any idea whats going on with acan

[cas1069]

when its open it looks healthy and normal but at night it looks like the tissue between the mouth is almost like a sponge
i haven't seen anything picking on it and the only thing i can think of is i added some lords acan to the tank
has anyone seen this and knows what it is?


tank is a 220 with fuge
temp 78
ph 8
dk 9
no3 0
po3 0

fish are:
1 sailfin tang
1 tomini tang
1 foxface lo
1 perc clown
3 sm bi lepord wrasses

 

[Reef Bass]

It does look unhappy in that shot.

Generally one should suspect either a water quality issue (you don't mention calcium or magnesium levels), or "unwelcome oral exploration" by other tank inhabitants. Any chance your tangs or foxface are picking on it?

 

[cas1069]

ca is around 440

and i havent seen anything picking on it and when it opens it looks normal

 

[snorvich]

It does look unhappy in that shot.

Generally one should suspect either a water quality issue (you don't mention calcium or magnesium levels), or "unwelcome oral exploration" by other tank inhabitants. Any chance your tangs or foxface are picking on it?

"unwelcome oral exploration" is a great term which I will borrow. Of the fish, Foxface may be most likely.

 

[philosophile]

how long has it been like that? sometimes my acans will mysteriously shrink and then puff back up after a day or so.

 

[cas1069]

how long has it been like that? sometimes my acans will mysteriously shrink and then puff back up after a day or so.

as far as i know its only been like that for a few days, not that long
and it looks great during the day the only time i see it is at night when it shrinks

 

[Reef Bass]

"unwelcome oral exploration" is a great term which I will borrow.

Glad you like it. Seems appropriate from the coral's point of view.

it looks great during the day the only time i see it is at night when it shrinks

That's pretty much the opposite of what I would expect, especially if it were being fish nipped. Acans typically inflate a bit and put out their feeding tentacles at night. Of course, right after the lights went out my acans would sometimes shrink up, but a few hours later they would be their normal, inflated, hungry selves.

 

[cas1069]

i'm going to try moving it away from the lords and see if that helps if not than it will go into a different tank

thanks for all the help and ideas

 

[ldb Aquatics]

Are you feeding it?

 

[cas1069]

Are you feeding it?

yes and no i feed a mixture of foods but do not spot feed

 

[greech]

I don't see anything wrong with it. Acans will definitely defalte (usually once per day and usually at night). Mine has huge polyps during the day but at night it shrinks to about 1/2 its size and the feeders come out (everywhere!). I feed mine at least twice per week.

I also had an acan with simlar shaped polyps and it never got as fleshy as the other lords I had right next to it. The polyps on that coral were smaller and more symetrical (round) than my other lords and the flesh was also smoother. I do recall the nighttime retraction showing some gaps between the polyps like yours. Although I cannot be certain, I was told the shape/size of the polyps had to do with where the acan was collected.