Mistakenly dipped Acan in RO water

[reefbeginnings]

Hey everyone, im new here. Have been in the FOWLR hobby for about 2 years now. Started adding some corals to the tank.

I bought two micromussa (acans) yesterday and after dipping, instead of rinsing them with tank water I mistakenly dipped them in fresh RO water.

My question is did I shock them? Is there a way to fix if thats the case? Do Acans take longer to open up? Generally when I add new corals they open up in couple of hours. But these two acans are not opening since adding them yesterday.

Three things could've happened.
1. Shock due to difference in temperature. Since RO water was at room temp (3 to 4 degrees higher than my tank)

2. Shock due to change in salinity.

3. Or both.

Here are some photos.

PS. I have bubble coral and orange fungia plate coral. Both are doing great and the parameters aren't an issue.

Alk: 8.5
Ca: 480
Mag: Never checked
Salinity: 1.026
Nitrates: 30
Phosphates: 0.03
PH: 8.4
Temp: 78°F

 

[Katrina71]

To me, your nitrates are on the higher side. If you're feeding pellets I'd suggest switching to frozen. I don't think the dip will harm them long term.

 

[reefbeginnings]

To me, your nitrates are on the higher side. If you're feeding pellets I'd suggest switching to frozen. I don't think the dip will harm them long term.

Yes Nitrates are a bit high. I generally mix it up with frozen brine, mysis and bloodworms. Thanks for the reply. Can't wait to see the acans open up.

 

[Bucs20fan]

30 nitrates is higher than is always recommended but I doubt its high enough to harm acans, 30 nitrates wont even harm acros. Im sure they will be fine, just give them some good old time to get comfy.

 

[reefbeginnings]

30 nitrates is higher than is always recommended but I doubt its high enough to harm acans, 30 nitrates wont even harm acros. Im sure they will be fine, just give them some good old time to get comfy.

Thanks. And yes I'll work on bringing the nitrates down anyway but I doubt thats the reason.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Reefing102]

For the dip itself, should be fine. They look good from the pics. I know I rarely saw my acans open except during feeding time

 

[reefbeginnings]

For the dip itself, should be fine. They look good from the pics. I know I rarely saw my acans open except during feeding time

Yes I believe they are yet to fully open up. Ill try feeding brine or mysis. May be that helps.

 

[Tired]

A brief temperature shift during a rinse is probably fine, as corals do encounter different-temperature waves sometimes. The RO water ain't great, but those don't look like dying corals, just mildly annoyed corals.

Acans don't generally show their feeding tentacles much, unless offered some kind of food, but they should puff up a bit more than the ones in your photos. Maybe they just need a little time, or maybe the light is a bit bright for them.

Your nitrates are definitely high. Lowering those would be a good idea, but you don't want your phosphates going any lower than they are now, so keep an eye on that. If it comes down to maintaining phosphate and keeping the nitrates high, or lowering the nitrates but lowering the phosphate too much, keep the high nitrates.

 

[reefbeginnings]

A brief temperature shift during a rinse is probably fine, as corals do encounter different-temperature waves sometimes. The RO water ain't great, but those don't look like dying corals, just mildly annoyed corals.

Acans don't generally show their feeding tentacles much, unless offered some kind of food, but they should puff up a bit more than the ones in your photos. Maybe they just need a little time, or maybe the light is a bit bright for them.

Your nitrates are definitely high. Lowering those would be a good idea, but you don't want your phosphates going any lower than they are now, so keep an eye on that. If it comes down to maintaining phosphate and keeping the nitrates high, or lowering the nitrates but lowering the phosphate too much, keep the high nitrates.

Thanks. That's solid advice. Day 3 today, don't see any major improvement. May be 10% better than before. Guess it will take time.

 

[PeterEde]

My nitrates are at 40 and my acans dont seem to mind