Acan question

[Jnickles85]

My Acan always has his little tentacles out. Does this mean he is not getting enough nutrition from the lights or do they do this because they are happy?

 

[Shep]

They are feeder tentacles but it does not imply the they are "hungry", its just part of their natural behavior. That acan looks fat and happy.

 

[Jnickles85]

They are feeder tentacles but it does not imply the they are "hungry", its just part of their natural behavior. That acan looks fat and happy.

Okay thanks. I know he is a little bleached but that's my fault. I just figured out the intensity of my LEDS was a tad high lol :/

 

[ngvu1]

I have a small colony among others and their tentacles are out even more than your MOST of the time I see them are out even when the lights are off. I had previous experience that when they do this and you don't target feed them for a few weeks, they die. People told me I don't need to feed acans but I have lost a few acans frags this way......I target feed my acans weekly or whenever i feel like and for the last year or 2 I have not lost any of them.

 

[hybridazn]

My largest acan colony always has their feeders out while my smaller ones only come out when I feed the tank.

 

[Jnickles85]

I have a small colony among others and their tentacles are out even more than your MOST of the time I see them are out even when the lights are off. I had previous experience that when they do this and you don't target feed them for a few weeks, they die. People told me I don't need to feed acans but I have lost a few acans frags this way......I target feed my acans weekly or whenever i feel like and for the last year or 2 I have not lost any of them.

So I need to start target feeding them then? What do you feed ? I have all mostly LPS in my tank.

 

[GatorGuys]

Acans have a great feeding response! I feed mine Mysis, oysters, and even an occasional piece of fish just to vary its diet. I like to feed a little after lights out as that is when the feeder-tentacles seem to be the furthest extended.

 

[ngvu1]

I feed fauna marine LPS pellets, coral fenzy and 1 other powder thing that I don't remember the name at the moment. Ah .reefRoid or something like that

 

[Jnickles85]

Okay thanks

 

[Psiber_Syn]

Mine eat frozen mysis no problem but do use reef chili,reef roids among other things

 

[Luke Schnabel]

That's actually a good sign to have on your Acans, means they are healthy for the most part. If you don't feed them already, try feeding them twice a week to help growth and color!

 

[jmreef]

Those look healthy and happy. I Target feed them at least twice a week sometimes 3. Ive noticed their color gets better when fed fauna.

 

[Jnickles85]

So a quick update. It's been a month since I adjusted my LEDS to right around where I need to be in believe. My Hammer and my Frogspawn have both regained their color and look great. But on the other hand My Acans still look the same. They are still the same soft colors. I know it's not their natural color because when I first got them they were super bright rainbow colors. I have been giving them mysis chunks once a week when I have had a chance to actually get hands on with the tank.


The placement is about the same height in the tank as the frogspawn. Not the bottom but a couple inches from it.

 

[GatorGuys]

I am not sure how long Acans take to "re-color"... it may just be a waiting game for a little bit. As long as they are healthy and you are providing the light/flow/food they need, they should rebound.

 

[Jnickles85]

Maybe I should step up to twice a week feeding. They never refuse food and the tentacles are always out.

 

[WetWhistle]

With the Acan getting a little bleached from your LED and it is probably needing to make up for the lost zooxanthellae so it needs supplemental feeding. The best way is to blow off your rocks and around the rocks that are touching the substrate. Do a small amount daily till it colors up. Detritus is super nutritious and doing this feeds your corals and cleans your tank. It is like when you get a storm that kicks things up. Mine pretty much always have them extended as they are greedy feeders. I never target feed them but use the Detritus method a few times a week.

 

[Jnickles85]

With the Acan getting a little bleached from your LED and it is probably needing to make up for the lost zooxanthellae so it needs supplemental feeding. The best way is to blow off your rocks and around the rocks that are touching the substrate. Do a small amount daily till it colors up. Detritus is super nutritious and doing this feeds your corals and cleans your tank. It is like when you get a storm that kicks things up. Mine pretty much always have them extended as they are greedy feeders. I never target feed them but use the Detritus method a few times a week.

Thanks for the info. I have honestly never heard of this before.

