Polyp Extension

[jsbzcmcdaniel]

What lighting do you run?

Two Hydra 26HD's

 

[jsbzcmcdaniel]

Oh, awesome pup, by the way. I love how dogs always have to check out what we are taking pictures of. Lol [emoji23][emoji23]

Thank you. We are a bulldog family. We recently had to put my 13yr old down due to health issues. The white one on the pic is our 7yr old male named Magoo. I got a French Bulldog for my wife for Christmas and he is a really cool pup. Great personality and overall great breed. His name is Winston

 

[jsbzcmcdaniel]

I stand corrected. Didn’t realize the ab+ for the 26’s recommends greens and reds at 4. I have 52’s and the recommended settings are 15 and 40. My mistake

No worries. I actually adjusted them to the video you posted. It was very close to the api file I uploaded from AI's website.

 

[jsbzcmcdaniel]

I just received my new Nitrate test kit and did another full test. The tests were either Salifert or Hanna Digital.

Temp: 79
Salinity - 1.026
Cal - 499
Mag - 1350
Alk - 8.2
PO4 - 0
NO3 - Undetectable

So with that said my water chemistry is good but possibly too clean. I have since removed the Seachem Matrix from the sump cup, and also turned off the Nyos Quantum 160 skimmer off to dirty the water a bit. I have also noticed my wife's Zoanthid frags are not as full and "plump" as in the sellers tank. So I am going to contribute the entire issue to too clean of water if there is such a thing. I started to feed a little more often but I only have three fish so I don't want to over do it. I will keep an eye on things and report back in a week or so. I am going to Aquashella here in a couple weeks and planned on picking up some high end sps pieces so I hope things look better before then. Thanks for the responses from everyone. One thing for sure in this hobby, no matter how much you think you know, there is always more to learn. And more money to spend

 

[vetteguy53081]

Try food suspended feeding with reef roids or similar but don't over do it

 

[CltBadger]

Try KZ coral vitalizer, my acros have shown an increase in PE since I started using it. I also have a fairly new tank: 8 months.

 

[Bpb]

Both Sanjay and Adam at Battlecorals run their LEDs at 100% on every channel. Reds and greens included. I’d consider them among some of the most elite at growing acropora

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

+1 - I've found good success as well running my leds @100% all channels, granted they are suspended quite high for optimal spread and spectral blending.

 

[1stNoel]

I just received my new Nitrate test kit and did another full test. The tests were either Salifert or Hanna Digital.

Temp: 79
Salinity - 1.026
Cal - 499
Mag - 1350
Alk - 8.2
PO4 - 0
NO3 - Undetectable

So with that said my water chemistry is good but possibly too clean. I have since removed the Seachem Matrix from the sump cup, and also turned off the Nyos Quantum 160 skimmer off to dirty the water a bit. I have also noticed my wife's Zoanthid frags are not as full and "plump" as in the sellers tank. So I am going to contribute the entire issue to too clean of water if there is such a thing. I started to feed a little more often but I only have three fish so I don't want to over do it. I will keep an eye on things and report back in a week or so. I am going to Aquashella here in a couple weeks and planned on picking up some high end sps pieces so I hope things look better before then. Thanks for the responses from everyone. One thing for sure in this hobby, no matter how much you think you know, there is always more to learn. And more money to spend

Let's talk about your real AB issue: where's the updated pic with the Raider jersey?

 

[Ted Anton]

I figured it out its the bulldog
LOL

 

[Ted Anton]

I figured it out its the bulldog
LOL

 

[MissyTwitch]

Suggestions on Polyp Extension: Increase flow like recommended by other. I'd suggest getting a par meter. If you wanna keep your SPS happy, your bottom should be around ~ 250. Try not to go lower as Most SPS wont do as well at lower PARS. Other considerations: from you picture it looks like you either have Cyanobacteria/Brown Diatoms/Dinoflagellates. These can cause problems with polyp extension, Dinos mostly, especially if they get too close they can sting the coral. If they have too high of concentration in the tank they can make chemical warfare on SPS.

