differences in care between Acantho & Trachy?

[Ballyhoo]

i've had my trachy for a several months and I think it's done great, but I've had my acantho, which is more expensive for just about six weeks and I just don't see much growth in it and I'm wondering should I be doing something different? With the trachy I put it at the bottom and it's kind of low light low flow not super low light not super low flow but just on the lower end and that is always suited the trachy and it's how i've placed the acantho.
i'm just wondering, maybe my acantho needs more light or more flow but I'm not sure.

any ideas appreciated.

 

[VintageReefer]

You probably won’t see any growth in the acantho as they are very slow growers. Many years for growth.

They can expanded / inflate more or less in different conditions maybe that’s what you are looking for.


It’s hard to tell if it’s inflated fully from the pics due to the angle, can you get a straight on picture ?

 

[Ballyhoo]

well, I do not believe it to be inflated fully. I think I've seen it inflated larger when I first got it. unlike the trachy which is fat as a cow.

 

[VintageReefer]

Do you feed the acantho ?

 

[Shirak]

Acantho looking pale or is that just the lighting? Has the color changed since you got it? Is the mouth open too??

I think you are correct about low flow, low light. Any idea what the par levels are?

 

[Ballyhoo]

the mouth is usually open. i don't really know what the par levels are, it's a red sea red LED. i just keep it at about 80% blue and 25 to 30% white.

 

[Ballyhoo]

i tried to get a better image. It has lost color.

 

[Shirak]

i tried to get a better image. It has lost color.

Which Red Sea led? 90? Mouth remaining open and lost color is not good. Major stress... If I had to guess I would say too much light rather than too little. I would be inclined to tuck it closer to the rock and out of the corner where it's getting hit from light above and reflecting off the two sides of the tank.

How about tank parameters, nutrients, feeding etc?

 

[Ballyhoo]

Well, IDK, I have the red sea led 90 and I've been keeping it pretty low. Usually at about 20% white and 70% blue, with a acantho at the bottom of the tank. There's nothing special about the parameters of my tank, except the phosphates sometimes get a little bit hight up to .15, but I have a reactor so usually the phosphates are lower. I was communicating with the seller of that coral and he felt that this type of coral needs more light than the trachey and perhaps I need to actually increase the light. Because I would be surprised to only be using like 15% of my LED at White, which would be would be lower than a wher i have been, in other words I have already had the acantho in a low light area at the bottom of the tank so to need to bring it even lower would be suprising. today I raised it up quite a bit , and I brought the up a bit the white and i fed the acantho. I think with no par meter I'm a little bit not sure.

also have a nice refugium set up in the sump with a lot of macroalgae, which is going on for a couple of months now and things should be pretty stable.

 

[Ballyhoo]

does anyone know if I can actually bring my red sea LED 90 down to 15% white and still have enough light for the acantho?

 

[Shirak]

I would call the Red Sea LED 90 watts comparable to the AI Hydra 32 at 95 watts. When I was using the AI hydra it could hit 150 par on the sand bed easily near full power. Looking at the Red Sea website at their par charts it would seem their 90 can do the same.

As for par for Acantho vs Trachy. My experience and research would say Trachy 125-150ish par while the Acantho 75-100ish. I have kept Trachy in the former par range no problem. I have not kept Acantho but have kept Scoly, Cynarina, and Indophyllia and they were happiest with the light barely on (roughly 50-75par) and getting fed several times a week at night time!

I would also say from my experience, bleaching in an LPS is most frequently excessive par and possibly coupled with insufficient nutrients.

I don't know what "nothing special" tank parameters are but you did mention PO4 at .15 and running a reactor as well as a refugium in the sump with a lot of macroalgae. My guess without knowing anything else is the macroalgae is sucking much of the NO3 up?

 

[Ballyhoo]

I would call the Red Sea LED 90 watts comparable to the AI Hydra 32 at 95 watts. When I was using the AI hydra it could hit 150 par on the sand bed easily near full power. Looking at the Red Sea website at their par charts it would seem their 90 can do the same.

As for par for Acantho vs Trachy. My experience and research would say Trachy 125-150ish par while the Acantho 75-100ish. I have kept Trachy in the former par range no problem. I have not kept Acantho but have kept Scoly, Cynarina, and Indophyllia and they were happiest with the light barely on (roughly 50-75par) and getting fed several times a week at night time!

I would also say from my experience, bleaching in an LPS is most frequently excessive par and possibly coupled with insufficient nutrients.

I don't know what "nothing special" tank parameters are but you did mention PO4 at .15 and running a reactor as well as a refugium in the sump with a lot of macroalgae. My guess without knowing anything else is the macroalgae is sucking much of the NO3 up?

That may be, but I also feed the fish on a daily basis so there should be some N03 going around. I think I will draw back the LED and see how it goes then.

Anyone disagree with this choice?


