Coloring up acans

Spaceman Spliff · Nov 20, 2011

I have a bunch of rainbow acan lords I've purchased over the last few months. Some of them have kept their color great while others have turned to a solid bright orange. What causes an acan to lose its rainbow and turn solid? I am assuming it is because of lighting? Too much or too little? I am using 6 T5's (4 Blue Plus, 1 Purple Plus, 1 Aquablue Special 15K) and keep them 3 to 6 inches above the sandbed. I do notice I have trouble keeping green tones in an acan while red/orange/yellow does great. Is that due to bulb combo or light intensity?

Are there any secrets to getting the best colors from acans? Or any tips on moving them higher or lower depending on what they look like? I also notice some seem to stretch their polyps higher like they want more light versus others that plump out and look great where they are. The one I am thinking of that is stretching is newer to my tank so maybe its still adjusting? I have found some of my rainbows lost some color when new but really came back after about 2 months. I figured that is them adjusting to my tank and lighting. To contradict that though, I have others that lost some colors and didn't get them all back.

brannock_16 · Nov 20, 2011

Spaceman Spliff said:
I have a bunch of rainbow acan lords I've purchased over the last few months. Some of them have kept their color great while others have turned to a solid bright orange. What causes an acan to lose its rainbow and turn solid? This can be caused by a number of things, but the most prevalent is wild harvested rainbow/ultra grade acan lords that are brought into the aquaria trade and often times these wild harvested specimens will not retain their rainbow colors. Aqua cultured ultra grade lords are a much safer bet because they have been proven to retain their colors in the aquaria trade. I am assuming it is because of lighting? This is not necessarily true, I also run very blue lighting (T5) on my tank and the rainbow frags I have bought have retained their color nicely. Too much or too little? I would suspect that rainbow lords that are losing color are receiving too much direct light. I am using 6 T5's (4 Blue Plus, 1 Purple Plus, 1 Aquablue Special 15K) and keep them 3 to 6 inches above the sandbed. I do notice I have trouble keeping green tones in an acan while red/orange/yellow does great. Is that due to bulb combo or light intensity? I would suggest moving your lords that are beginning to wash out to lower light and partial shade. I would also suggest target feeding them with very rich foods (I use Fauna Marin LPS food).

Are there any secrets to getting the best colors from acans? It depends on every acan lord...it is a trial and error thing. You should try moving the lords to different locations in your tank and let them be for a while and see how they respond. Typically the ultra grade lords will want lower/less direct light to retain all their colors. Or any tips on moving them higher or lower depending on what they look like? I have found moving higher leads to less colors. Moving lower and in more shade increases color contrasts. I also notice some seem to stretch their polyps higher like they want more light versus others that plump out and look great where they are. The one I am thinking of that is stretching is newer to my tank so maybe its still adjusting? I have found some of my rainbows lost some color when new but really came back after about 2 months. I figured that is them adjusting to my tank and lighting. To contradict that though, I have others that lost some colors and didn't get them all back. As previously stated this varies from lord to lord. Some wash out, others retain colors amazingly. You just need to find the sweet spot in your tank for each frag.

I hope all of this helped and if you have anymore questions feel free to ask away. I may have rambled a bit in spots but tried to help you to the best of my knowledge.