Acan questions and ID (New light, tank placement ?'s etc.)

[ViktorVaughn]

Hi, hoping some of you Acan keepers can help me out. I just bought this guy 2 weeks ago and initially when I placed it into my 40 gallon breeder (36" L x 18" D x 17" H) the acan went under a 2 bulb coralife T5 fixture (1 10k bulb, 1 actinic bulb) halfway up the tank at about 8" from the top and bottom of tank. It is in a spot that receives low/moderate flow right now. Yesterday I added a 36" Aquatic Life 4 bulb T5 fixture (1 10k, 2 420/460, and 1 purple). So, I went from 2 bulbs at 78 watts to 4 bulbs with 156 watts. I also have 2 21" marineland led strips centered on the front and back lips of the tank. Each light has 88 .06 w led, 3-5 of which are blue. Not sure how effective the lights even are, but they are in there none the less.

Water parameters are consistent at:
temp- 78
sg-1.026
alk-8
calcium-400-440 (usually higher at water change, haven't added Ca to tank yet)
magnesium-new test kits on the way, last reading was around 1200-1250)
pH-8.1
nitrate-0-2.5 ppm
nitrite-0
phosphate- 0
ammonia-0

Ok now that the preliminary information is out of the way, I can get to my questions.

1. After doubling the amount of T5 light (78 watts to 156 watts) should I move the acan to the bottom of the tank, or is the current placement ok? (halfway up tank, 12" from light, low/moderate flow)

2. An ID would be helpful, I have no idea what variety of acan this is.

3. What are the best foods to feed acans?

I have added some pictures below for ID help and for people familiar with Acans to see whether mine looks healthy and like it is in the right spot of my tank. First two are with all 4 bulbs on, 2nd two are with just the white bulbs on.

Thanks a bunch! I can already see myself getting quite addicted to these coral, they are really awesome looking. Any other tips or helpful information you'd like to add from past experiences would be great. Thanks again.

All lights (1-10k, 2-420/460, 1-purple)

White lights only

 

[Almondsaz]

Viktor: looks like you have a very nice acan lord (Acanthastrea lordhowensis). In my experience I would say that you have it too high in the light. Typically (an this is not a hard fast rule) but the lighter color acans do better on the sand bed and then acclimate from there. I have mine in lower light and they do much better - that being said I have a bright green that loves the bright light and is in a location similar to yours, but my reds like the dimmer light.

As for food, I really like to use Fauna Marin LPS food pellets. Acans really color up and like the pellets - need to stop all flow in the tank for best effect. I also use a combination of "reefroid" type foods during the night when all the feeder tentacles are out. If you want to spot feed then krill pieces and mysid are great foods - I enrich both of them before feeding.

Hope this information helps. Acans are very addicting and a wonderful coral to propagate.

 

[ViktorVaughn]

Viktor: looks like you have a very nice acan lord (Acanthastrea lordhowensis). In my experience I would say that you have it too high in the light. Typically (an this is not a hard fast rule) but the lighter color acans do better on the sand bed and then acclimate from there. I have mine in lower light and they do much better - that being said I have a bright green that loves the bright light and is in a location similar to yours, but my reds like the dimmer light.

As for food, I really like to use Fauna Marin LPS food pellets. Acans really color up and like the pellets - need to stop all flow in the tank for best effect. I also use a combination of "reefroid" type foods during the night when all the feeder tentacles are out. If you want to spot feed then krill pieces and mysid are great foods - I enrich both of them before feeding.

Hope this information helps. Acans are very addicting and a wonderful coral to propagate.

Thank you, your information helps out a bunch. I looked up the Acan lord and it looks pretty identical. I just moved it from that perch it was on halfway up the tank down to the bottom on the sand-bed. I am going to check it out periodically and see how it responds.

 

[hollback]

I agree. IME, the lower the light, the more colorful they get. If any of my rainbow acans get too much light, they turn mostly red.

Sweet lunchbox and screen name. I'm a bit of an MF Doom fan myself.

 

[ViktorVaughn]

Thanks for the information, I moved it down last night and it seems to be responding well. MF DOOM is the man, I am surprised at the number of reefcentral members who are fans.