Polyp Extensions

booker1978 · Oct 11, 2015

For about two weeks now I have noticed that my SPS have not had much polyp extensions when my lights are on. All of the colors and growth seemed to be on par. I immediately went in to testing mode and all seemed normal.

Alk: 8.0
Calcium: 440
Magnesium: 1400
Temp: 77-78 F
Nitrates: 0
Phospahtes: .01

I thought that maybe my nitrates and phosphates are too low, so I have been feeding a bit more and have been waiting to see how that goes. Then one night when the tank lights were on I turned on the office light where my tank sits and noticed that all of the SPS polyps were fully extended.

Has anyone experienced this? I am curious if one of my fish has decided that like like to nip at the coral, but that doesn't really explain why all of my SPS has retracted polyps during the day. Other than that I am at a loss. Any thoughts?

neupane00 · Oct 11, 2015

did you add any fish ? or inverts ? what do you dose ? do you dose vodka? any carbon source? anything like red sea color etc ?

tswanso3 · Oct 11, 2015

I have a pair of flame angels and I notice my PE is very little during the day and a lot at night. If your colors are fine and they are growing, I wouldn't worry about PE.

booker1978 · Oct 11, 2015

neupane00 said:
did you add any fish ? or inverts ? what do you dose ? do you dose vodka? any carbon source? anything like red sea color etc ?

No new fish and the inverts I have are typical snails and hermits. I haven't noticed either of them messing with any corals. I do use red sea energy a&b.... oh I think you may be onto something. I dose it later in the evening after the fish are fed. Due to the lower phosphates and nitrates in my system maybe this is why they extend at night even long after I dose.... you think?

neupane00 · Oct 12, 2015

booker1978 said:
No new fish and the inverts I have are typical snails and hermits. I haven't noticed either of them messing with any corals. I do use red sea energy a&b.... oh I think you may be onto something. I dose it later in the evening after the fish are fed. Due to the lower phosphates and nitrates in my system maybe this is why they extend at night even long after I dose.... you think?

I have been recently battling low nutrient in my system myself. I was using reef energy A &B. I switched to acropower twice a week and feed BRS reef chilli 3 times a week and boy what a difference. Try that. That said i think PE might or might not be related to it. When i saw the low nutrient numbers first thing i thought about was my recent battle