Angelwolf21203
Active Member
I feel like my green nepenthe coral is shrinking. It hasn't been stretching fully since I moved it to where it's at currently. But I thought they like as much light as they can get. I run a 48" Aquamaxx Prism Slimline LED fixture, mounted about 4 inches above the tank with glass canopies. This coral is probably about 6" from the light. I have a toadstool leather that is growing really well and has very long polyp extension daily. My Nepenthe used to reach out and had great polyp extension until recently. I know they go through a shedding process where they remain closed up and "grumpy", but it already went through that and never got to being "happy" again. In the last few days, it's acting "grumpy" again. Maybe it wasn't done shedding? Or maybe 1 shed wasn't enough? I will post some pictures to show what I'm seeing.
This is where I initially had it when I got it in April. I noticed it was leaning/reaching towards the light, so I figured it wanted more light.
This was just a few days later, immediately after moving it to the other side of the tank, and higher. This is currently where it's at.
This was after I added a new water circulation fan right to the right of it. Not so close that it was pulling the whole thing over, but just that one branch. And only gently. I was under the knowledge that they actually like a decent current. This picture was taken in mid-May. About a month from the first picture.
This was 5 days after the picture above. This was also the time period where I had to rip-clean the entire tank to get rid of the GHA. I pulled everything out, and over the following 2 days, sprayed every rock down with H2O2. The GHA is down to a very minimal amount, now. Perhaps the H2O2 had a negative affect? I tried to keep it from getting on the coral, but I'm not perfect.

So this was feeding day, near the end of June. Not a good picture, but still, you can see it's showing good extension.
Still fairly happy, but notice the trunk is a bit more squatty looking?
8/14. Not as much extension overall, and no polyps out. I believe this was the day it opened up again after shedding, so I used a turkey baster and gently blew off the old bits of skin.
And this is today. It's been closed up again since 8/15, and overall, I feel like it's smaller than when I got it in April.
So I don't know if I'm over reacting, and it's just going through a back-to-back shed? Or is it shrinking back because the light is too much? Or do they just go through "grumpy" phases? It's always come back even better than before, so this time I'm a little concerned. Thanks in advance for any help!
This is where I initially had it when I got it in April. I noticed it was leaning/reaching towards the light, so I figured it wanted more light.
This was just a few days later, immediately after moving it to the other side of the tank, and higher. This is currently where it's at.
This was after I added a new water circulation fan right to the right of it. Not so close that it was pulling the whole thing over, but just that one branch. And only gently. I was under the knowledge that they actually like a decent current. This picture was taken in mid-May. About a month from the first picture.
This was 5 days after the picture above. This was also the time period where I had to rip-clean the entire tank to get rid of the GHA. I pulled everything out, and over the following 2 days, sprayed every rock down with H2O2. The GHA is down to a very minimal amount, now. Perhaps the H2O2 had a negative affect? I tried to keep it from getting on the coral, but I'm not perfect.
So this was feeding day, near the end of June. Not a good picture, but still, you can see it's showing good extension.
Still fairly happy, but notice the trunk is a bit more squatty looking?
8/14. Not as much extension overall, and no polyps out. I believe this was the day it opened up again after shedding, so I used a turkey baster and gently blew off the old bits of skin.
And this is today. It's been closed up again since 8/15, and overall, I feel like it's smaller than when I got it in April.
So I don't know if I'm over reacting, and it's just going through a back-to-back shed? Or is it shrinking back because the light is too much? Or do they just go through "grumpy" phases? It's always come back even better than before, so this time I'm a little concerned. Thanks in advance for any help!
