This Is For You Marvin!!!!

[143gadgets]

Picked these up for Marvin not too long ago. They are beautiful. I have noticed that the aussies in general don't like like. When I first got them they were BEAUTIFUL. I decided to keep them shaded and took a look at them today and they looked SICK!!!! I am very happy with the coloration of them Here are the pics.

 

[edwing206]

Nice! Are getting a frag of them or what?

 

[143gadgets]

Nice! Are getting a frag of them or what?

Thanks! I have them in my tank. I got them from Marvin a few weeks ago.

 

[MarvinsReef]

they look awesome Chris... :)

 

[Patwa]

I have noticed that the aussies in general don't like like.

nice pieces!.....i love that rainbow one on the left...

but i'm having trouble trying to understand what you wrote...are you saying that, in your opinion, aussie acans do not like light? ....and that to get the best colours you need to shade them?

Zach

 

[greystreet41]

they look great chris. I have not see that coloration of the smaller one before.
Zach, the lighting needs of the aussie acans is pretty inconclusive, but a lot of people including myself are having better luck with some colonies in very low/dim/shaded areas fwiw. I have some that have been completely bleached out by t5s, others that grade B types were turned into to beautiful grade As from the t5s over time, and so on...

 

[Patwa]

they look great chris. I have not see that coloration of the smaller one before.
Zach, the lighting needs of the aussie acans is pretty inconclusive, but a lot of people including myself are having better luck with some colonies in very low/dim/shaded areas fwiw. I have some that have been completely bleached out by t5s, others that grade B types were turned into to beautiful grade As from the t5s over time, and so on...

our experiences with aussie acans over here in Toronto is quite the opposite....it's widely known here that aussie acans do thrive in a variety of lighting environments....that's obvious...from PC all the way to heavy wattage Radiums...there's not one perosn i know of that says you should keep the aussies under shade for any prolonged period of time...no one.

...for intense colour and growth, i've heard nothing less than giving them heavy to medium heavy lighting....of course, you are prone to bleaching if you just toss them under heavy lights without acclimating.....i reckon that's what happening when you said some of yours bleach under T5s...they will not bleach, when you acclimate properly, with any coral (read: slow as hell!!)..acclimating a coral to intense light from MH or T5 is not something that is done in a couple days.....it takes weeks (usually 2)

Jay (Reef Raft) says to blast them with light....so do a lot of my other friends, including prolly the biggest acan lord collector in Toronto...this is the guy that Reef Raft sometimes gives first pick to when the shipment arrives.

as for the shade....that explain why the coral seem to react positively:....they want more light ...so you see them stretch, and some of the colours start to saturate....ever read that thread on RC about the benefits of turning off your tank lights for 3 days straight? when you turn the lights back on, the corals look surprisingly healthy, puffy and uber-colourfull.....no wonder!...they're reacting to the fact there's no light!

Zach

 

[Patwa]

others that grade B types were turned into to beautiful grade As from the t5s over time, and so on...

should note i've experienced this myself too!.....i love surprises like this...keeps me coming back for more.

Zach

 

[greystreet41]

Patwa,
To clarify: by bleaching I meant stripping of colors (not bleaching as in dying).
As for the shade, I'm referring to indirect light, shade, whatever you want to call it. You're talking about hundreds/thousands of different color morphs that are collected in varied lighting conditions in the reef. I can say without question I've gotten some colonies that were rough, put them in a shady area for a "prolonged" period of time and they've ended up looking great. It's the exception and not the rule. Again, this is just anecdotal experience (a few hundred colonies).

 

[Patwa]

Patwa,
To clarify: by bleaching I meant stripping of colors (not bleaching as in dying).
As for the shade, I'm referring to indirect light, shade, whatever you want to call it. You're talking about hundreds/thousands of different color morphs that are collected in varied lighting conditions in the reef. I can say without question I've gotten some colonies that were rough, put them in a shady area for a "prolonged" period of time and they've ended up looking great. It's the exception and not the rule. Again, this is just anecdotal experience (a few hundred colonies).

yeah man, I respect what you're saying.......i'm just looking at this as a simple exchange of knowledge, no less.

heheh...sorry if this is confusing....when I say bleaching I meant the expelling of zooxanthellae...not outright death/dying....when you say 'stripping of colours' do you mean, for example, seeing a bright red with bright orange ring acan then watching it lose that orange ring and turn a drab red within a couple months? ......imo, that's not bleaching..if anything, it's just adjusting/morphing to your tank params.

