Acropora lovers - I get no polyp extension -why??

[acropora4u]

Hello fellow acropora keepers. Tank has been up and running 1.5 years , I get little to no polyp extension and I can’t figure it out , looking for your input and what has worked for you. Some important information: reef is 225 gallon peninsula with 45 gallons in sump , filtration is via bubble king 200 Dc and clear water aquatics algae scrubber and filter socks changed every 2 days. Flow is 3 x Ecotech mp40 and 2 x wav pumps and dual return lines fed by core 20.
Lighting is 2x250 w metal halides , 1 x Ecotech radion gen 5 , 4 x 80w t5 and 2 x orphek 0r3

parameters
Alk 8.0 dkh - Hanna
Mag 1300- salifert
Po4 - 0.08- Hanna
No3 - 14.5. Hanna high reading unit
Calcium - 425

Par runs about 250 to 440 and lights are on a total of 10 hrs.
Cant figure out why little to no growth or polyp extension on these Acros. They don’t die , they just don’t do anything.

 

[cperry7467]

Have you checked them after the lights are out? I would wait until about an hour after lights out and see if they have polyp extension then. If so then that's fairly normal. As far as why they are closed during the day, could be a bunch of reasons but the most common thing I've seen is a fish or invert bothering the coral. How long have the acros been in your tank with no growth?

 

[acropora4u]

Have you checked them after the lights are out? I would wait until about an hour after lights out and see if they have polyp extension then. If so then that's fairly normal. As far as why they are closed during the day, could be a bunch of reasons but the most common thing I've seen is a fish or invert bothering the coral. How long have the acros been in your tank with no growth?

thanks for input, polyp extension is a little better at night but not great, fish are chromis, clowns and tangs and other no coral eaters so no issues there

 

[Kayanarka]

I've been reading a lot about lighting in a short amount of time. I have no real world experience.

I wonder what would happen if you turned down or shut off the LED lights. I measured par with a par meter and had everything setup based on numbers using LED only lighting, and I had poor results. I cut back on my lighting even though it 2ould put me below what par should be, and the results have been positive. I feel like LED put out a harsher light that some corals don't take to kindly to. My reading has shown there are quite a few folks who prefer LED as an add on for visual pop as opposed to actual light for photosynthesis.

Again I am new and do not have much if any experience.

 

[acropora4u]

I've been reading a lot about lighting in a short amount of time. I have no real world experience.

I wonder what would happen if you turned down or shut off the LED lights. I measured par with a par meter and had everything setup based on numbers using LED only lighting, and I had poor results. I cut back on my lighting even though it 2ould put me below what par should be, and the results have been positive. I feel like LED put out a harsher light that some corals don't take to kindly to. My reading has shown there are quite a few folks who prefer LED as an add on for visual pop as opposed to actual light for photosynthesis.

Again I am new and do not have much if any experience.

i use the metal halides for the perfomance and the led for supplementation. thanks for input

 

[madlos123]

Have you checked for red bugs? White bugs seem to be rampant recently. Flatworms? I know i recently got new acro from 2 different sources. One source with white bugs the polyp extention is minimal while the one without have much more polyp extention. So see if something is crawling on the skin.

 

[acropora4u]

Have you checked for red bugs? White bugs seem to be rampant recently. Flatworms? I know i recently got new acro from 2 different sources. One source with white bugs the polyp extention is minimal while the one without have much more polyp extention. So see if something is crawling on the skin.

Hi , yes, i always check and from day 1for bugs and have always cut off original frag plugs and triple dipped all acros, never seen any bugs or eggs as i buy from respected aquaculture facilities.

 

[Treefer32]

I have a 340 gallon mixed reef (softies - Toad STool, Xenia, ricordia, etc.) with LPS - GSP, Acans, Lobo, etc. and tons of acropora and montipora.

I have similar stats to yours:
ph 8.1-8.28
Alk: 7.8 - 8.4
Phosphate: .04 ppm
Nitrate: 11 - 19 (High range Hana checker)
Salinity 1.025
Calcium: 520
MG: 1540

I have 3 AI Hydra 52s mounted in a Aquatic life fixture with 4 X 80 Watt T5 bulbs. 2 towards the front of the tank and 2 towards the back and the Hydra's in between perpendicular to the tank (Front to back). I also made sure the entire fixture is 14" from my water (Per BRS videos) I used to have it 4 inches from the surface and I couldn't get any SPS to grow. Moving it to 14" all my SPS have taken off.

I've also stopped doing water changes for the last 4 months and have seen no negative effects on growth. I run a good skimmer, I vodka dose, and am dosing magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate to get some sulfates in the water.

I also am dosing red sea trace elements weekly at a 10:1 ratio. Or around 35 ml per week of Red Sea A, B, C, and D trace elements.

All my Acros have polyps open (Sometimes even at night) and continued growth on a weekly basis.

I fed some reef roids since my Phosphates were around .04. I might do this once a week to help my algae turf scrubber and the vodka dosing to work on reducing the nitrates. But I've seen awesome results from my acros.

If I were you, just for peace of mind, I'd send off an ICP test. If you're low on potassium, iron, iodine, you could be inhibiting their health.

It could be lighting too. ICP test is a good way to rule out chemistry issues! I'm probably going to do one myself every 3-6 months just to make sure I'm not overdosing anything and / or under dosing anything. My corals are telling me things are right for now! (Fingers crossed!)