 

[Outdrsyguy1]

Definitely flow. It looks like you have sand and it’s not mounded at all. If it is sand and it’s not being moved around by flow you definitely don’t have enough flow for happy acros. Especially if some frags are sitting on the sand. Also recommend more nutrients unless your running a zeovit tank and dosing nutrients everyday with it.

 

[Itsander]

Make one change at a time and let it play out for a week or so before more change. I would start by increasing the flow, next perhaps consider not using a filter sock for a week if you are using one. I stopped running filter socks and notice coral that were healthy but didn't show much PE now extend their polyps quite a bit.

Agreed with the flow , try little more every week, you will se results soon, good luck.

 

[sghera64]

Stability is often the most overlooked parameter affecting polyp extension (assuming all basic parameters are within range).

Sounds like your tank is still quite young, too.

 

[atp0726]

-Crank up the flow. I like having one mp on like 50 constant and the other on like 70-75 reefcrest. If you have a reeflink you can alter this so they switch sides every 4hrs or so.
-You are going to need to get some NO3 in there and just turning down the skimmer may not do the trick. I would look into dosing, lots of info on hear.
-Rent or buy a par meter. You need to dial in the lights.
-Dont starting adding a bunch of supplements trying to figure things out. Just keep it simple. Take your GAC offline, remove filter socks. if stuff starts thriving and you want to add aminos or something similar go for it.
-Keep you alk rock solid. Check it everyday until you are sure its dialed in.
-Unfortunately, your tank might just be to young and wont support Acro's yet. My current set up took 2 years to be stable enough.

 

[ScottB]

Most of this has been said, so it is really a review but:
- you should have flow to a level that you get sand mounding
- set skimmer to dry skim; gas exchange is good, just don't let it fill the cup with any skimmate
- add a fish every two weeks to slowly raise bioload. Choose some solid herbivores for the inevitable algae that the added nutrient is going to grow. Your tank is big enough for some tangs, and who doesn't love an algae blenny?
- NO3 should be inside 3-10; PO4 should be .02-.08. While I have dosed both in the past, it is much simpler, smoother and natural to manage these with food & skim, IMO.
- Once you are reading some nutrients, you can tinker with bringing the skimmer back online to manage the load.

You have a fine set of equipment there, but I share some reservations about your PAR levels - borrow a PAR meter to determine if your getting 250+ to the bottom. Else you gotta move the frags up. If that is still not enough, consider hanging those Hydra 26s inside a Aquatic Life T5 Hybrid with four ATI Blue Plus bulbs. Hang it 9" off the water level.

 

[jsbzcmcdaniel]

Thanks for the response. All the frags on the sand bed are zoanthids. All the SPS frags are attached to the rock work on the upper levels. I checked the PO4 and NO3 levels this morning and got 11ppb PO4 and slightly detectable NO3. I actually added three Lyetail Athenias last week to increase the bio load. The Hydra 26HD’s are 10” off the top of the glass so perhaps I could lower them down 3 inches. In addition, I uploaded a new lighting scheme from AI’s website and now using 87w per fixture as opposed to the 41w I had before. I am starting to see a little better color. If the Hydra 26’s are not enough light I will likely move to the 52’s. Thoughts??

 

[ScottB]

Got it.

1) 11ppb ? Or .11ppb? Unless your Hanna Checker is for phosphorus (versus the phosphate model).
2) In either case above, that seems out of balance with NO3, but then I don't know how granular the salifert kit is for NO3. I like salifert for ALK and Ca, and Red Sea for NO3.
3) Acclimate mode for the Hydra ramp up? Careful if not, everybody could get cooked quickly.
4) Before springing on the 52s, borrow a PAR meter. I have an apogee and really like it.

 

[jsbzcmcdaniel]

Scott,

I am using the Hanna Checker phosphorus ULR which READ 11. My ALK, CAL, Nitrite, are all Hanna Checkers while I use Salifert for NO3 . I will look into the apogee par meter. Thanks