Still based on what you said, 150 par at full power to sand bed and I am running white @ 20 to 30 % full power, it is surprising I would be bleaching it out with light. Could the Red Sea LED be that strong? 90 what in a 42 gal tank, about 24" high. All my Lps are doing okay now, that I have been selective for lower lighting. torches, hammers and mushrooms. idK.

Red Sea says I get 500 par at surface, but about 150 at a 20" depth and I presume that is full power and I have no way been going full power. White bw 20 to 30% is a typical day that I run. Well, If I back off more for a week chances are I will not kill my acantho.

 

[Shirak]

That may be, but I also feed the fish on a daily basis so there should be some N03 going around. I think I will draw back the LED and see how it goes then.

Anyone disagree with this choice?

Personally I wouldn't mess with the lights if everything else is looking good. Can try to move the coral to a shadier spot? I remember seeing somewhere the glass can reflect quite a bit of light and changer par levels quite a bit. This is one of those cases where a par meter would come in handy and kinda just guessing here.

Are you seeing feeding tentacles out during the night? A little target feeding then might help. The open mouth if it doesn't close is concerning though. I have accidently bleached some lps in the past. It's a long slow difficult road to get them to color back up :(

 

[Shirak]

That may be, but I also feed the fish on a daily basis so there should be some N03 going around. I think I will draw back the LED and see how it goes then.

Anyone disagree with this choice?


Still based on what you said, 150 par at full power to sand bed and I am running white @ 20 to 30 % full power, it is surprising I would be bleaching it out with light. Could the Red Sea LED be that strong? 90 what in a 42 gal tank, about 24" high. All my Lps are doing okay now, that I have been selective for lower lighting. torches, hammers and mushrooms. idK.

Red Sea says I get 500 par at surface, but about 150 at a 20" depth and I presume that is full power and I have no way been going full power. White bw 20 to 30% is a typical day that I run. Well, If I back off more for a week chances are I will not kill my acantho.

You said earlier you were running blue at 80% white at 20-30%
according to red sea:
80W of multi-wavelength 23,000 Kelvin REEF-SPEC Blue (a proprietary blend of blue, violet and ultraviolet LEDs), together with 10W of 9,000 Kelvin White

So 64 watts of Blue and 3 watts of white. 67 watts total which is almost 75% of the lights output and roughly 112 par at the sand bed. I do think you need to take into account the light reflection in the corner from two panes of glass where the coral is sitting also.

 

[Homewrecker]

Whoever sold you that bleached acantho is borderline criminal.
What temperature is your tank running at? When I had my acantho tank it was on the cooler side and I tried to feed them about once a week

 

[VintageReefer]

Sorry to say but this is in a declining state that I have seen before. If color has bleached and mouth is open, you have months of recovery ahead and need ideal conditions. Since your conditions have caused this, it can be challenging to figure out what exactly needs to be changed for it to recovery

 

[VintageReefer]

Whoever sold you that bleached acantho is borderline criminal.
What temperature is your tank running at? When I had my acantho tank it was on the cooler side and I tried to feed them about once a week

Was not sold to him like that. He got it for black Friday deal and appears healthy. Must have declined over last 1.5 months

Did i pay too much for my acantho nem

First time i ever paid so much for a coral as it was on Black friday sale. Had her a week and she's been doing well, puffy and about 4" wide. Somewhat an impulse buy. I think it's very pretty though. I was told regular price is $400 and i got it for $250. My tank is only about eight months old...

www.reef2reef.com

@Ballyhoo don’t feel bad. They are not an easy coral. I lost 4 in a row last year and am giving up on them. Mine did same as yours. Looked good for a month. Sometimes two. Then bleaching, mouth gaping, and next will be skeleton exposure and tissue recession. It will continue until death.

I hope you can turn it around but I don’t know how to advise. I kept mine in low par, low and medium flow, fed regularly, and I have a very stable system.

 

[Ballyhoo]

yea, a mixed reef tank is a mixed bag. I guess I should just prize the ones and focus on the ones that do well.

I think the LEDs are stronger than I have thought them to be, considering reflection, etc. above threads are correct on that. many of coral seem to do well at the twilight of the LEDs @ like 12% blue.

 

[VintageReefer]

yea, a mixed reef tank is a mixed bag. I guess I should just prize the ones and focus on the ones that do well.

That’s a important thing.

I have seen people go crazy trying to make one coral work and then either:
A) quit the hobby
Or
B) end up harming other corals in the tank and still not succeeding

Sometimes you have to step back and say this is what works for me and this is what doesn’t work, and avoid the things that don’t do well.

Have you tried torches or hammers? There is a lot of variation, a lot of colors, and they add a lot of color and movement in the tank.

And, If you are considering them, Joker Corals has some of the best torches and their sale right now has ridiculous good pricing and choices. Here are some of mine

 

[VintageReefer]

Joker corals deals right now

Theres lots more to choose from and they have a lot of other coral on sale. Avoid the things that don’t do well and look for other things you like. If you question difficulty of a new item you haven’t tried just post here and I’ll give you info on it