Acropora question

[Jeremy1973]

Ok, first off, I like the new buttons for New Posts and Reply Posts.


Question about my acro...

When I got my acro from Vampire, the first few days it opened its polyps during the day. But now, (well over a month later) It only opens the polyps at night. When I was at Vampire's this weekend, I looked at the parent colony, and sure enough, all the polyps were extended during the day. Any clue as to why mine are closed up when the lights are on?


At first I was thinking it might be due to my alk being to low. (5.4), but now reading another thread in here, they said that is a good range, even though the test kit is saying 8 is good. So, not sure what to do or how to proceed. Any and all advice is welcomed!

[RWD]

Do you have good circulation in the tank? I found that after I installed a Sea-Swirl the sps's looked much better. I don't have an answer why they are not opening. I have had two frags from the same colony sitting side by side in the same tank with one frag's polyps open and the other closed. Corals are weird like that sometimes

[MiddletonMark]

Is your Alk # of 5 in meg/l or dKh?

Yeah, corals are weird that way ...

[Geoff]

as long as the polyps open at night you are fine. in the wild they mainly open at night anyway to avoid predation. fish like to eat the polyps. you may have something in there that nips at that coral IF its polyps are out. so the coral may just keep them in. i have all kinds of Acros. some have polyps out all of the time and others i have never seen the polyps except at night.

i really do not think it is a problem with your water. as long as the coral is encrusting at its base you are fine.

G~

[Jeremy1973]

Originally posted by MiddletonMark
Is your Alk # of 5 in meg/l or dKh?

Yeah, corals are weird that way ...

I forgot to look this morning to be safe, but I belive that is 5.4 dKH, if 8 dKH is what is prefered. Is this toooo low? Everything else in the tank looks fine, and on another thread, someone had heard that growing Halmedia is a good indicator of good Ca and Alk. And my Halmedia grows quite well.


Just curious, I want my tank mates to all be happy and comfy.

[jeepjon]

I've found that not necessarily shooting for a good number is the best indication of health, but look at your animals. Stability is more important than anything else, except if the values go WAY out of whack. 5.7dKH is pretty low, in my opinion, but if you've got good corraline algae and SPS growth, and the coral's got good color, and encrusting growth at the bottom, then run with it. Fishkeeping/reefkeeping is as much an art as a science. You need to know the rules of the science and the finesse of the art.