Question about PE

[bluwtr]

Hey all. I have about seven diff Acro species, several diff Monti caps and digtatas, plus some Milliporas and a couple of other SPS in my tank. While they are all growing, I rarely get polyp extension from them and sometimes it's only after lights out. I have a birds nest that is as fuzzy as they come and the same goes for my Psammocora. I know generally speaking that most corals extend their polyps at night anyway, but I was wondering how many people get their corals to extend when their lights are on.

I am running LED's and my PO4 and NO3 are 0.0 according to my Hanna. SG is 1.025, Ca+ is around 400 and dKH is around 9. Mg is around 1600ppm. Temp is 77-78. pH is 8.2

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[dlterry85]

what percentages and what kind of leds are you running? you may have them turned up to much, which is why the polyps are only coming out after lights off.

 

[Tahoe61]

What types of fish are you keeping? How is the flow?

Coloration and growth are good indicators, unfortunately PE seems to be the most desired quality but in the absense of growth and coloration it's not an idicator of health.

I would think that the Millepora would show the best PE, no?

 

[bluwtr]

I am running a DIY Rapid LED build. It has 30 pucks--12 royal blue, 10 UV, and 8 cool white. The whites run around 50%, the blues around 90% and the UV's at 100%.

None of my fish are pickers--at least not that I've ever seen. I've got two perculas, a six line wrasse, a fire fish, two PJ cardinals, a royal gramma and a coral beauty.

My flow is from two Hydor Koralia 1050's and a Jebao WP-25 (Chinese Ecotech knockoff) plus the sump return.

The Millipora shows some extension but generally only, again at night, with food in the water. Like I was saying, the best PE is from the birds nest which is as fuzzy as one can ask for.

 

[Tahoe61]

Hmmm, I do not know how large the tank is but your post gives the impression you have taken this into account. Coral beauties are one of my all time favorite fish, they also tend to not be coral pickers, but I have known a number of hobbyist that believed the Angel was not to blame only to remove the fish and witness a tramatic improvement in PE.

Is there a reason you're running the Mag so high? Is that a chronic value or are you just battling Byropsis?

Even under less than ideal chemistry I still get pretty dang good PE on Millepora, you might consider just moving the Angel to the sump for a short period.

Have you checked for Red Bugs closely?

 

[bluwtr]

My tank is a 55 with total volume including the sump around 62g give or take. I would consider the coral beauty, but I didn't have great PE prior to my adding him so I'm a big believer that it's not his fault.

My Mg is so high because I did have some algae issues and my alk kept swinging so I upped it to help balance the alk uptake. It normally stays around 12-1300 though.

I've not checked for red bugs, but I will say that I dip EVERY piece that has ever gone into my tank and with the six-line I'm pretty sure I'm clean. I do have a magnifying glass and use it just to get a closer look at my corals and I've never seen anything but I'm sure I could have missed it.