Ideas About Cranky Acan?

[dsinsocal]

I've had this Acan for a couple of years. I raised it from a single polyp and it has always been fat and happy -- until a few days ago. On Tuesday it only seemed to open about 75% of usual. On Wednesday it was about half its usual size, and very raisin-y looking -- kind of shriveled. Yesterday and today it isn't coming out at all and now I'm starting to get concerned.

Nothing seems to be out of whack with the tank. Tank testing/monitoring doesn't show any sudden swings in any parameters, and everything else in the tank still looks fantastic. Any ideas?

 

[dsinsocal]

Pictures of other items in the tank for reference. The piece in question is in the dead center of the photo.

Other acans are perfectly happy...

Euphylia and Lobos are perfectly happy as well.

 

[dsinsocal]

Hmmm... looking closer, could sudden Hammer Coral sweepers be to blame here? I've never, ever had an issue with these two living in proximity, but things do change, I suppose.

If a sweeper hits one side of an acan colony, would the entire colony close up, or just the surrounding area of sweeper impact?

There's about 2-3 inches of clearance between the two. The hammer *has* been growing a lot lately though, so perhaps it's starting to sweep for more territory.

 

[Bill_Moorman]

It very well could be getting stung by sweepers. Is if possible to move it to see if that makes a difference?

Also, sometimes acans are jerks. They look like crap and make us all worried and then one day they come back and look amazing. Has anything else changed?

 

[dsinsocal]

Nope. Nothing has changed at all. Temp, PH, Alk, Calc, flow, lighting ... everything has been consistent and stable.

On rare occasions I've seen this piece go flat for a few hours at a time, but always chalked it up to an obnoxious shrimp probing it for food or something, and it always bounced right back the next day. But this being a pattern for most of this week now really has me worried.

I did move the rock this afternoon and placed it at the bottom of the tank, away from the Euphyllias. Hopefully, I'll see some improvement tomorrow.

 

[Braves Fan]

Keep us informed ,,

 

[Coralreefer1]

I would be willing to bet that the Euphyllia (Hammer) corals sweeper tentacles are a big part of your problem.

 

[Braves Fan]

I wouldn't expect it to bounce back quickly ,, if it is the Hammer messing with it ,, will be interesting to see how long it takes though

 

[dsinsocal]

Much better today -- about 50% expanded. I'm breathing a guarded sigh of relief.

Thanks all.

 

[Bill_Moorman]

Like I said friend, acans are jerks. They are so pretty but they have tantrums and make us worry. Glad to see all is getting better. Likely it was being stung by the hammer.

 

[dsinsocal]

This is the first time I've ever had one throw a tantrum like this. Someone needs a timeout.

I'm still wondering though... if a sweeper hits one or two polyps on an Acan, does the entire thing close up like that, or just those polyps being hit? It seems weird that the back side of the colony would be just as crimped up as the front side being hit.

On a related note, I've always wondered if the polyps were independent, or part of the larger body. Ie. do I need to target-feed each polyp individually, or just target feed the "body" so that most of the polyps get something?

 

[Bill_Moorman]

Truthfully, idk. I also wonder the same thing.

When I do feed, I am just like you, I try to feed each polyp.

I would think them being a colony, that nutrients would be shared, and the polyp that gets the food gets more than the rest. My colony’s aren’t big enough to worry about not feeding each head, but if they were, I probably would feed each section every other feeding.

 

[dsinsocal]

Sounds like I need to fire off a question to Than at Tidal Gardens.

 

[Braves Fan]

Wow ,, I am really surprised how fast it bounced back ,,

 

[Bill_Moorman]

Sounds like I need to fire off a question to Than at Tidal Gardens.

When you find out let me know!

 

[dsinsocal]

Than's opinion:
"I think they are connected and share. If something bad happens, there is a cascade effect to neighboring polyps."

My gut tells me to agree with that position, but the operative word there is "think". I'm curious if there is a scientific conclusion one way or the other out there someplace.

 

[ahiggins]

That’s one heck of a tantrum. I’ve seen mine go haywire but never that bad.
As far as feeding, for what it’s worth, I’ve always tried to feed all heads.

 

[Garin fisher]

I believe I have the same colony. I have very small and I mean small trace amounts of green on only some of my heads. Do you dose any trace elements or anything for color?

This picture doesn’t really show the green but I’ll get a better shot tomorrow. This one was from about 6 months ago before the green started to show

 

[dsinsocal]

I use Brightwell Replenish a couple times a week. I rarely do water changes -- maybe 20% once every couple of months -- really only when I need to pull water from the main display to fill up the QT, then I have to mix up a small batch of replacement water.