Acans tips and tricks

[BDean]

Hello all, Ive been reefing for around 3 years now and have just recently started keeping acans. For some reason 50% of them just seem to melt off the skeleton over a 3 month period. So for all you acan junkies can you give me some advice?Like what levels they prefer, how much light, flow. Thanks

 

[E.intheC]

IME, acans typically like moderate flow and lower light levels. They tend to bleach out under higher light.
They do appreciate good, stable water quality as well.

 

[gqlmao1]

They loved to be fed, I feed mine once a week with a product called acan plus it works wonders. My tank has a few acans in it, its under low flow moderate lighting and heavy spot feeding. Cheers! The pics of the acans are not with full extension, the heads get even bigger after feeding!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2118290

 

[Jstn]

Really feed them to make them happy. Also start them on low light then move them around to make them happy.

 

[robferrari]

+ 1 on low light

 

[willietang021]

I had 4 colonies of aussie acans. the one that is doing best is in high light right next to my SPS and the highest flow in the tank. 4 inches away from my mp10 at 80%. It is the puffy-est of all my acan. It has reproduce the fastest also among the four colonies that I have. But, from everyone else I have read and asked, everyone say low light and low-mid flow. I feed mine twice a week with finely chop raw shrimp meat.
All my other acan also do very well when they are in higher flow area.

 

[achillesmf]

Low light helps. Keep low phosphates and feed them from time to time. I feed mine once a month with shrimp. At any sign of infection dose coral snow directly on it.

 

[SeanT]

Feed.
And I don't mean feed the whole tank, I mean directly, gently, blow food into the polyps with a turkey baster.

 

[JHawlz9989]

Feed.
And I don't mean feed the whole tank, I mean directly, gently, blow food into the polyps with a turkey baster.

Really feed them to make them happy. Also start them on low light then move them around to make them happy.

This is some of the best advice.

Also, my acans get noticeably upset when my alkalinity starts to fall off. While they are a relatively easy coral, stable parameters are still needed.

Josh

 

[Motish]

I have an acan for five months now, I know its not a lot of time but it looks in a real good condition to me and growing very fast , I feed it with dry shrimp pallets! I just smash them to small sandy grains, add some aquarium water and use a large syringe to inject it directly to the acan .
I noticed that it extends its pollips an hour after the lights goes off (moon light leds are on).
Sorry if my English isn't well

 

[faceman]

i spot feed a mix of reef roids, oysterfeast, and amino acids and they react to it instantly. growth and coloration is better once i started target feeding.

 

[coral hoarder]

Keep mine on sand bed with medium flow. Feed twice a week

 

[bfam4t6]

I've had this colony for 2-3 years. It started as a single polyp. I have kept it on the sandbed in low/medium flow and under T5 lighting the entire few years I've had them. I don't feed as often as I used to, but when I do feed them regularly the growth rate is dramatically increased. I typically feed mysis, but occasionally supplement with a locally made frozen marine blend. The polyps look a little funky in this picture because I had just fed them.

Also, I've seen many people ask about whether or not Acans need to be glued onto a rock to allow for their polyps to spread. I'm sure you can, but, like I said, mine have been in the sandbed the entire time I've had them. New polyps just sprout from the bottom and slowly work their way up into the heart of the colony.

 

[Dexters Reef]

I have 3 colonies of rainbows, one I placed too high and bleached a little, I moved it back down. Mine seem to like medium flow and to be as low as possible (I have 716w of light, so I dont think any part of my tank is "low light")

 

[giar]

I 'm currently using LED's by AI. The Acan colony seems to do the best in high light with moderate amounts of water flow. I feed mine a variety of foods me mysis, oyster feast, and pods. Once established they seem to be growing fast.