Is there a trick to make acans keep their color?

[Sea MunnKey]

Someone or somebody should be able to offer some scientific data/information in relation to keeping Acan colours ... no?

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

World wide is local to me, I see the livestock in their tanks before they ever get bagged up.

However, I know you're right about how they can look very different from one light fixture to another. The thing is though, they are brilliantly colored for the first few weeks of ownership, then they begin to orange out.

I had this issue when using cheap black box LED's. I upgraded to radion (gen 3), and no longer have this problem. So, IMHO, it could be your lighting.

 

[Literallyhydro]

I had this issue when using cheap black box LED's. I upgraded to radion (gen 3), and no longer have this problem. So, IMHO, it could be your lighting.

This is the answer I dread hearing [emoji20] it's a six foot tank so lighting it with high end leds is going to be insanely expensive. As much as I want to, it'll have to be much later in the future.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

This is the answer I dread hearing [emoji20] it's a six foot tank so lighting it with high end leds is going to be insanely expensive. As much as I want to, it'll have to be much later in the future.

FWIW, adding some T5's could potentially help. Also, acans were the only thing that really did this to me, so maybe focus on other corals for a while. Lastly, I bought my lights used to help with the price point. Gen 3 radions are good bit cheaper now than they used to be since the gen 4's have been released. Best of luck!

 

[Fourstars]

Then go back to the old school Halide or HO for now. Lots of cheap options. Except for the Watts consumed. My son has one of those Black boxes. His tank always has issues.

 

[guido5526]

I use the sb reef light 32" timer model whites are at the lowest and blues around half way. I have tons of acans and no issues with color. Mine have phenomenal color and I feed them once a week with a mix of amino acids and the orange powder coral food like reef roids

 

[ot7]

I also use black boxes (from amazon) , I have been for almost a year now and my acans do fine. I havent hung up my black boxes over my tank because I havent found a way to hang them thatll look good. Anyways, I have them sitting right on top of the lid of my tank. Blues are usually at 50% and whites at 10%.

(rn I only have this really blue pic of them, taken with my iphone, shows more blues that there really is. I got all of my acans after getting the black boxes. )

 

[trustmeimalawyer]

May I ask what your Kessil settings are and what kind of T5 bulbs you are using?

I only have a few acans but I have learned a few things to keep them colorful. The most important thing for me was adding T5 lighting to supplement my Kessil A360WE lighting. Acans seem to do better under T5 lighting in my experience. They also did better when I tweaked my lighting to be a little more blue. WWC is right about lower light as well. My acans are more colorful on the sides than on top because the sides get a little less direct light.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I use T5, Kessil A360, twin SB reef and twin radions and they are growing steadily with nice color.
I do feed them 2-3 days a week and add aminos and seachem Fuel.

 

[Literallyhydro]

It seems like the majority of the people who are successful with good growth and color feed their Acans on a regular basis.

So now, I have a followup question. If the Acans have browned out/turned orange, will they recover their original color with a good feeding regimen, if all the other requirements are met?

 

[vetteguy53081]

It seems like the majority of the people who are successful with good growth and color feed their Acans on a regular basis.

So now, I have a followup question. If the Acans have browned out/turned orange, will they recover their original color with a good feeding regimen, if all the other requirements are met?

They should. They respond well to feeding and have large mouths. If lights Re bright, reduce brightness a little and apply more blues if possible

 

[JCM]

I think feeding them is a good idea. But ultimately, I think the color change is due to lighting.

 

[boxofrocks]

T5 supplement will help even with cheap black box LEDs. My answer every time is t5 + feeding enough that they get some or spot feeding. Moderate flow and water quality being consistent aren’t bad places to start but should be a given. I’ve kept acans for 10ish years under different lighting and nothing ever stood up to halides or t5 to keep them colored up.

 

[DHill6]

Radion Pro Gen4, 9 inches above water set at 52% A+B program for SPS, mp10's running reefcrest mode at 50%. Tank fed LRF daily, aminos and reefroids twice a week. Great color, nice and plump. Acans are glued on rock, they're not on the bottom of tank which is a reefer 170. None are shaded but they're at the sides of tank. They're getting plenty of light, flow and food.

 

[Allredarms]

Mine seem to like low light as well

 

[Literallyhydro]

After feeding Reef Roids on Thursday, even today they are puffier than usual. Maybe there's hope for me and Acans

 

[jmreef]

Awesome colors! Would you recommend one T5 blue plus in addition to my Radion xr30’s? Or is that overkill? Your colors look solid!

Thx

T5 supplement will help even with cheap black box LEDs. My answer every time is t5 + feeding enough that they get some or spot feeding. Moderate flow and water quality being consistent aren’t bad places to start but should be a given. I’ve kept acans for 10ish years under different lighting and nothing ever stood up to halides or t5 to keep them colored up.

 

[boxofrocks]

Awesome colors! Would you recommend one T5 blue plus in addition to my Radion xr30’s? Or is that overkill? Your colors look solid!

Thx

I run 2 x 80w Blue Plus in addition to my LEDs - 1 T5 bulb won't be overkill for anything but will potentially help just a bit on your coloration. Run the T5 5-6 hours or so at the height of your lighting schedule and in a few months, you'll see changes. Ideally you'd run 2 bulbs minimum but you can start with 1 to see if you like it.

 

[Saltyanimals]

I run the SPS AB+ On G3 pros and couple months back added an all blue morning period and it seemed to help color up some. However this is hard to truly measurement Bc other tank changes might have help. Ie I started energy A and B. Never know in this hobby but I’m happier with my acan colors today.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Ahh. stumble up top this thread researching a recent acan 'problem' and noticed that I was the last response above.

That last statement was almost 6 months ago and I've started to see some decline on some of the colonies. The center mouth areas have lost the color and only outer rings have color. Some have what appears to be receding flesh as I can see the bumpy skeleton on some. Note that I change very little in the tank over this period. Same salt, doser lights etc. Only thing I can think of is that I started dosing RedSea Color a couple times a week, but not in great quantity. Not saying there is a relationship, but calling out any tank changes. I also only feed the tank 1-2 a week and not target feed. I may start trying that to see if they recover, but I prefer a low maintenance tank (lazy and dependent on automation. lol)