novahobbies
New member
OK, I give up. I am apparently not allowed to keep Acans, and frankly it's ticking me off. I could use some advice, so I'm hoping someone chimes in.
Let me tell you how I've tried to keep them, and what happens EVERY SINGLE TIME.
First, I lose these beautiful corals slowly. Over a period of months. It's like slow tissue necrosis; the colony starts receding from the skeleton from the edges until I'm left with a couple polyps surrounded by a grisly field of bone-white CaCO3 skeleton. Eventually these die off as well. It's a song that I have played and replayed three times in the past, and I'd really like to find a new tune.
I have tried these with small colonies, not individual polyp frags. 8-12 head mini-colonies. The first one I had was in the seahorse tank, under a 150w MH, about 12-14 inches under the water surface, in 76 degree water. It died back. The second one was kept a little lower on the sand bed (I had read that Acans are "very adaptable, but don't need a lot of light") so this one was roughly 22 inches underwater, again in 74-76 degree water. Same old tune, slow necrosis from the outer polyps in.
I did feed these guys a small amount.
When I set up the 110g, I thought I'd give it another shot. I put this colony near the bottom of the tank, under LED lights. I know I have some decent PAR because my lights tend to bleach out a lot of sensitive corals (There are favites that I have to keep shaded under rocks on the bottom of the tank for example). I hoped that this tank, with its cleaner water and no nitrate, might make the difference, but alas......the colony is receding yet again. At first I thought it was only receding a little near the front, but today I realized that the back end of the colony near the rock is almost completely gone. All the same as the last two times.
So, yeah, I'm very frustrated. I'd love to hear some accomplished Acan keepers chime in...where your corals are kept, your lighting, how and when you feed, etc. I really love these guys, but I am not sure if I should try for Acan number 4. Or (hope against hope!!) if there is some way of resurrecting the current Acan that's almost gone. Should I frag off the dead skeleton or leave it??
Let me tell you how I've tried to keep them, and what happens EVERY SINGLE TIME.
First, I lose these beautiful corals slowly. Over a period of months. It's like slow tissue necrosis; the colony starts receding from the skeleton from the edges until I'm left with a couple polyps surrounded by a grisly field of bone-white CaCO3 skeleton. Eventually these die off as well. It's a song that I have played and replayed three times in the past, and I'd really like to find a new tune.
I have tried these with small colonies, not individual polyp frags. 8-12 head mini-colonies. The first one I had was in the seahorse tank, under a 150w MH, about 12-14 inches under the water surface, in 76 degree water. It died back. The second one was kept a little lower on the sand bed (I had read that Acans are "very adaptable, but don't need a lot of light") so this one was roughly 22 inches underwater, again in 74-76 degree water. Same old tune, slow necrosis from the outer polyps in.
I did feed these guys a small amount.
When I set up the 110g, I thought I'd give it another shot. I put this colony near the bottom of the tank, under LED lights. I know I have some decent PAR because my lights tend to bleach out a lot of sensitive corals (There are favites that I have to keep shaded under rocks on the bottom of the tank for example). I hoped that this tank, with its cleaner water and no nitrate, might make the difference, but alas......the colony is receding yet again. At first I thought it was only receding a little near the front, but today I realized that the back end of the colony near the rock is almost completely gone. All the same as the last two times.
So, yeah, I'm very frustrated. I'd love to hear some accomplished Acan keepers chime in...where your corals are kept, your lighting, how and when you feed, etc. I really love these guys, but I am not sure if I should try for Acan number 4. Or (hope against hope!!) if there is some way of resurrecting the current Acan that's almost gone. Should I frag off the dead skeleton or leave it??
Normally I would feed 2 to 3 times per week. For something I'm looking to be fragging regularly or one in recovery, I'd up that to every other day. The pellets are good, I'd also throw in some silversides and shrimp that are cut into 1/2" to 1" pieces.
