Red Planet Acro is upsetting

[Surfandturf]

So I got a couple small frags of red planet acro and they have no polyp extension at all. All of my water parameters are good Alk, Mag, calcium are in range. They have a great amount of light and adequate flow. I know that these can be hard corals to keep and that they can die super quick. Should I be worried that the polyps have not extended?

 

[Tahoe61]

Are the frags still acclimating?

If you continue to see no PE after a couple days play with placement as it relates to flow.

Always check for the usual suspects such as Red Bugs.

 

[Surfandturf]

I hope they are acclimating. I placed them in two different areas to see which did better so I could move the other to the same spot. Unfortunately they look the same...

 

[Tahoe61]

Did the coral show PE prior to purchase? I have found RP to be one of the most hardy acropora one can buy.

 

[Surfandturf]

Yea it did. I'm going to slowly turn my whites up and see if I can get them to extend. I don't want to shock the rest of my corals though.

 

[Salty1962]

Sometimes SPS won't show PE for quite some time. I almost gave up on a SPS, it had been@ 4mths w/ no PE, then one day I was doing my morning watch and it looked like it had busted open.
As @Tahoe61 said, too much, or not enough, flow will keep them from opening up.

 

[Sabellafella]

So I got a couple small frags of red planet acro and they have no polyp extension at all. All of my water parameters are good Alk, Mag, calcium are in range. They have a great amount of light and adequate flow. I know that these can be hard corals to keep and that they can die super quick. Should I be worried that the polyps have not extended?

How long have you had them? I wouldnt worry ,red planet appreciate super turbulent flow. Give it some time to adapt and it they should be out in notime

 

[Surfandturf]

Thanks for all of the advice ! I appreciate the support. Hopefully increasing my lights over a period of time will entice them. I have a really good lfs that is family owned and operated. The father owns it and basically raised the kids doing it. They made me keep a birdsnest to prove I could grow it and not just keep it alive before they sold me the red planet. I went and talked to them and they basically told me to increase light intensity super slow and it should be good to go. If not I can take them back the frags. I am pretty sure that this AI light will be able to support acro. We will see though. I am certainly lucky to have those guys at the lfs and all of you. Thanks again and I will keep you posted.

 

[Surfandturf]

How long have you had them? I wouldnt worry ,red planet appreciate super turbulent flow. Give it some time to adapt and it they should be out in notime

Couple days.

 

[Surfandturf]

Here is a picture of them as of yesterday. Turned the lights up a very small amount will do so again tomorrow or the next day. What do I need to look for in my other corals to ensure that they are not getting too much light? I have zoas 4 different kinds, lobo, couple different kinds of birds nest, and 2 types of montes. I'm guessing that the zoas will just close up if they are unhappy with the light. Everything else minus the lobo will like it?

 

[Sabellafella]

Here is a picture of them as of yesterday. Turned the lights up a very small amount will do so again tomorrow or the next day. What do I need to look for in my other corals to ensure that they are not getting too much light? I have zoas 4 different kinds, lobo, couple different kinds of birds nest, and 2 types of montes. I'm guessing that the zoas will just close up if they are unhappy with the light. Everything else minus the lobo will like it?

I wouldnt be tinkering with your intensity for atleast another 2 weeks. Just place them in and leave em. Some acros for me as soon as they go in, will show little polyp extension then after a week or three theyll come out

 

[Surfandturf]

Ok. Good advice

 

[ps2cho]

Fwiw my red planet was the hardiest coral I had and survived through hell...

It loved getting blasted by the MP40! I always thought it was too much flow but it loved it. I'd say try more flow and give it a few months

 

[Surfandturf]

One of them died over night. Just turned completely white...

 

[zoomonster]

Fwiw my red planet was the hardiest coral I had and survived through hell...

It loved getting blasted by the MP40! I always thought it was too much flow but it loved it. I'd say try more flow and give it a few months

+1 on that. Red planet was the first acro I got about 2 years ago for this tank and its still here when some other "easier" corals bit the dust during alk crash or other issues. Granted growth slowed down, PE ceased, and showed a spot or two of browning but almost instantly rebounded. With any frag I always say put them on a frag rack or on the sand bed and leave them alone until they start growing which means they have adapted to your tank. For red planet that's usually encrusting first and its does so heavily. If something encrusts I usually won't touch it until at least the plug is fully encrusted. That means no cutting, gluing (unless an unmounted fresh cut) or removal from the frag plug. Mine sits right up top and gets blasted by two kessils 360WE's on that side and a MP40. Generally even if nothing else is it has full polyp extension day and night but a new frag could take maybe even months before it was happy.

I would really recommend using presets with your light, if it has it, and leave it alone especially in cases like this. Too many of these LED units are too adjustable some with LED colors questionable for corals and its a common way to burn and/or kill corals.

 

[dwebb1031]

I bought a RP frag a few weeks ago and the portion of the frag that was present at purchase does no have good/great PE even today, but has colored up nicely and started to encrust. All new growth from the frag is killing it with PE though be patient and give it some time.

 

[Surfandturf]

I took the remaining frag back to the LFS today. I can't keep acro yet.