Acanthastrea not opening

[ramdero322]

Hi everyone.
I bought small acan colony 2 weeks ago. Since I've got them they haven't opened.
I have also in my tank soft corals, three euphyllias and tridacna clam, they all are in Great condition.
My tank is 14g with 39w diy led lightning
Water parameters:
Ca 480
kh 8
No3 2
Po4 0

 

[Jots]

Nice colony of Acans. I have a large collection of Acans and they can be sorta difficult at first. I noticed you mentioned you had it for 2 weeks and they look opened up pretty well just not “plump”. From the surface, it could be flow, location or an irritant. Acans generally like low to med flow and notice that during heavier flow they tend to retract for periods of time to protect their fleshy bodies. Location is mentioned because most people put Acans at the bottom of tank, but when you bought the Acan was it at the bottom of tank? The light used also makes a difference, it might need to be further up in tank...mine likes lower 200 range on Par. Lastly irritants- I say this because when I had random wispy hair algae it would touch the flesh of the acan and either retract the flesh or bother it to the point that it withered away a head of acan. For this a pair aid tweezers works well and pluck as much out as possible around the base. I get this from time to time although my readings are close to yours. Oh - not always the case but LPS like some nutrients in tank and noticed that your readings of nitrate and phosphates are really low for an LPS & softy tank. That might be another reason they are not extended.

 

[bdare]

I agree with Jots. Acans like nutrients. You'll want to increase nitrate and phosphate.

 

[Jots]

Ramdero, have there been any changes to Acan since your post? Hope all is well and don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions