SPS Polyp Extension Good and Bad

[Fatmike92]

Hey all!

Hopefully this is just a quick question but wanted to check if I needed to be doing anything different

I have recently gotten a few SPS and some polyp extension is great! And some is not so great.

Stylos. Digis. Pocillopora have full extension and look great

birdsnest are fully extended most of the time so

milles are the ones who don’t have full extension.

I can see the polyps but they are just no where near fully extended.

I’ll post parameters and stuff below

 

[Fatmike92]

Lighting:

viparspectra 165 - hanging 12” off water
blues: 40% - runs 8a to 8p
Whites: 5% - runs 9a to 3p

parameters: (saliferts tests)

Nitrates: 20-25

KH: 13.7-14.1 (working on bringing this down)

Ca: 430-440

salinity: 1.026

flow:

return on one side and a jebao on the other at 25% flow

 

[Mystikal]

Honestly from my experience SPS extension is different with each specimen. Some show PE right away, others take months to "adapt". I rarely ever look at PE to identify SPS health. Why? I've had SPS with PE while losing tissue...

 

[PatW]

Usually polyp extension is a really good sign of health. But not all SPS are created equal in polyp extension. I have some corals with virtually no polyp extension but they grow like weeds and are brightly colored. They just do not have big polyps. I have an acropora with really great polyp extension and it is growing pretty well too but I think that it that particular coral. I have a frogskin acropora and it is pretty smooth but has intense color and is growing pretty fast. I think it is a case by case thing.

 

[ScottB]

That dKH level is pretty spicy. Yeah, I know many of the "Pro" salts mix high, but VERY few coral vendors (in the USA anyway) run Alk higher than 8.5. Natural seawater is 7ish.

Anyway, back to your question. You will get various opinions about what PE means. To me, it is a feeding response at a time and place that is safe and efficient to feed. Therefor, we should expect PE at night, when it is safe (fish nip polyps) and when the zooplankton is most present and moving through the water column.

For SPS, 80-90% of their nutrition needs are met with photosynthesis during the day. Extending polyps during the day strikes me as inefficient.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

@Fatmike92 why the high alk?

 

[Fatmike92]

@Fatmike92 why the high alk?

I started the tank out with well water which I think was the start of it.

I now have a five stage RODI. Running 0-4 TDS.

I was originally using reef crystals which I saw on BRS usually has a higher ALK (11ish I believe)

So I switched to Red Sea coral pro which says is around 8.4 ALK if I remember correctly.

but after doing about 50% water I never saw it drop at all.

I’m going to get a reading on my ALK of my next batch of saltwater and see what it come out as

 

[Fatmike92]

@Fatmike92 why the high alk?

Also I have a canister that has one bag of chemipure elite, one bag of chemiblue, and one bag of carbon.

not sure if those cause the problem.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Redsea
Coral pro has high alk. The blue bucket is sig lower. Mayb put mille higher up closer to the lights and in more flow. I have mine up high growing out on a rack right in the flow of my Nero 5 that pulses up to 2.5k gph. Seems happy

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Also I have a canister that has one bag of chemipure elite, one bag of chemiblue, and one bag of carbon.

not sure if those cause the problem.

Idk if u need all three. I just use Chemi blue in my sump basket also run my alk at 8.5 and use TMPro salt German plant.

 

[Mystikal]

All from the same tank...
SCOP;

TGC Cherry Bomb.

WWC Heartbreaker

WWC Heartbreaker was acquired at the same time as the SCOP, but has done nothing but encrust.

 

[Fatmike92]

All from the same tank...
SCOP;

TGC Cherry Bomb.

WWC Heartbreaker

WWC Heartbreaker was acquired at the same time as the SCOP, but has done nothing but encrust.

Thanks!
I’m going to move a couple of them around and see what happens.

this corner tank has been tough to manage flow directions and strength