What is the Trick to Get SPS Polyp Extension During the Day?

[BoomCorals]

Question to all of you who have seen good PE during the day. Does nightly water flow versus daily water flow differ?

I have no difference in my day vs night flow.

 

[BoomCorals]

I do slow my pumps down at night. The wave box keeps going, but I just use the light sensor on the Tunze controller to sense when the sun is not out and it slows the pumps down. I do not know if the coral care, but the fish seem more healthy and less skinny if they can relax at night with less to blow them around - the sea is calmer at night... not that this matters at all in captivity.

Actually if you go diving at night in the ocean on a reef, the current is just as strong or even stronger at night vs day. That’s been my experience anyways.

 

[Tautog]

I have PE all day on a lot of my Acros, but others are either very small or are opening at night. I never see any PE during the day on Chalices and Encrusting corals, but at night the sweepers are out and long.
Because of the mixture of corals I feed 2X per week, daytime and nighttime, with 3 days in between each feeding. My procedure is as follows: Broadcast Reef Roids, Wait 10-15 mins, then turn all pumps off. I will feed each coral with a baster. Wait a 1/2 hour, feed again. Wait 15 mins. Now turn on your power heads only, wait 1 hour. Then turn on the filtration system. I feed .5 size Coral Frenzy mixed with Reef Chilli and Reef Roids. I can’t feed Coral Frenzy during the day, because of the fish.
And the sea is calm at night..........that’s funny Colorado!

 

[reefndude]

I have some with good pe during the day, some better at night, some not at all. Flow is same day and night. The Atlantic near my home does not slow down when the sun drops

 

[bif24701]

Polyps on all my corals are out and visible, some more than others. They are not however extended, meaning teaching far out into the flow. Back when I did feed corals there would be some extending, due to I’m sure feeding. PE is nothing to chase or an indication of health. Color and growth tell you if a coral is doing well. I keep great water quality and very very high flow all day and corals grow and have awesome color. As I said all polyps are out and visible and show their colors as well.

 

[Janci]

Don’t use filter socks and stuff like that. You want all those unwanted particals flowing in the water. Corals love that stuff. I don’t run a skimmer or any mechanical filtration for that matter. Locals always say I have the best polyp ext they have seen besides pictures online

I like your style. Do you have a tank threat to know more about the system?

 

[mpsteve]

No I don’t have a thread. Not much to it just chaeto with a h380 lighting it

 

[carbene]

i also run my 180g system like that. no mechanical, chemical and protein skimmer. i just use a lot of pukani rock and chaeto.

 

[1979fishgeek]

I use Natural Seawater and get PE day and night, some better than others depending on species. I think it’s just having food in the water column regularly available, particularly plankton. But I also noticed getting even better PE with using NOPOX perhaps the increase of bacteria in the water also being fed on.
Get CRAZY PE during a water change, so I’m 100% it’s plankton and all the yummy microfauna they feed on.

 

[ajcanale]

I've found that PE (both day/night) seems best when nutrients are low (but present, not ultra low) and alk/cal are stable and in ionic balance, and also at relative levels to nutrients. For instance: NO3 2-3ppm, Phos .1-.2ppm, ALK 7-8 dKh, Ca 400-410ppm. Also, to note, there was a period of time when I was running biopellets (over 5 years ago) where I had the best day PE that I have ever seen. Hard to say if biopellets were the main factor though.

 

[bif24701]

I've found that PE (both day/night) seems best when nutrients are low (but present, not ultra low) and alk/cal are stable and in ionic balance, and also at relative levels to nutrients. For instance: NO3 2-3ppm, Phos .1-.2ppm, ALK 7-8 dKh, Ca 400-410ppm. Also, to note, there was a period of time when I was running biopellets (over 5 years ago) where I had the best day PE that I have ever seen. Hard to say if biopellets were the main factor though.

Any carbon source can do that. The bacteria that it grows turns into food for plankton and corals. Corals also feed on the abundance of plankton from dosing carbon.

