Psammacora Question

[FriendoFish]

I recently (like a few weeks ago) got a psammacora frag for free with some coral I ordered. I’ve never kept SPS before and honestly my tank is still relatively new (<1year) but I figured I’d see if It’d work out bc I think it’s a really pretty coral. I currently have a Fluval Evo with stock lights plus 2 truelumen actinics and I feed it reef Roids once a week. I’ve noticed that my coral doesn’t seem as fuzzy as other psammacora I’ve seen and part of the coral is kinda translucent and I can’t tell if it’s new growth or if the coral is dying. Essentially, I have no idea how to tell if my coral is happy or not so I was hoping y’all could help. Thanks in advance.

 

[Aqua Man]

Pic of a happy Psamacora. Just starting to spread/encrust.

 

[PicassoClown04]

A happy psammy should be full and fuzzy, with bright coloration all around. New growth will be solid and more bleached at first but will color up quickly and the new polyps should be colored exactly as the old ones. Reefroids is good. White coloration not on the outer edges is most likely bleaching so it’s telling you that there’s too much light. If it starts losing color and turning dull (like brownish usually) then it’s not getting enough light. After you figure out how to read the signs, pretty much all of these encruster corals are the same. You’re learning, so ask questions! Good luck!

 

[KoTS]

Its also pretty hardy as far as SPS go. I had mine in a fairly new tank (2 months old I think is when I got it) and it encrusted and grew pretty quickly. Good luck!

 

[FriendoFish]

Thanks everyone!

 

[PR_nano]

Agree, they're hardy for sure but I read slow growers. Mine has been thru a lot and finally starting to encrust. I also have it on a young tank.