Forest fire digitata and red digitata polyps wont extend

[Seanbugeja]

Hi everyone. I have had the forest fire for about 3 months now and the digitata for about 3 weeks. Tried repositioning them to different light and flow but polyps just wont come out. I bought the birds nest with the red digitata and its happy and thriving. Can someone shed light on why they're struggling? The forest fire did seem to come back from the dead and at one point looked dead. But when i changed its place it got the orange spots again all over but polyps never came out

 

[thejellyfishgirl]

What do your flow patterns look like? I had similar problems once (but across several corals, not just one) and I fixed it by changing my flow to alternate between pretty high and pretty low (rather than a consistent level in the middle). My guess is the high flow allowed for gas exchange etc and the low flow gave enough time for the polyps not to be beaten back into the skeleton.

 

[Seanbugeja]

What do your flow patterns look like? I had similar problems once (but across several corals, not just one) and I fixed it by changing my flow to alternate between pretty high and pretty low (rather than a consistent level in the middle). My guess is the high flow allowed for gas exchange etc and the low flow gave enough time for the polyps not to be beaten back into the skeleton.

I use the return from the pumps from the red sea nano g2 xxl. So its pretty consistent and doesn't vary at all. When i removed the wave maker and alll of the coral flourished and opened. Think i had too much flow. Again the problem are just these 2 . U might be right!

 

[thejellyfishgirl]

I would suggest adding a wavemaker back, but programming it so it stays low (or even off!) for at least the same amount of time as it is on. You'll get the benefits of more flow (like faster growth, better colouration etc) while still having your polyps out and proud!

 

[Seanbugeja]

What do your flow patterns look like? I had similar problems once (but across several corals, not just one) and I fixed it by changing my flow to alternate between pretty high and pretty low (rather than a consistent level in the middle). My guess is the high flow allowed for gas exchange etc and the low flow gave enough time for the polyps not to be beaten back into the skeleton.

Still not opening unfortunately. All the other coral are doing great right next to it (stylos, acros and bird's-nest coral) . Its just the red digitata montipora and the forest fire digitata montipora. Im close to giving up on them

 

[Tahoe61]

They are highly temperamental ime. When I see a decrease in pe I check all parameters. SG, temp, and chemistry. As mentioned above they appear to be sensitive to flow.
I liken Orange Digitata to Duncan, they are both a Canary in my systems.

 

[eggie]

Whats you nutrients values ?

 

[dank.reefer]

My digitata are more touchy than most of my acropora. I have found that if anything is off they are the first thing to respond negatively. When conditions are "right" they grow like a weed. If the digi's are doing well everything else seems to follow suite.

 

[Seanbugeja]

Whats you nutrients values ?

As of 2 days ago my latest tests show
Salinity 1.025
Ph - 8.2
No3 - 16.8
Kh - 8.45
Po4 - 0.09
Mag - 1430
Calcium - 465

 

[eggie]

As of 2 days ago my latest tests show
Salinity 1.025
Ph - 8.2
No3 - 16.8
Kh - 8.45
Po4 - 0.09
Mag - 1430
Calcium - 465

How much light are they getting. I find they do better in less PAR

 

[Seanbugeja]

How much light are they getting. I find they do better in less PAR

Thanks for your interest brother. They were getting about 200 par initially, moved them to about 250+ par for 2 weeks and saw no change. 4 hours ago, I moved them to about 150 par. Ill leave them for a week or two see how they do

 

[eggie]

Thanks for your interest brother. They were getting about 200 par initially, moved them to about 250+ par for 2 weeks and saw no change. 4 hours ago, I moved them to about 150 par. Ill leave them for a week or two see how they do

Yeah 200 or lower is good. Give it time its just one of those corals that tend to be a little picky

 

[Seanbugeja]

Yeah 200 or lower is good. Give it time its just one of those corals that tend to be a little picky

Thank you. Ill do that!

 

[thejellyfishgirl]

When it comes to picky corals sometimes the best solution is the dreaded W word. Waiting. I reckon if you just keep things as stable as you can (no changes to light or flow or anything like that) from here on out, eventually the digitata will come around. I hope so anyway.

 

[Seanbugeja]

When it comes to picky corals sometimes the best solution is the dreaded W word. Waiting. I reckon if you just keep things as stable as you can (no changes to light or flow or anything like that) from here on out, eventually the digitata will come around. I hope so anyway.

Yup ill see. The tank is very stable so hoping you're right