 

[jda]

The growing bacteria population also required oxygen and the corals need more PE for gas exchange.

 

[nashorn]

Isn't there a differents with PE and feeding response from the sps?
I have PE all the time but if I feed I can't say I notice a lot more PE just the feeding webs to capture food.

 

[bif24701]

Yes, but I don’t think that’s it. Would require a lot of bacteria, like a large slimy bloom and poor gas exchange to really affect O2 levels much.

 

[Vaughn17]

I've found that PE (both day/night) seems best when nutrients are low (but present, not ultra low) and alk/cal are stable and in ionic balance, and also at relative levels to nutrients. For instance: NO3 2-3ppm, Phos .1-.2ppm, ALK 7-8 dKh, Ca 400-410ppm. Also, to note, there was a period of time when I was running biopellets (over 5 years ago) where I had the best day PE that I have ever seen. Hard to say if biopellets were the main factor though.

Here is my 180, ten minutes ago. NO3 is approx. 10 ppm and PO4 is approx. .25 ppm. Lots of PE.

 

[ajcanale]

Here is my 180, ten minutes ago. NO3 is approx. 10 ppm and PO4 is approx. .25 ppm. Lots of PE.

Very nice. Was just sharing my experience from over the years.

 

[Vaughn17]

In the wild, corals naturally keep their polyps in during the day to avoid predation. In captivity, corals typically learn that it's safe to extend polyps during the day and usually do so after they become used to their new environment. All you can really do is provide good water quality and wait.

It's worth noting that in almost all circumstances, corals in captivity do not need supplemental feeding to survive. Supplemental feedings may optimize health and growth, but they are certainly not required.

Wild corals that eat phytoplankton feed during the day, whereas stony corals like acropora that eat zooplankton feed at night because zooplankton migrate from deeper to shallower waters at night to feed. If captive sps are fed during daylight hours and all other habitat needs are being met, most will exhibit PE (IME).

Your second statement requires a caveat. Like all living creatures corals need to eat to survive. Many corals survive and thrive in captivity without supplemental feeding, providing they have nutrients (aka NO3 & PO4) to feed their symbiotic photosynthetic algae. If the coral is fed it feeds the zooxanthellae, and likewise if the zoox are fed they feed the coral. If neither is fed both will eventually die.

 

[Vaughn17]

Very nice. Was just sharing my experience from over the years.

Thx, ajacnale. Yes, and your experience is valuable! Together our experiences and those of others show that no one method is the only method for success with acros.

 

[Ranjib]

I have a biocube 29, which is really tiny compared to most tanks shared here. I am also relatively new to sps keeping (1 year). I have literally learned step by step how to keep the acros. And here is my observations:
- Monti and other easy to keep sps had shown somewhat nominal pe irrespective of any special attention . Note, I started with lps and this was my first tank, so no dosing , no extra flow , just weekly water change . I failed to keep almost all acros except a no name tenius, green slimer and purple stylophora
- my no name tenius survived without anything extra but showed pe only after I hooked up an mp10. This change also made the Monti , stylophora and green slimer pe much better. I was not able to keep any other acro or milipora during this time
- I was able to keep some more acro (red dragon ) and milipora after I started dosing. But this also increased the pe of all other sps. The hard to keep sps just survived till then, after starting dosing they started to show some of crusting growth. While the older sps that survived in less than ideal conditions show extra growth with very different and vibrant color. New part also have better pe
- now I throw a pinch of reef roid every day , for past two months. I am now seeing very good pe , particularly with my milipora and other hard to keep acros like red table (only around the tips)

All my observations are during day,
I’ll summarize, for me it was all about good water quality ( I use mechanical as well as echemical filtration, and my local reefers say that my water is crystal clear , far more clear than most bigger tanks in the area), strong flow and the morning reef roid (particularly for the milipora) .

 

[Ranjib]

It’s evening down here, so the lights are pretty blue, but here are some quick snaps with iPhone
The no name tenius

Purple stylophora

Orange digitata

Green slimer

Another no name tenius

And my sole milipora