A few basic questions about Acan's

[SunnyX]

A good friend of mine dropped off some great Acan colonies yesterday. I was shocked at how nice some of the colonies were.They had great oranges, reds, blues, and a 30+ head of rainbow.

I have read this great article so I think I am off to a good start: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-08/ebac/index.php

I have other colonies of Acan's that are growing rapidly but now that I have many more I figured I would ask a few basic questions:

1. Do Acan's need a solid base to spread or can they spread over the sand bed like zoo's? The Acan's I have had for a couple months have now completly covered the rocks they were one.

2. Any good sites with pictures of Acan's so I can make an accurate ID?

3. Any other general recommendations on care? The ones I already have are doing great but im sure there is always room for improvement.

 

[RokleM]

Many put them down in or near the sand bed as ideal placement for lighting (they like MH, but not blasted like SPS), but no they can't grow across the sand. Sand will actually cause recession of the polyps if irritated.

I've used this one as an example, so I'll do it again. The first shot is the frag on a disk. The second shot is an old picture, but give you an idea on growth. Basically you can still see the original main polyp at the very top, then a slight downward angle as it grows down onto the disk. In short, if you want to keep acan's "spreading", continue to supply rock underneath the current growth. I put the disk on a rock, then it grew, then on another rock, then it grew, and I need to put another rock again under it. You can see the faint lines of the rocks as there is horizontal/vertical growth. If you allow an acan to get down to the sand, it won't grow out, but will grow structure underneath forming a bigger and bigger "ball" per say.

Basically there are two main classifications, lords and echinata (and sub-echinata). For the simple 2 second identification, lords are typically puffy polyps that expand and retract with light/food. Echinata are flat and stationary (but obviously still have flesh). There are indo, aussie, japaneese, etc... but they're all acans in the end.

For care, indo typically like a little higher light, aussie typically a little less. All acans enjoy being feed cyclopeeze and small mysis and will grow faster if they are feed once/twice a week. Flow is low/medium, enough to move the feeders, but not whip around the flesh of the lords.



We should probably get a sticky on some of these common threads. No attack to you at all SunnyX, but this is one of the extremely common questions on here and would benefit from a sticky.

 

[roktsintst]

That is a great explanation and explains a lot. i was wondering why my acan piece was "balling" up...

 

[SunnyX]

Thanks for the info. I will see if I can find some flat pieces of live rock to place under the colonies. I have always kept mainly SPS so LPS is new territory for me. The other colonies I have have grown immensley so I should have no problems with the new ones.

Thanks again.

 

[sutec13]

If you glue the acans (rock on the underside) to a larger piece of rock then the polyps can spread and you'll grow the colony. Just sitting on rock, the polyps will start to grow under the colony on th eunderside.

 

[RokleM]

If the frag isn't sitting flat/correctly on the rock, that's true sutec13. I typically don't bother gluing as I try to find a rock that properly matches the frag size. Different techniques including filling gaps with CA glue and/or epoxy work as well.

 

[Rouselb]

So are we saying that they should be mounted on a rock formation to encrust and grow faster? And are we saying they are very similar to Favia when it comes to encrusting to support growth?

 

[macman4]

Good post, Larry I'm going to bump this to try and get some more info. I know ,like me, you have some new acans. Mine I have sitting on the bottom substrate. I had them for about 4 weeks now with no new growth. Don't get me wrong, they look great and "puff" up really nice, and I feed them every other day. The only thing that concerns me is maybe to much flow. Really not sure . Now my favia is half way up the tank, with lots of flow, and they look as if there growing.

I'll be watching,
Bob

 

[Rouselb]

Like Sunny, I have pretty much stayed with acroporas and montiporas. I have had very limited exposure to LPS, specially with acans. I own a few favias and i can tell you that im still trying to figure out what they like. I have a christmas favia that was sold to me as a red eye favia because it was always appeared to be red polyp when just sitting on the bottom of the tank. I then fragged it in half, and glued it to some LR roughly 5-6" from the sand and the bottom was neon green with red polyps. It now appears to be encrusting onto the rock, I have another piece that i fragged off and i plan to mount that under a rock formation to see how the light affects it. I believe only some of the acans exhibit the same growth pattern as the favias. I have 3 colonies right now, and they all have polyp extension and the sweepers are out most of the day and night. They are all setting on a frag tile, and i was going to mount a polyp or two up onto some rock to see if they encrust or grow faster when they dont need to produce a full skeleton. It would be great to hear from others who have mounted them onto rocks or left them in the sand.

 

[RokleM]

It depends on what type of growth you want. If you want them to grow ball like or puffy, no keep them on an isolated spot. It's a very long process. If you want the to spread out, yes give them growth areas around the frag (flat rock, good rockwork that is compatible, etc).

 

[mnml]

I'm seeing the same growth pattern as what RokleM mentioned. The Acans on the sandbed grow ball like and the ones on my flat rocks are encrusting (flat).

 

[cardiffgiant]

Funny, I have a favia that grew to a symetrical ball and then stopped growing. I never thought anything of it, but it's in a bigger tank now and I'd like to see it get a bit larger. I've also added a couple of small acans, but these are the first that I've cared for. I'm going to try putting all 3 on some pieces of rubble.

 

[OrionN]

Does Acans require about the same light and flow as Chalice? Low light and low flow?

 

[grouper25]

I have used 3x3 bathroom tiles to mount my Acans on when they come to me as frags. I also buy fresh , uncooked , chopped clam, then I food process them and freezesmall spoonfulls. I shut the lights and pumps off an hour or so to get them to open polyps and then feed with a small turkey baster..... They eat like slobs and the growth and color results have been amazing..... I have like 40+ acans in my reef and its amazing what feeding is doing.....Use the tile,,,its a great base to expand and they love it.....

 

[OrionN]

Pictures please. I would love to see it.