Polyp extension

Gabriel Guirola · Aug 10, 2017

i was just curious on if it normal for my sticks not to have the same polyp extension that I get when my lights are out. Most of the time during the day I have not many polyps out but once the lights sre out I have crazy polyp extension. I know they eat at night but should it be that different?

FLAdaboy · Aug 10, 2017

Maybe turn your flow up if SPS dominate, make sure your levels are good. I see more PE in the afternoon because the flow is strongest and the lights are getting their dusk effect.

reefwiser · Aug 10, 2017

Fish in the tank can also cause corals to not extend their polyp's. Some corals are just not big extenders of polyp's during the day. If you like that then make sure to ask the person you buy frag's from about PE on the corals you are buying.

LobsterOfJustice · Aug 10, 2017

It's normal. What fish do you have? In nature, polyps are retracted all day because they get picked at.

Gabriel Guirola · Aug 10, 2017

Thanks guys. I have a pygme angel, 1 clown, 1 green chromis, target mandarin, yellow watchman and 1 molly. I know the pygme sometimes nips some of my corals but not enough to cause extensive damage. I was just asking because sometimes when I google images of some of the corals that I have some of them have a lot of PE compared to mine under normal lights but mine just do it at night. Thanks a lot for the info and I gues I won't worry about it then, as long as they grow and are happy.

cpvince · Aug 10, 2017

Some colonies have more polyp extension than others. But I'm willing to bet it's because of that pygmy...I had a flame angel that nipped at my sps every now and then. It didn't look like it was causing any damage but after getting rid of it, I'm seeing better polyp extension in the colonies that have previously stayed retracted during lights on.

LobsterOfJustice · Aug 10, 2017

Yes it's likely the angel to blame. No hate as I have two angels in my tank. Just saying they are usually the culprit. But as you noticed, coral can live perfectly fine and be otherwise unaffected.

Gabriel Guirola · Aug 11, 2017

I was hopping these was the case. Pygmy angels is one of my favorite fish so I was hoping I didn't have to get rid of him. Thanks for the input guys.

reefwiser · Aug 11, 2017

As long as the fish isn't killing the corals you could leave him in the tank. Make sure to feed the tank more so the fish are not picking for food all day long either.

Gabriel Guirola · Aug 11, 2017

reefwiser said:
As long as the fish isn't killing the corals you could leave him in the tank. Make sure to feed the tank more so the fish are not picking for food all day long either.

I usually feed twice a day. in the morning I feed flakes and at night i do LRS or Mysis shrimp

reefwiser · Aug 11, 2017

You might try some Easy Reefs Masstick Fish Food

cpvince · Aug 11, 2017

Yeah, leaving the angel in wouldn't be the end of the world. My sps still grew fine with the angel picking at it for months, albeit at a slower pace. I eventually took it out just because I didn't want to take any chances with the rare pieces I've acquired.

Gabriel Guirola · Aug 13, 2017

reefwiser said:
You might try some Easy Reefs Masstick Fish Food

That is actually a good idea for the angel to get some vegies in his system

cpvince said:
Yeah, leaving the angel in wouldn't be the end of the world. My sps still grew fine with the angel picking at it for months, albeit at a slower pace. I eventually took it out just because I didn't want to take any chances with the rare pieces I've acquired.

I am going to keep this guy ubtil I am settle and get my big dream tank going