Toadstool Leather Polyp Extension

[Formulator]

Has anyone else noticed that toadstools tend to have better polyp extension at lower Alk? I recently decided to raise my baseline Alk from 8.0 to 9.5 for various reasons, mostly a desire for better SPS growth rates. I’ve done this very slowly over time and nothing has shown any signs of stress. The leathers are looking really healthy except that they don’t seem to extend their polyps much. They just get pimples where the polyps used to extend a couple centimeters.

 

[Silly clownfish]

I have not observed a connection, but I also don’t track my parameters that close. Toadstool leathers are incredibly tough and have survived a couple of major catastrophes in my tank since I got my original one over 20 years ago and still have that/decendants of that original frag.

One of those catastrophes was related to the controller running the Alk dosing pump overnight. I could not even measure the alk.

 

[CO2TLEY]

My alk is currently 9.3 and I’ve never seen better polyp extension coming from my leather. Maybe they’re shedding or getting ready to?

Edit: picture

 

[Formulator]

I have not observed a connection, but I also don’t track my parameters that close. Toadstool leathers are incredibly tough and have survived a couple of major catastrophes in my tank since I got my original one over 20 years ago and still have that/decendants of that original frag.

One of those catastrophes was related to the controller running the Alk dosing pump overnight. I could not even measure the alk.

I agree 100% they are probably one of the toughest organisms we keep and those toadstools (started with one which dropped the second) have been with me for 8 years, a tank move, and a major crash that killed everything else except my clownfish. I’m not concerned with their health. More of an aesthetic question about how to get better extension.