...but your comment on placing rough looking acans under shade only to have them bounce back to life is indicative of ANY coral in that worried state, no?... I don't know of any coral, acan lord or otherwise, that does well under direct lighting when they're in 'rough' shape.

You're talking about hundreds/thousands of different color morphs that are collected in varied lighting conditions in the reef..

the term 'varied' is relative.....as a species, it is known that a. lordhowensis can easily manage a certain range of lighting (and a very wide range at that!)....there is no reason to believe that an acan plucked from 17m on the leeward side of an atoll would require markedly different lighting in the home aqaurium than an acan taken from 30m on the windward side of an atoll 50 miles away....imo, the only hurdle is how well you can acclimate the specimen to your unique params....that's the tricky part.

man..we can blabber on and on about this.....hahah :)

Zach

 

[greystreet41]

I hear ya Zach. I think I'm just having trouble conveying semantics (must be a southern thing. :)
This is my best example of stripping. This colony was a very dull red/brown, but turned highlighter pink. I think it's now a nicer "looking" colony, but I don't neccesarily think it's healthier if that makes any sense. I can't find a beginning pic, but maybe you can see where I'm going with it.

 

[edwing206]

Oooh, your OP says I got them FOR Marvin. I got confused. Awesome corals nonetheless.

 

[143gadgets]

No biggie Edwing!

THANKS EVERYONE!!!

 

[143gadgets]

I really love the small one!

Here is a pic when I first got it. The color has gotten more intense and brighter. i am anxious to see it in the new LPS setup I am putting together. :)

 

[AussieLordfan]

^ That is the Fruitloops correct? I got a piece of that as well...unfortunately it died. The unknown dreaded recession **** got to mines. :mad:

 

[Patwa]

hmm...you know what?...the pic below looks like it's bleaching, imo......it's got this almost translucent appearance, which does make sense if you say it was a dull reddish colour but now is more pinkish.

I once had a solid, dull orange scoly a long time ago that started to bleach due to an upgrade in my light output...the end result was a translucent intense neon orange...sorta along the same lines as your pic

it reminds me of a pic Kigs (if i remember correctly) was posting a while back of one of his new aussie pieces....it was bleached to heck! but no one really noticed it (or pointed it out at least - including me) until later on...mind you, it did look puffy and healthy...the colour just did not make sense.....maybe cuz the aussie craze had just begun so no one really knew a bleached from non-bleached?....i dunno....

in any case, my bet is that the colour on yours will stabilize, maybe even gain back some of the red it lost, but it prolly will never go back to it's original (ie. freshly plucked from the ocean) colour.

it's a nice piece though!

Zach

I hear ya Zach. I think I'm just having trouble conveying semantics (must be a southern thing. :)
This is my best example of stripping. This colony was a very dull red/brown, but turned highlighter pink. I think it's now a nicer "looking" colony, but I don't neccesarily think it's healthier if that makes any sense. I can't find a beginning pic, but maybe you can see where I'm going with it.

 

[143gadgets]

in any case, my bet is that the colour on yours will stabilize, maybe even gain back some of the red it lost, but it prolly will never go back to it's original (ie. freshly plucked from the ocean) colour.

it's a nice piece though!

Zach

Any reason why u say it will never go back to its original color? I have a few that bleached and I hope they can regain their original state.

 

[alexpescado]

Nice stuff Chris. I had an Aussie acan that was bleached when I received it and now it has turned out really nice with great growth. It took a couple of months before the color changed. Looking forward to see your new set up.

 

[143gadgets]

Nice stuff Chris. I had an Aussie acan that was bleached when I received it and now it has turned out really nice with great growth. It took a couple of months before the color changed. Looking forward to see your new set up.

Thanks Alex! I have changed my lighting in hopes to get more color like yours and others here that are using T5s.