 

[WetWhistle]

I have been in the hobby for a long time. lol

Zooxanthellae is typically the primary source of food for corals. The others are active feeding like when the tentacles are out, uptake of dissolved organics through the tissue and cell walls will typically make up the other portion of how they gain nutrition. Each coral species will vary in what their primary and secondary mode of feeding will be. Most corals will use a combination of active feeding, uptake of nutrients and Zooxanthellae. Some corals need more active feeding while others require very little over what the byproducts that Zooxanthellae provide. So when a coral bleaches it exudes the Zooxanthellae as a response to the stress. Till the coral can increase the density of Zooxanthellae it will have to utilize the other feeding modes to make up for the loss of energy. Active feeding being one of the best ways to make up for this with size of food being important. Detritus is a form of bacterial plankton because of its composition of what it is made up of. Organic matter, fish poop, uneaten food and the bacteria that try to break it down make up Detritus. So it is a perfect size for most corals to eat. Keep in mind that when a coral is stressed they need to be as efficient as possible in energy usage and not waste energy. So small particles of food like Detritus is easily up-taken and requires little overhead to process as it will typically get up-taken through the cell walls. Larger food items like pellets, mysid and brine shrimp take more energy to process. The coral needs to open then close the tentacles and then digest the food whereas foods like Detritus don't need to close the tentacles or get converted into usable food. Thereby reducing the metabolic cost that larger food items need for processing VS not needing to process and always having the tentacles open and in feeding mode. So you increase the up time of feeding time because they are always open vs large food items that need to close. Creating down time because they are closed.

We use to keep dendrophilia coral and Dendronephthya sp by having a deep sand bed and we would stir them a little twice a day or have a power head pointing at the substrate and have it turn on and off a few times a day.

I feed very little other foods for my corals as I feel why add food when you already have plenty in the tank that is the appropriate size and is nutrient dense. Just don't overdue it and overly disturb things so you don't affect your bacteria layers in the substrate or release trapped gas if you have a Deep sand bed. Your corals will love you for it trust me.

 

[Jnickles85]

I have been in the hobby for a long time. lol

Zooxanthellae is typically the primary source of food for corals. The others are active feeding like when the tentacles are out, uptake of dissolved organics through the tissue and cell walls will typically make up the other portion of how they gain nutrition. Each coral species will vary in what their primary and secondary mode of feeding will be. Most corals will use a combination of active feeding, uptake of nutrients and Zooxanthellae. Some corals need more active feeding while others require very little over what the byproducts that Zooxanthellae provide. So when a coral bleaches it exudes the Zooxanthellae as a response to the stress. Till the coral can increase the density of Zooxanthellae it will have to utilize the other feeding modes to make up for the loss of energy. Active feeding being one of the best ways to make up for this with size of food being important. Detritus is a form of bacterial plankton because of its composition of what it is made up of. Organic matter, fish poop, uneaten food and the bacteria that try to break it down make up Detritus. So it is a perfect size for most corals to eat. Keep in mind that when a coral is stressed they need to be as efficient as possible in energy usage and not waste energy. So small particles of food like Detritus is easily up-taken and requires little overhead to process as it will typically get up-taken through the cell walls. Larger food items like pellets, mysid and brine shrimp take more energy to process. The coral needs to open then close the tentacles and then digest the food whereas foods like Detritus don't need to close the tentacles or get converted into usable food. Thereby reducing the metabolic cost that larger food items need for processing VS not needing to process and always having the tentacles open and in feeding mode. So you increase the up time of feeding time because they are always open vs large food items that need to close. Creating down time because they are closed.

We use to keep dendrophilia coral and Dendronephthya sp by having a deep sand bed and we would stir them a little twice a day or have a power head pointing at the substrate and have it turn on and off a few times a day.

I feed very little other foods for my corals as I feel why add food when you already have plenty in the tank that is the appropriate size and is nutrient dense. Just don't overdue it and overly disturb things so you don't affect your bacteria layers in the substrate or release trapped gas if you have a Deep sand bed. Your corals will love you for it trust me.

[emoji15] wow, I appreciate all the info. Thanks a lot. I believe my colony is in a good place. I have an older picture I'll post of the whole tank. There's some new rock I just added in this picture and my Hammer and frogs pawn are darker in color now.

 

[WetWhistle]

You are welcome. That is the level I keep mine in as well with LED. That or sitting on the substrate. I find Acans take time to color back up so just be patient and you will be rewarded.