another polyp extension question

melonheadorion

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so, i have a handful of sps coral that i want to make sure, do well. obviously.

i just got a, what i believe to be a blueberry bonsai. ive had it about a week. polyp extension is not what it was while it was in the store tank, and rightfully expected, when going from one tank to another. im just trying to avoid money going into the toilet at this point, because im a worry wart

anyhow, i have a red digitata that i just bought today and the blueberry bonsai that i got a week ago. other than that i have a blue stylophora, strawberry shortcake, and another one that i dont recall the name but is an acropora, and a green slimer.

the blue stylo and the green slimer have excellent polyp extension during the day. probably as much polyp extension that they can possibly accomplish. the unknown acropora, doesnt extend in the day, but has good coloration (green stalks/blue tips), and i can see is growing/encrusting. the same with the strawberry shortcake.

the red digi, i just got today, so im not overly worried, because it was just purchased today, at the end of the day, so polyp extension may come around. However, with the blueberry bonsaia, having been about a week, i dont see polyp extension. the polyps arent totally sucked in, but they arent extending out of the skeleton. both of these had great polyp extension in the store

with that said, the params are below.

nitrate 15-20
phosphate is .02
ammonia-0
moderate water flow
lighting i have them in an area to acclimate, which is about 100-120ish
alk- 9
calcium-420
salinity-1.025
temp 78
tank age just over a year

i know i need to give time, and things generally start to come around when they are new to a tank, but want to see what everyones thoughts are on my parameter ratios/numbers
 

Reef Psychology

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Hardly an expert, but I’ve had some acros not fully extended polyps for weeks or even longer. Some can just stall for months then one day spring to life. Its also common for them to lose color or brown out for longer.

You didn’t mention what your salt mixes to, but I try to aim for these numbers. Keep in mind, our test kits are pretty useless tbh. So trying to chase some ratio is pointless imo.

Salinity: 1.026
Alkalinity: 7.7-8.2
Calcium: 410-420
Magnesium: 1350-1400
Ammonia/Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: ~10 to undetectable
Phosphates: ~0.08 to undetectable
Temps: 78-79

I acclimate at around 200-250 PAR for 5-7 days then start moving up. Most come from 300-400 PAR systems so it isn’t the PAR IMO that shock them, but the spectrum combined with all the minor and major water differences. Some people will crawl through the process for weeks, but I feel the sooner they get to the final spot the sooner they will start getting used to their new home.

Just moved into my new home a year ago so my tanks are fairly young, but I’ve lost only 1 out of 15 SPS (8 were acros) using this methodology (kept SPS 2003-2009). The one that died RTNed in less than 8 hours, probably due to shipping. Long story short, you just have to be patient and keep everything consistent and stable. We measure success in years, not days or hours.
 

ScottB

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Tank age (assuming dead rock start) to me is the wild card. You might be close enough to get by with sticks. Sure, if I wanted to get picky I could say NO3 a tad high and PO4 a tad low. Keeping PO4 > 0 is a must. PO4<.20 is fine.

As to PE, I wouldn't be too worried. I don't get that much PE during the light cycle and my sticks do just fine. Sure, I would like to see more, but everything is growing pretty fast so I quit worrying about it and just bought some millipora to get my PE fix.

Unless something really bad happens, you can skip testing/reporting on ammonia now that the tank is cycled.
 

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