My first acro!

[RacingTiger03]

I finally dove in and got an acro. I had bought a digitata a few months back because it was cheap and would help me see if my tank could handle it (light wise). Next was a stylophora.. a little more forgiving than acros. But 2 days ago I finally bought the plum crazy ORA acro that I've had my eye on at the fish store for a month now. I'll get some pics up later, but it is mostly brown right now. It is slowly but surely coloring back up. It went from almost directly under a 150 watt MH (with a VERY salt covered acrylic cover) to under 5 T5HO in a 29gallon. I have it about 7-10" below the surface right now and in high flow. It is showing decent polyp extension. I'll get a picture up later tonight for you guys!

Anyways... For spot feeding what do you guys recommend? or is it really necessary? I've read a bit of mixed on both sides...

Also, to get that deep royal purple color out of the plum crazy what kind of lighting and depth from the light do some of you with this coral have?
While were on that, how long can it take for it to color up and lose the brown? in 2 days it has gone from just the very tips being purple/white to almost every hole that has a polyp is showing purple at the edges, but the polyps are still brown.

as promised..
the day I got it

yesterday fully opened

 

[RacingTiger03]

seriously.. no one here has a recommendation on what type of food the acros like? Guess ill just try out marine snow *shrug*

Any ideas on the browning? even a rough idea of how long before I should take that it needs to go closer to the light? Right now it is mid ways up and after about a week seems like it is losing the brown very slowly but I can't tell for sure. How long should i give it before moving higher up?

 

[Mariner]

I don't directly feed my acros (or any of my corals for that matter). If you have fish and you're feeding them well, and your light is good, the coral should have plenty of available nutrient sources. Certainly marine snow is not going to help much. Something along the line of Rod's Food from Rod's Reef or Reef Chili would be a much better choice if you just feel the need to feed.
As far as color is concerned, IME it can take weeks/months for a given piece to color up under new lighting.
HTH,
Mariner

 

[SPStoner]

I never feed any of my SPS corals. As for coloriung up, the ORA's tend to color up faster than most, but be patient. Leave it where it is at for at least a month before moving. It is adapting to your lights/ water chemistry, and this will take time.

FWIW, the more blue light you have, the better this coral looks in my experience.

 

[RacingTiger03]

so no supplementary feeding needed on it? thats good. And leave it a month before making any changes if it hasn't colored up by then? at that point its closer to the light I assume? I placed it about mid-way up initially

My spectrum is pretty blue. it should color up nicely.. 2 18,000K and 3 actinic

 

[Troylee]

No worries man it will come around... Flow is just as important in coloration as lights if not more, make sure you have good flow but not a direct beam blasting it, you Wana see the polyps moving around then you got a happy camper...
As for feeding sps love fish poo!!! Lol
alsoake sure to keep your tank stable this is the key you want salinity, cal. Alk and mag to stay stable