I could use some half dead Acan advice.

[Johniejumbo]

I got this lil thing a while back and it was full and healthy as it could get. A few months past and it had mostly receded to a small bit of flesh in the centers of the polyps. It has since recovered to this point and has stalled. Anyone had this happen before? What could I do to jumpstart it? This tank is probably the healthiest tank I’ve ever had and all other corals and fish are very happy. This one came back from deaths door only to stall out. ( my Valentini puffer may have had something to do with it). Puffer is removed. Should I frag it or something?

 

[dylandionysius]

My new Acans became really unhappy with the higher lighting I was running in my tank, put them in a bit of shade and they popped right out again. Another thing to mention, if you have any pests scurrying around, that could be a contributing factor. I had an acan freaking out for a bit, turned around the frag to find a tiny starfish munching away.

 

[living_tribunal]

I got this lil thing a while back and it was full and healthy as it could get. A few months past and it had mostly receded to a small bit of flesh in the centers of the polyps. It has since recovered to this point and has stalled. Anyone had this happen before? What could I do to jumpstart it? This tank is probably the healthiest tank I’ve ever had and all other corals and fish are very happy. This one came back from deaths door only to stall out. ( my Valentini puffer may have had something to do with it). Puffer is removed. Should I frag it or something?

If it is recovering, don’t try and jump start anything. Keep it how it is and maintain consistency with your tank.

It looks like it has receded a lot and you don’t want to fix what’s not broke. Some ways to help it outside of being patient and allowing it to grow is to dose some aminos and carbs. If it responds well, try feeding it a small amount of pellets.

 

[Johniejumbo]

Hmmm. I do have metal halide lighting. It’s not particularly strong but I will think on moving it to a shaded area. It’s been stalled like this about three months. I’m in no hurry. Just wondered if there was anything I could do for it. I never see the little feeding tentacles they have extended so I haven’t tried feeding it. I hesitate to put any aminos n such in the tank with everyone else so happy. What kind would you suggest? I’ll look into it!

 

[dylandionysius]

Hmmm. I do have metal halide lighting. It’s not particularly strong but I will think on moving it to a shaded area. It’s been stalled like this about three months. I’m in no hurry. Just wondered if there was anything I could do for it. I never see the little feeding tentacles they have extended so I haven’t tried feeding it. I hesitate to put any aminos n such in the tank with everyone else so happy. What kind would you suggest? I’ll look into it!

I'm not an expert by any means, but you'd be surprised how little light some acans actually need. Mine were under really bright 20k lighting, switched to something more relaxed and blue, opened right up.

 

[dylandionysius]

Hmmm. I do have metal halide lighting. It’s not particularly strong but I will think on moving it to a shaded area. It’s been stalled like this about three months. I’m in no hurry. Just wondered if there was anything I could do for it. I never see the little feeding tentacles they have extended so I haven’t tried feeding it. I hesitate to put any aminos n such in the tank with everyone else so happy. What kind would you suggest? I’ll look into it!

Also, I've heard that feeding them can really help. Of course they have to be opened up in order to feed.

 

[Johniejumbo]

I think I’ll slip it over under a bit of a ledge and see what happens for the next couple of weeks. What have I got to lose right? It’ll have a little less flow and light there. Maybe I’ll turn off the pumps and try some reef roids is on it off I see any feed response from it.

 

[living_tribunal]

Hmmm. I do have metal halide lighting. It’s not particularly strong but I will think on moving it to a shaded area. It’s been stalled like this about three months. I’m in no hurry. Just wondered if there was anything I could do for it. I never see the little feeding tentacles they have extended so I haven’t tried feeding it. I hesitate to put any aminos n such in the tank with everyone else so happy. What kind would you suggest? I’ll look into it!

If it’s not recessing and has grown under its current conditions, don’t move it to more shade. Keep it where it is. Coral growth is not linear and it’s probably growing places you can’t see like polyp cell density or zoox density.

For aminos, I like reef energy a+b. I get the fastest growth from my acans by stuffing them full of pellets. I would not feed roids as it’s likely the little rotifers and detritus would build up in the skeleton and attract amphipods, fish, and potentially algae which wouldn’t be good. Pellets are clean and provide a lot more nutrition as well. Start easy with 1-4 pellets and see how it reacts.

