ya, I'm thinking one or both must have a taste for Acan when I'm not looking,
Phos is up every once in awhile, at .02 , but could stand a bit higher.

If the losses are continually within days I would imagine something is eating them. You can easily test this by getting another one and leaving it in a bucket with an airstone, heater, and cheap led light. Should be able to survive weeks/months like that and the setup costs less than $50. If it melts within days in that bucket then you have a problem with your water. If it lives then obviously it's something in the tank killing them.

This is a great Idea to test.
If gone in a couple hours and you didn't see nibbling, what about chemical warfare? Xenia, leathers, could mess them up.

 

[Radman73]

Consider doing an ATI ICP analysis to see where your trace elements are and to ensure you don't have any toxins.

 

[Cell]

Got room for a shroom box or acclimation box to protect the acan?

 

[Dburr1014]

Consider doing an ATI ICP analysis to see where your trace elements are and to ensure you don't have any toxins.

Good idea, but you would think toxin would melt everything.
Wouldn't hurt tho

 

[Arsenix2001]

I also feed kind of sparingly over the years, I was bottomed on Nitrate and Phos till about 5 years ago... increased, and raised a bit. Might try feeding even a bit more to placate the Angels , if it's them and they get a taste for something else....

I noticed this by chance. My acan colony was receeding, beginnings of looking like yours after setting up a new cleaner tank. It instantly rebounded after target feeding reef roids. My tank was basically zero nutrients. Now battling dinos and dosing nitrate phosphate and silicate. I noticed yesterday inadvertently the acan is loving life, fluffed up the largest Ive ever seen. +1 for feeding and lowering alk to 8-9

 

[CanuckReefer]

IDK, tissue on the corallite is very round and looks evenly retracted.

What do you mean by 'dropping them in'? Did you acclimate?

Your ALK is pretty high... the ALK from the water they came from was probably quite a bit lower. Say they go into water abruptly that's 3 or 4 dkh higher... I think that could probably have some effect. All depends on what 'dropping them in' means, I suppose.

Ya, I can see that being a variety of shock to their system. I called LFS and they keep their Alk at 8 dkh, so that's quite a range. As for acclimation.... float bag 15-20 mins to temp match, then drip in a clean container for roughly half hour... maybe they need a longer drip period with the range in Alk...

 

[CanuckReefer]

Got room for a shroom box or acclimation box to protect the acan?

Another great idea. Lots of them here. Thanks for all this help as usual all....love me some R2R!

 

[CanuckReefer]

Acans, one of the reasons I got into corals. I could keep anyone alive and growing in my previous tanks.

In this tank, they just wither away and die. No idea why either. I can keep the most finicky SPS alive, colorful, and growing. Most LPS grow and thrive, but acans just die.

I just do not buy them anymore, and have come to the crushing conclusion some corals do not due well in certain tanks.

Darn.... seems we are buddies in bad times that way lol. Going to try some of these methods with small frag and see if I can nail it down. ICP test as suggested happening soon too...