Lost Both my Acans

pickupman66 · Jan 15, 2013

SOOOO,, I have a mystery here. I recently lost both of my acans. the one that was big and fluffy went up in brown jelly so fast I could not save it. the other just sort of dwindled down to nothing and is now gone. I am clueless to as to why they are gone. Water conditions are good.

9.5dKh
440 Ca
Zero Nitrates
.02 Phosphates
34ppt salinty

the ONLY thing I can figure is some trace amounts of the dip for killing the flatworms I am dealing with got into the tank, but EVERYTHING else loooks good.

any ideas?

is my water too clean??? I had heard they like a bit more Phosphate in the water.

solar · Jan 15, 2013

Don't know much about acans but im sorry for your loss

dwilliams87 · Jan 15, 2013

Lindsey, They like more Nitrates. You are running an extremely clean system. I have probably 20 acans and I run my nitrates around 5 -10. My phosphates are generally .06-.10. I have trouble with acros probably for the same reason you have trouble with acans. My acans, chalices, and favias always look better when the nitrates are around 20. I don't like it being that high though so I run 10. When it gets down to that less than 5 area I know by looking at mt SPS's. And typically I know when it's above 20 because my montis aren't as happy. I'm lucky/unlucky that I run a nano tank because alot of my chemistry is balanced with water changes. In a sytem of your size, you have to require a little more on dosing/reactors than I do. The only reactor I run is GFO, and it's a very low amount. If i'm not mistaken, I believe Dowtish has told me that his LPS don't like his clean system as much either. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong Chris,lol). I don't think that would make them wither away, but it probably didn't help to prevent it. Hope this helps.

pickupman66 · Jan 15, 2013

Gotcha.. that is what I was starting to think. I have three frogspawns that look good but havent really grown by leaps and bounds. this may be why. My Leathers Look INCREDIBLE as well as my nepthea and Zoanthids. Acros look good too considering....guess I need to feed a bit more. since I lose the CBB, I havent fed near as much frozen so that could be why.

Singlefin · Jan 15, 2013

I just lost a couple and have a few in the same spot that are doing good. I think my water is too clean also. I feed my acans a mix of mysis, Rotifers, and cyclops a few times a week. My caps and Millie's are doing great.

dwilliams87 · Jan 15, 2013

There is a liquid food called Macrovore that I've been using for about 6 months now that everything really likes. I think it's made by brightwell. Here is a link
Brightwell Aquatics Microvore Microdiet 17oz 500mL

Dowtish · Jan 15, 2013

Feed Feed Feed!

Lindsey and Daniel, all my LPS are doing great now. My acans were mad when I upgraded my lights but they seemed to adjust over 3 months or so. All my levels are super low too and my zoas are growing faster than ever. I think it comes down to how much I feed the tank. and i dont actually feed the corals directly, just broadcast feed. I think that my acans would grow faster if I did directly feed them, but I'm too lazy, and my tank being 27" tall is a major factor.

pickupman66 · Jan 15, 2013

I have that. Use it weekly to twice a week. When I can remember.

sent from my Galaxy with Tapatalk 2

pelagic · Jan 15, 2013

I believe it's more of a light issue, my acans look like crap when I run my blue at 100%, they all look awesome when I turned the blue to 50%

dwilliams87 · Jan 16, 2013

Chris - That's awesome man. It's been a while since we talked so thanks for correcting me.

Lindsey - Chris is right. Feed like crazy. As far as spot feeding goes, I have definitely had my best color and growth from spot feeding. At one point I was spot feeding once a day which is over kill, But my LPS looked unbelievable.

Jay6363 · Jan 16, 2013

How about in regards to LEDs I have been having trouble with my acan ever since I switched?

dwilliams87 · Jan 16, 2013

I've had LED's on all my tanks now for 4 or 5 months and have no problems.

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

pickupman66 · Jan 16, 2013

Hmmm. ok. so if and when i get another acan, ill just have to commit to spot feeding. UGH. im so lazy.

Dowtish · Jan 16, 2013

Jay6363 said:
How about in regards to LEDs I have been having trouble with my acan ever since I switched?

There is a really long thread on here about what lighting people are using with acans. I will say that when I was only running 4 T5's my acans were much puffier fat and happier than when I went to 6 bulbs and led supplements. I don't think they like light all that much. And especially they don't seem to like strong leds, but most things seem to adjust over time if you have switched from one kind of lighting to another. If you can put them in a semi shaded area and can spot feed them that would be ideal.

pelagic · Jan 16, 2013

dwilliams87 said:
I've had LED's on all my tanks now for 4 or 5 months and have no problems.

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app

I am not saying all the LED are bad, I have A LOT of Royal Blue for the setup, and they are way to intense for my soft corals and the acans. so I have to turn them way down. I will say light is the number one reason acan or softies are not doing well.