 

[living_tribunal]

I think I’ll slip it over under a bit of a ledge and see what happens for the next couple of weeks. What have I got to lose right? It’ll have a little less flow and light there. Maybe I’ll turn off the pumps and try some reef roids is on it off I see any feed response from it.

Don’t feed reef roids to a coral where recession has caused a visible skeleton. See above.

 

[HuduVudu]

Feed it.

I love that people don't know to feed these because I get them from the stores for very cheap.

Wait until just after the lights go out and put a little food on them. Make sure that there is no flow on them so they can get the food. I guard mine against maurading fish and bristle worms and amphipods. Wait until it completely eats the food. When they are weak like yours are I will use selcon to try to get them interested. After a few times of this they will start to come back. Don't force the feedings after you get them turned around. They will stop feeding after they have taken in food for a couple of days. Wait and feed them in three or four days. Then after that you can feed them maybe once or twice a week and they will strengthen up and start growing.

Ohhhh btw I use mysis ... something meaty for them.

 

[Johniejumbo]

Don’t feed reef roids to a coral where recession has caused a visible skeleton. See above.

I can see that. Maybe I’ll give it more time where it is. As I said I’m in no hurry. I’m a patient reefer these days. What kind of pellets do you use?

 

[Johniejumbo]

Feed it.

I love that people don't know to feed these because I get them from the stores for very cheap.

Wait until just after the lights go out and put a little food on them. Make sure that there is no flow on them so they can get the food. I guard mine against maurading fish and bristle worms and amphipods. Wait until it completely eats the food. When they are weak like yours are I will use selcon to try to get them interested. After a few times of this they will start to come back. Don't force the feedings after you get them turned around. They will stop feeding after they have taken in food for a couple of days. Wait and feed them in three or four days. Then after that you can feed them maybe once or twice a week and they will strengthen up and start growing.

So they present more feeding response after lights out? How do you use seal on to get them interested? Just put a little in the area around them with no flow?

 

[living_tribunal]

I can see that. Maybe I’ll give it more time where it is. As I said I’m in no hurry. I’m a patient reefer these days. What kind of pellets do you use?

I save money by using coral frenzy. As @HuduVudu stated, acans do like to eat moderate amounts. I feed every polyp ~10 pellets once, maybe twice, a week. You get much faster growth from pellets than you do roids. Just don’t over do it in terms of frequency.

I feed pellets to any corals that are large enough as they are able to actually consume it and work it into their mouths unlike reef roids. I wouldn’t be surprised if corals are only able to consume ~20-30% of the roids you spray on them. They are able to consume all of the pellets because of the weight.

 

[HuduVudu]

So they present more feeding response after lights out? How do you use seal on to get them interested? Just put a little in the area around them with no flow?

I will post pictures of my Acan eating this evening.

Stay tuned.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I've always had good luck lowering them in the tank due to light upsetting them.

 

[Lasse]

There is an old trick that circulate at Swedish forums a couple of years ago according healing LPS that have starved for a while. Between 15 - 30 ml (one to two tablespoons) of dextrose in one Litre of tank water. The coral should be there for 1/2 an hour and the treatment should be repeated every (or every second) day for a week. I have not tested - do not know if it work or not.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[HuduVudu]

Here is the Acan in the day:

Here the tenticals are out. Shining a light makes them go in but I got some of them out.

Here is my wife feeding. You can see the food collecting at the mouths. The stronger the Acan is the faster they pull the food. Weak Acans take quite some time to get the food all the way in. You have to be patient with them when they are like that.

 

[Johniejumbo]

Nice! Thank you. I’m going to see about feeding mine maybe. I will let you know how it goes!

 

[Johniejumbo]

I fed the half dead acan. It took a loooong time for the tiny pellets I fed them to get swallowed but they did indeed get swallowed! I waited til just after lights out. Turned off the water flow and put a couple of very tiny pellets on each head. I then sprinkled a few pellets around the area to distract the hermits and such. They eventually got the pellets ate and the next day they looked quite a bit fluffier! I will wait a few days and repeat the process. I’ll update in a couple of weeks. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[Johniejumbo]

Not sure the feeding regimen is doing much good. I have used very small pellets and reef roids. The flesh tends to look a little fluffier so there may be some good. However, comparing my first pic with this one makes me think I’m not gaining any ground.

I will continue feeding occasionally and I may move it into a shadier spot to see if that helps. Maybe this one just isn’t meant to be. Won’t give up on it though.