Unhappy Acropora? Dose anyone know why?

[Soey]

Hello. I bought this acropora from a local fish store around 3 weeks ago. It quickly got white tips and diddnt do anything since i got it. the polyps have not been extending and its not encrusting or growing. I have a couple other lps corals that are happy. The tank is about 2.5 months old.

My parameters are:

8.0 Alkalinity
420 Calcium
1300 Magnesium
10 ppm Nitrate
0 - 0.01 ppm Phosphate ( I have been trying to raise it )
1.026 Salinity

The first picture was taken at night btw.
If anyone could help, that would be great. Thanks!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Does not look horrible
What light schedule are you using and what lighting?

 

[coral reeftank]

It could also be the age of the tank, being a 2.5 month old system it might be missing an established microbiome for success with sps. I’ve noticed this with my system, unless I set them up with established liverock from previous tanks it takes about 6 months before sps are flourishing with a completely new system.

 

[Soey]

Does not look horrible
What light BBC schedule are you using and what lighting?

Im not sure what light BBC schedule means, but i am using a hydra 32, with a 10 hour photo period. I am using BRS's settings for ab+.

 

[Soey]

It could also be the age of the tank, being a 2.5 month old system it might be missing an established microbiome for success with sps. I’ve noticed this with my system, unless I set them up with established liverock from previous tanks it takes about 6 months before sps are flourishing with a completely new system.

Yeah, i thought about that too. could just be a bit of waiting until the tank matures before it gets better

 

[Dburr1014]

Hello. I bought this acropora from a local fish store around 3 weeks ago. It quickly got white tips and diddnt do anything since i got it. the polyps have not been extending and its not encrusting or growing. I have a couple other lps corals that are happy. The tank is about 2.5 months old.

My parameters are:

8.0 Alkalinity
420 Calcium
1300 Magnesium
10 ppm Nitrate
0 - 0.01 ppm Phosphate ( I have been trying to raise it )
1.026 Salinity

The first picture was taken at night btw.
If anyone could help, that would be great. Thanks!

How was it when you got it? Was it encrusting the base? Same color?

 

[Soey]

How was it when you got it? Was it encrusting the base? Same color?

It was not encrusting the base when i got it, and it was roughly the same color as now, just without the white tips.

 

[Dburr1014]

It was not encrusting the base when i got it, and it was roughly the same color as now, just without the white tips.

Oh.
Encrusting is a good sign it has been healed and healthy.
So this could have been a not so healthy frag from the start.

 

[Soey]

Oh.
Encrusting is a good sign it has been healed and healthy.
So this could have been a not so healthy frag from the start.

dang. I hope thats not the case lol.

I took a picture just now of it and it dose seem to have a couple of brown polyps peeking out. Dose anyone else see them? or am i just hallucinating xD.

 

[TCK Corals Verified Sponsor]

It looks like an anacropora, which tend not to really encrust and have smaller polyps

 

[dirtie]

I'm 95% sure its an anacropora as well. They don't incrust and their polyps are super small. Some people call them briar corals b/c they have a growth pattern that looks like a briar patch/tumbleweed. They're generally pretty hardy, but may need to color up a bit moving to a new tank. Hardy and fast growing.

 

[reefz]

Well nutrients look good as far as I can see. I say just give your tank time. My tank barely could keep healthy acropora at the 2.5 month mark like you. My system honestly never started truly growing a consistent amount until a year or more.

 

[Soey]

I'm 95% sure its an anacropora as well. They don't incrust and their polyps are super small. Some people call them briar corals b/c they have a growth pattern that looks like a briar patch/tumbleweed. They're generally pretty hardy, but may need to color up a bit moving to a new tank. Hardy and fast growing.

It looks like an anacropora, which tend not to really encrust and have smaller polyps

oh wow. i think it’s anacropora aswell now that i look at it. I swear the fish store i got it from told me it was an acropora lol.

 

[Soey]

Well nutrients look good as far as I can see. I say just give your tank time. My tank barely could keep healthy acropora at the 2.5 month mark like you. My system honestly never started truly growing a consistent amount until a year or more.

Thanks for the tips. The condition isn’t getting worse and polyps are extending so i’m optimistic.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hello. I bought this acropora from a local fish store around 3 weeks ago. It quickly got white tips and diddnt do anything since i got it. the polyps have not been extending and its not encrusting or growing. I have a couple other lps corals that are happy. The tank is about 2.5 months old.

My parameters are:

You answered your own question.

A 2.5 month old tank has no chance of hosting acropora corals.
Chemical stability is only one part of the equation which is easily achieved.
The biological stability required takes much longer - 12 months or so.

Try again in a years time.

 

[Soey]

Update on the anacropora. It has colored up nicely, and its doing pretty well. Im also seeing new growth.

 

[mwil79]

Update on the anacropora. It has colored up nicely, and its doing pretty well. Im also seeing new growth.

Glad to hear its doing well. Anacropora do better in a bit lower par than most Acros. You will get much brighter colors in 100-150 range and bigger polyps extension.

 

[Miami Reef]

Update on the anacropora. It has colored up nicely, and its doing pretty well. Im also seeing new growth.

What did you do?

Can I see a picture of the guy?

 

[chipchipbro]

It could also be the age of the tank, being a 2.5 month old system it might be missing an established microbiome for success with sps. I’ve noticed this with my system, unless I set them up with established liverock from previous tanks it takes about 6 months before sps are flourishing with a completely new system.

How much established live rock are you talking about at minimum?

 

[Soey]

What did you do?

Can I see a picture of the guy?

It just got better by itself! I can share some photos when i get home.