Hammer Coral Expansion Question

[Muttling]

Greetings,

I have a new hammer coral that is doing quite well but has a bit of a wierd quirk.

He is mostly retracted when the lights are on and fully expands when the lights are off. He'll get somewhere in between when only half my lights are on.

I have a 26 gallon bow front with 144 wats of T-5 lighting. (24 watts are actinic while the rest is 10K.) He's also at the bottom of the tank so the lighting isn't all that intense.

I'm happy he's healthy and expanding but I'd much rather have him expanded during the day if I can train him to do so.

My only thought at the moment is to rearrange the rock so he's in a touch of shade.

 

[seapug]

Could just be getting used to the tank, but make sure it's not getting too much direct current. IME lower flow allows them to expand more without getting beat up.

 

[Muttling]

He's been in the tank several weeks now. He is getting a fairly hefty flow, but I don't think that's the issue as he fully expands every night when the lights are turned off and he's under the same flow conditions. Other than his odd expansion, he appears quite healthy.

I'll see if I can tinker some more and find an even lesser flow rate for him. Can't hurt.

 

[oct2274]

actually that is alot of light if it isn't used to it. Try removing a couple of bulbs and see what it does.