 

[acropora4u]

lights are on as follows:
the only radion i have is 1 x gen 5 pro- its in dead center of tank at 30" on 60 inch long by 36" wide...it comes on at 7:30am and off at 7:30 pm running AB+ program and max 50%

my 2 x 250w DE metal halides fixtures are on either side of radion and running 14k Phoenix bulbs, these come on at 1:00pm and off at 6:30pm ( so on for 5.5 hrs a day- should i increase time on?

the 4 x 80w T5 come on at 9:30 and off at 1:00pm when halides fire up- should i increase run time?

the 2 x orphek or3 are on at 8:00 and off at 8:00pm..

let me know if this is not right? here is a picture of lighting set up

 

[C. Eymann]

What fish do you have in there?

 

[X-37B]

Any pics with whiter lights will help.
It may be flow.
In my 120 I run 2 250 watt de 14k phoenix for 8 hrs.
I run 2 OR3 light bars. 1 blue plus and 1 blue sky. They are on for 9 hrs.
All are 14" off the surface.
My tank is 95% acros.
I run 2 Tunze 6095' on the back wall. 2 Jeabo ow-40's one on each side.
2 Tunze 6105's one on each side.
All of them are on pulse mode except one 6105 that is only on when the lights are on and is constant flow. All run at 100%.
Polyp extention is very good and heavy at night.

A complete list of your fish will help. I have removed 2 that were a problem.
The flow is very random.

With a tank your size I would increase flow.

 

[acropora4u]

Any pics with whiter lights will help.
It may be flow.
In my 120 I run 2 250 watt de 14k phoenix for 8 hrs.
I run 2 OR3 light bars. 1 blue plus and 1 blue sky. They are on for 9 hrs.
All are 14" off the surface.
My tank is 95% acros.
I run 2 Tunze 6095' on the back wall. 2 Jeabo ow-40's one on each side.
2 Tunze 6105's one on each side.
All of them are on pulse mode except one 6105 that is only on when the lights are on and is constant flow. All run at 100%.
Polyp extention is very good and heavy at night.

A complete list of your fish will help. I have removed 2 that were a problem.
The flow is very random.

With a tank your size I would increase flow.

i dont think flow is an issue as i run 3 x mp40s at 100% reef crest, 2 x neptune wav at 100% pulse + 2 secs, and 2 return nozzles at 100% from ecotech m2 pump... fish - green chromis ( 11) , 2 clowns, 5 tangs, 1 x anthias, 2 x bangii cardinal, 1 x firefish goby, 1 x red scooter blenny,.

 

[X-37B]

Ok.

Did you start with all dead rock?

What and how much do you feed your fish?

Do you feed the corals?

Its hard to see in the pics but all the corals appear to be frag size?

With the lighting you have at 1.5 years you should have some seriois growth, imo.

Check my build thread for growth pics from day one until today for an example.

 

[acropora4u]

live rock from previous tank, i feed fish 2 x a day but also export heavily thru bubble king skimmer and algae scrubber.. all frags that have been in system for 6+ months... i feed oyster feast and reef roids

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

live rock from previous tank, i feed fish 2 x a day but also export heavily thru bubble king skimmer and algae scrubber.. all frags that have been in system for 6+ months... i feed oyster feast and reef roids

Are you still using rowaphos?
Do you still have your file fish?

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Feeding and flow seem to help get the best polyp extension. If theres no food in the water theres no reason for them to feed with polyps. And they'll never have pe unless they're getting plenty of flow.

 

[GarrettT]

Any pics with whiter lights will help.
It may be flow.
In my 120 I run 2 250 watt de 14k phoenix for 8 hrs.
I run 2 OR3 light bars. 1 blue plus and 1 blue sky. They are on for 9 hrs.
All are 14" off the surface.
My tank is 95% acros.
I run 2 Tunze 6095' on the back wall. 2 Jeabo ow-40's one on each side.
2 Tunze 6105's one on each side.
All of them are on pulse mode except one 6105 that is only on when the lights are on and is constant flow. All run at 100%.
Polyp extention is very good and heavy at night.

A complete list of your fish will help. I have removed 2 that were a problem.
The flow is very random.

With a tank your size I would increase flow.

What kind of par are you getting with those lights on the 120 at that mounting height?

 

[X-37B]

What kind of par are you getting with those lights on the 120 at that mounting height?

Fixture is 12" from water so lights are 14".
Never checked par on any system I have run. Probably a good idea though.
I grow acros from the bottom up on this system.
Same light but a 250 mogal at the same distance in my 12" frag system.

 

[GarrettT]

I have my 400w moguls mounted 12'' above my water surface (25'' tall aquarium) and I'm only getting 230 par at lower mid level. 180 if I include the fish screen, which was another surprise. Used an apogee 520 for measuring. I didn't expect it to be so low, so I was just curious.

 

[X-37B]

live rock from previous tank, i feed fish 2 x a day but also export heavily thru bubble king skimmer and algae scrubber.. all frags that have been in system for 6+ months... i feed oyster feast and reef roids

Fish 2x a day is good, how much?
Are your OR3'sreef day as they look like it?
If it was my system I would run halides 8hrs, Orphek blue plus and blue sky for 10 hrs.
T5's would be actinic.
What bulbs are you running in your T5's.

With the halides you really only need supplemental blue lights to get the color you want, imo.

Although it does not happen often you may have to much light for your current corals at this time, imo.