Update on acan

[jordanrb]

Posted about my acan receeding in a small spot (you can see the white skeleton at the bottom). Initially was hoping something just picked at it. But after observing and setting up a camera that is not the case.

It has receded a little bit more since. As you can see the polyps are definitely not as plump as they can be. It was placed in this spot when I got it and has been doing great. No perameter swings and they have been stable at Cal 440-430, Mag 1350, Alk 8.4 - 8.1, Phos .022-.30 ppm, Nitrate 30-32 ppm, Ph 8.

It's definitely not too much flow as even when the polyps were fully extended they had the slightest bounce to it. Lighting is a pime 16 10" above the surface running at 38w. The acan is on the bottom and this is a 18" deep tank. I don't have a par meter yet but from what I've seen online it should not be getting anymore than 100 par at the sand bed.

I am at a loss. It was a super healthy, fairly large colony and all of a sudden it's dying. Any suggestions will be great.

 

[BryanM]

two views on this.

1). S* happens for no reason, all you can do is move it to less flow and hope for the best. I'd spot feed it more often for a while, i usually see improvements. I spot feed mysis+benereef.

2). There's a nipper in the tank.

 

[jordanrb]

two views on this.

1). S* happens for no reason, all you can do is move it to less flow and hope for the best. I'd spot feed it more often for a while, i usually see improvements. I spot feed mysis+benereef.

2). There's a nipper in the tank.

I've been feeding it twice a week since I had it. Still accepting mysis. Nothing is bothering it so maybe it's just unlucky.

 

[Uncle99]

Nitrates running on the high end at 32ppm….5-10ppm better spot.
Phosphate at 0.02ppm to 0.3ppm is problem.
0.02ppm is way low and .3ppm is on the high side.
So not sure which is correct and that makes a difference

These are not the issues but you may need to correct that long term.

looks like a nipper or stung.

That Xenia to the left will overtake the scan.

 

[jordanrb]

Nitrates running on the high end at 32ppm….5-10ppm better spot.
Phosphate at 0.02ppm to 0.3ppm is problem.
0.02ppm is way low and .3ppm is on the high side.
So not sure which is correct and that makes a difference

These are not the issues but you may need to correct that long term.

looks like a nipper or stung.

That Xenia to the left will overtake the scan.

Sorry I meant .02-.03. Nitrates have always been in the low 30s, no matter how many wc I do it wants to stay there. I know technically not ideal but I've seen many mixed reef tanks doing well in the 30s.

Once the xenia start getting too big I will trim more but shouldn't be the issue right now. The acan is still in 90% light. No corals in its area that can sting it. I was really hoping something nipping at it but at this point I'm not sure. Been almost a week with nothing bothering it.

 

[MikeyZo]

Try moving it to a different spot, maybe with a little More light? I had one of mine do the same thing were two or three heads receded and died… couple weeks later, new heads were budding over the skeleton. Sometimes, like @BryanM said, s**t happens. Doesn’t mean you’ll lose the entire colony

 

[Shirak]

Phosphate still too low as we discussed. Raising phosphate will also help lower nitrate as the corals and algae in the tank will make more use of it photo synthesizing.

 

[Uncle99]

Sorry I meant .02-.03. Nitrates have always been in the low 30s, no matter how many wc I do it wants to stay there. I know technically not ideal but I've seen many mixed reef tanks doing well in the 30s.

Once the xenia start getting too big I will trim more but shouldn't be the issue right now. The acan is still in 90% light. No corals in its area that can sting it. I was really hoping something nipping at it but at this point I'm not sure. Been almost a week with nothing bothering it.

Too low.
With margin of error factor, could be zero.
And that invites fast replication pest stuff and starves the system.
Try .1ppm.
If nitrate holds at 30, then that’s fine,
Sometimes things “taste” then not touch again.

 

[jordanrb]

Phosphate still too low as we discussed. Raising phosphate will also help lower nitrate as the corals and algae in the tank will make more use of it photo synthesizing.

Ok, I have been dosing neophos daily. I will keep going

 

[jordanrb]

Too low.
With margin of error factor, could be zero.
And that invites fast replication pest stuff and starves the system.
Try .1ppm.
If nitrate holds at 30, then that’s fine,
Sometimes things “taste” then not touch again.

I will keep dosing with neophos. Hopefully thats all it is. Thank you!

 

[Shirak]

I will keep dosing with neophos. Hopefully thats all it is. Thank you!

Reef Roids are a good food for low phosphate systems. Can also make it into a thick paste and spot feed with it. Extra will disperse through the system and help keep phosphates from bottoming out.

 

[jordanrb]

Reef Roids are a good food for low phosphate systems. Can also make it into a thick paste and spot feed with it. Extra will disperse through the system and help keep phosphates from bottoming out.

Ok I have been contemplating using reef roids. I will give it a try, hopefully will help me acan bounce back.

Will it make my nitrates go even higher?

 

[Shirak]

Ok I have been contemplating using reef roids. I will give it a try, hopefully will help me acan bounce back.

Will it make my nitrates go even higher?

I don't think it will have too much of an impact on nitrate if you are not overdoing it. The increase in phosphates will help algae and corals so you may see more algae growth which will help lower nitrates if you can remove it from the system as detritus from the CUC, scraping glass etc. IMO your nitrates are fine as they are so I really wouldn't worry about it unless it goes up over 50ppm. In my tank I need to dose nitrates because my phosphates are being dosed daily and algae, coralline etc use the nitrates up too.

I hope it helps but it may not be the only thing going on. LPS are prone to infections so keep an eye on things and maybe and iodine dip might help.

 

[paraletho]

Two things come to mind with acans. I have noticed they prefer a higher magnesium level 1350-1450. They do better when there is a little flow once a colony matures and you see less growth in between polyps there is a tendency to collect detritus in the valleys between which can cause issues.

 

[jordanrb]

I don't think it will have too much of an impact on nitrate if you are not overdoing it. The increase in phosphates will help algae and corals so you may see more algae growth which will help lower nitrates if you can remove it from the system as detritus from the CUC, scraping glass etc. IMO your nitrates are fine as they are so I really wouldn't worry about it unless it goes up over 50ppm. In my tank I need to dose nitrates because my phosphates are being dosed daily and algae, coralline etc use the nitrates up too.

I hope it helps but it may not be the only thing going on. LPS are prone to infections so keep an eye on things and maybe and iodine dip might help.

Yeah I am honestly at a loss. In a week my alk can fluctuate .2-.4 at most, calcium and magnesium 20-25ppm, everything else is super stable. Just got my par meter today. Par looks good, around 130 at the acan. Flow is definitely good.

 

[jordanrb]

Two things come to mind with acans. I have noticed they prefer a higher magnesium level 1350-1450. They do better when there is a little flow once a colony matures and you see less growth in between polyps there is a tendency to collect detritus in the valleys between which can cause issues.

I'm staying around 1350 for Magnesium. Slowly trying to get it to high 1300's.

It has low-moderate flow. It looks nice and clean once the polyps retract at night