how do acan lords multiply

[jessp]

I have a couple new acan lord pieces, one with about 90 polyps the other with 12. I wanted to know how they multiply, do new polyps grow among the clusters that area already there(which seems to be the way they are growing now) or do they grow along the edges, or both? any help is appreciated.

thanks,
jess

 

[RandyO]

Acan lords multiply their polyp count by encrusting out on their rock. The new polyps are smaller and over time grow into full adults. They seem to grow best when they are fresh cut, and have rock adjacent to their flesh. If you have a 90 polyp wild colony, you may not see a lot of new growth unless you cut a piece off and mount it flush on a frag rock.

Here is an example of how an Acan lord frag grows.

May 2004
closeup of 2 adult polyps and a baby polyp

whole shot of frag

July 2004
about 7 polyps

August 2004
About 8 polyps, but they have grown larger

October 2004
Frag was moved to the new tank. Picture was taken with lights out and the flash only, to show ring of new polyps. Normally the open polyps hide the baby polyps. Notice the new polyps have not colored up yet. They need their time in the sun to get their colors.

December 2004
The new tank bottom cracked, so the Acan was moved to PC lighting, which gave it a very blue look. Notice how they are stretching up to the light.

December 2004
My Acan collection. The 3 polyp frag has grown into a nice colony in 7 months.

Since the acan was stretching up under the pc's, I figured it really wanted more light.

So here it is in February 2005, under very high MH lighting.

I thought the blue color was great, but didn't realize the coral was very unhappy. It was so closed up, it started to have holes burned into the flesh.

April 2005
It was moved to lower light, but was stressed for months because of the burning incident.

The color changed many times over the year, depending on where the coral was placed in the tank. But you can get an idea of the growth.

 

[Blaster]

Are you feeding them?

 

[RandyO]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7970276#post7970276 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Blaster
Are you feeding them?

If your asking me, I fed them almost daily back then. Mainly frozen brine, mysis and cyclopeeze, and sometimes freeze dried krill.

I've stopped feeding my Acans and I've see a large drop off in growth.

 

[marillion]

Randy, has that piece you fragged a polyp for me undergone any growth spurt since the fragging? You mentioned before that you were hoping it would happen...

Peace,

Chip

 

[neyugn0w01]

Feeding has great benefits like grow, but from my experience with lords, the color seems to not be as brillant as the ones that are not spot feed. Those are great pictures RandyO.

 

[Justin74]

Hey thanks fo posting that RandyO. Time lapse is awesome Very helpfull too.

-Justin

 

[RandyO]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7971043#post7971043 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by neyugn0w01
Feeding has great benefits like grow, but from my experience with lords, the color seems to not be as brillant as the ones that are not spot feed. Those are great pictures RandyO.

I'm not sure if I followed that line.

The color seems to not be as brillant as the ones that are not spot fed.

In other words, the color is better on the corals that are not directly fed?

Is that what your saying?
Just trying to get it straight. It's been a long day for me already.

 

[Justin74]

sounds like he's saying growth is noticeable with feeding,but color is better on the ones that dont get spot fed.

-Justin

 

[jessp]

thanks for the help, the piece with 90 polyps doesn't have much room at all for growth, if i cut the bottom of the rock with a dremel or some tool, should i then cut the polyps with scalpal, or will they seperate automatically, at there polyp edges?