My Acans are Stingy EVERYTHING!!!

[j2me5ku]

what do i do??? i just acquired three acan echinata. one that is 3"x3" and two small 1" frags. i notice that when the lights turn on for about 2 hours they start sliming really bad and the slime just keeps on growing until the current takes it away and stings everything. so far, my blasto wellsi and neon green polyp toadstool has been a victim.

ive read about their stinging potential so i kept them away from everything else. i left them on the left side by themselves and everything else on the right-center and rightside.

if i cant find a way for them to stop stinging everything, i may have to trade them for something more peaceful...

who knew that acans were so violent.

please help me figure what i can do to make my take peaceful.

 

[paininthewrasse]

I'd be interested in trading if you have any pics.


I have many things to trade.

LMK what your looking for.

PM me.

 

[j2me5ku]

i rather keep them instead of trade...if i trade them, i'll prob go back to the person i got them from.

any tips to keep my other coral from getting stung by my acans? how do you care for them? are they sliming because they are recovering from tank shock or is it normal for them to slime?

 

[chrisstie]

Could you make a rockwork barrier between them?

 

[Serioussnaps]

Keep the acans so the other stuff isnt downstream....whichever way flow is strongest put the acans at the end of the flow pattern.......if tear gas is blowing you dont want to be at the end of the flow....get my "drift", no pun intended

Do you have an overflow? if so make it so that the slime has the best chance to get in overflow before hitting other stuff

Are they under any stress? They me be sliming more than usual due to being new acquisitions

 

[Vorteil]

I know how you feel. I had mine sting my dendro, micromussa & a couple of florida ricordeas. Best thing to do is keep them far enough away so they cant reach them. I learned my lesson the hard way as echinatas are notoriuos for doing this. They are very hardy & I like the colors of mine which are orange w/purple & green. I wouldnt get rid mine.

 

[cmondo]

I know that corals can "sense" other corals in thier vacinity and once the echinatas do this they will start to sting. In a 20g High, which I am assuming they are in, it may be hard to get them to stop stinging.

Those echinatas are beasts.

 

[jessp]

i have an echianata that is being overcome by a mushroom, i don't want to move it, it used to sting the shrooms around it but now nothing. a clam has attached tot he echianata base so i really can't move it. i got it dirt cheap though so i don't mind

 

[j2me5ku]

serioussnaps - thanks for all the info, it really helps and since my real estate is relatively limited and its harder to move all my plumbing around to accomodate the acans, i think i may go back and trade them for blastos...i cant have a biological warfare goin on in such a small tank...its hard enough as it is trying to keep my params stable in such a small tank.

however, i just love the way acans looks, but maybe in a bigger "acan only" tank.

thanks

 

[j2me5ku]

oh one more question...

vorteil - did your corals recover well? i am hoping that the blastos and toadstool wasnt affected too much by the slime and will recover...the blastos were not in the best of shape when i acquired them and were doing well until now.i hope that it didnt stress them too much.

 

[Vorteil]

They did recover slightly but its only been a month or so. The dendro recovered fully. The lord lost a few polyps, the ricoedea is only half the size but fully healed. The micro is struggling but alive. It sucks since they were favorite pieces of mine. Whats interesting is that I had 3 small fraks of the echinatas that had around 5 polyps on it & i kept them grouped together. Eventually there was one that kept sending out "feelers" or strings that would attach to the others & pull it closer. Sometimes I would check out my tank in the morning & all 3 would be attached together. My tank is small as well, it's only a 24g JBJ. Real estate in it is tight too.

 

[j2me5ku]

well guys i talked to chris at reefermadness (i got my acans there, great selection by the way) and he said i can return them for something less aggressive...he suggested acan lords...i was thinking maybe micros...

which one would you choose: the micros or the lords depending on my position which is something less aggressive and wont sting my other coral?

 

[WendyMc]

Neither of them are as aggressive as an echinata, and I think you'll have to give them equal amount of space away from other corals, so it should just be a personal preference.

 

[Fliger]

Yeah I learned the hard way as well.

Before

After

They're starting to make a comeback but thats my favorite micro. My acans now have they're own space. Pretty, but nasty buggers!!!

 

[WendyMc]

OW! Was it a Lord or an Echinata which caused this damage to your micro?

 

[djmuzzi]

run lots of carbon!!

 

[j2me5ku]

man i really hope my blastos didnt get hurt as bad to lose their polyps...when i get home tonight, im planning to do a water change and put in some carbon. hopefully i'll see improvements in my blastos and toadstool.

im pretty sure they'll make a strong comeback.

 

[WendyMc]

Have you moved your toadstool to some good flow? This is really important for him to heal. The toadstool can take much higher flow than the blasto during healing. Also, if you have any Lugol's you could do daily dips until they are both healed. I would dip them separately - just fill a very well rinsed bowl with tank water, add 5 or 6 drops of Lugol's iodine and let sit for about 5 minutes. I would change the water to give a fresh dip to each coral, as the slime from the toadstool won't be good for your blasto at all. And that fresh carbon is extremely important.

 

[j2me5ku]

My toadstool is on top of all my rockwork versus the acans and blastos on the sandbed. i have moved my blastos before the acans so that the blastos will not be in the acan's slim wake as advised by serioussnaps.

unfortunately i dont have lugol's but i'll see if i can pick some up tomorrow. i'll put some new carbon in my tank later on tonite when i do my water change.

thanks

 

[jessp]

its a good idea to saygoodbye to your blastos, they are pretty sensitive to the sting of other corals.