Help with my acan

[jordan be]

Help! I don't know a whole lot about acans and I accidentally inherited one. This is what it looks like, good or bad??

 

[KrisReef]

Kind of looks like a Favia rather than an acan?
But my eyes are not always up to seeing these photos.

Does it put out feeding tentacles at night?

 

[jordan be]

Kind of looks like a Favia rather than an acan?
But my eyes are not always up to seeing these photos.

Does it put out feeding tentacles at night?

I haven't noticed that it has. Here's a picture of it without the orange things

 

[OREGONIC]

Looks like favia to me.

 

[jordan be]

Looks like favia to me.

Okay so are the orange head looking things okay?

 

[wesman42]

How old is the tank? That sand looks sparkly...the fact that you can see the calcium under those spots is worrying.

 

[jordan be]

How old is the tank? That sand looks sparkly...the fact that you can see the calcium under those spots is worrying.

Nearly 3 months. I went through a very big algae outbreak , and the whole tank was brown, lol. I just vacuum the sand a lot.

 

[KrisReef]

Okay so are the orange head looking things okay?

I presume that this coral was recently transported, and those "orange head looking things" are possibly places where the coral was bumped during that process? If your tank is suitable for this Favia, it will likely recover and thrive. It looks better, (more fully expanded) in the other photo and if that look persists I think it will be fine.

These encrusting corals like to eat small particles of food, and they do better in they are fed continuously. Mine get food from what the fishes don't eat or from the food wastes that the fishes give off, and they grow relatively slowly in my tank. I think they would grow much faster if I fed more often using small particulate coral food that they can filter out from their environment. (All IMO, hth.)

 

[jordan be]

I presume that this coral was recently transported, and those "orange head looking things" are possibly places where the coral was bumped during that process? If your tank is suitable for this Favia, it will likely recover and thrive. It looks better, (more fully expanded) in the other photo and if that look persists I think it will be fine.

These encrusting corals like to eat small particles of food, and they do better in they are fed continuously. Mine get food from what the fishes don't eat or from the food wastes that the fishes give off, and they grow relatively slowly in my tank. I think they would grow much faster if I fed more often using small particulate coral food that they can filter out from their environment. (All IMO, hth.)

I feed the whole tank mysis shrimp. I cut a piece off the frozen sheet I have and let it dissolve for about an hour before I put it in the tank with a turkey Baster, I usually squirt it over the corals in there. Is this sufficient? The other two are gsp and pulsing Xenia. They've grown so many new heads I've lost count in the last two weeks since I've had them. At least one a day on both. The theory about that being where it was bumped during transport seems likely, the store that packaged it didn't really do it very well. I wanted a leather, and pointed at a leather but they gave me that one instead, lol. They just threw it in the bag and didn't seem to be very careful with it. How can I help it heal??

 

[KrisReef]

I feed the whole tank mysis shrimp. I cut a piece off the frozen sheet I have and let it dissolve for about an hour before I put it in the tank with a turkey Baster, I usually squirt it over the corals in there. Is this sufficient? The other two are gsp and pulsing Xenia. They've grown so many new heads I've lost count in the last two weeks since I've had them. At least one a day on both. The theory about that being where it was bumped during transport seems likely, the store that packaged it didn't really do it very well. I wanted a leather, and pointed at a leather but they gave me that one instead, lol. They just threw it in the bag and didn't seem to be very careful with it. How can I help it heal??

Cool deal, because Favia is much better than a leather, imo! If you feed it like your are doing now and keep your tank parameters up (Ca, Kh, Mg, for starters, and feed the tank (so they have some nitrate and Phosphate) but keep the algae away then it should do fine.

HINT: Next time they toss your coral in the bag, kick them swiftly in the same spot. They need to learn to respect the coral as a living creature, or be kicked like the creature they are? (But only if you are alone and there are no recording devices anywhere to record the assault, and I never told you to do this, right?)

But you get the idea. So be nice, you have coral at home to look after.

 

[jordan be]

Awesome! I've tried keeping ca levels up, and they're pretty stable but more calcium is showing on the coral than in that picture, I'm pretty concerned about it. I'm having to go out of town for a family emergency till Saturday, so fingers crossed it's still alive when I get back and my tank hasn't crashed! I have a very trusted friend taking care of all my tanks, and she's taken care of all my animals for years when I'm out of town so [emoji51][emoji51]and LOL. I just might do that next time.

 

[OREGONIC]

I tried favia a few times in my tank a few years ago when it was new and they always slowly died. Didnt have luck with acans either when tank was new. Now that my tank is a few years old and I have more experience I have tried acans again and they do great, but have not tried favia again. Next time a see a nice favia at my LFS I may have to pick one up and try again. You will probably find that as your tank matures and your skills get better things will do better and things you were not able to keep will start to thrive. If the favia does not surrive it will not cause a tank crash, I have had several corals die over the last few years.