polyp extension on ORA Validia

[M88A2]

I obtained a large frag of this coral about a week and a half ago and i have yet to seen any PE. All other corals (milleporas/red plante/setos/and others) all have good PE but this one doesn't. It hasnt lost any color, nor does it seem to be degrading in any way. Any ideas? I have it on the bottom 1/5 of my 75g standard and about 5 inches below and 20 inches in front of an MP40.

params are as follows
temp: 79
Cal: 460
Alk: 9.3
Mag: 1420
Salinity: 1.025
Nitrate: undetectable
Phos: undetectable
Lighting from 6x 48" T5's
Flow: 1 MP40 1 MP10 and return from eheim 1261

 

[Metal Man 1221]

I have noticed better night time PE. How big of a frag? Only my small colony gets good PE, none of its frags get close to what it has.

 

[M88A2]

mine is about 2"high with 3 branches. I've looked at it a few hours after dark and in the middle of the night, still nothing.

 

[Thisseemsfishy]

It may just be taking a while to adjust. If it looks colorful and healthy there may not be much concern.

 

[chessmanmark]

Take another look at night. Shine a flashlight into the tank. Also take a top down look. If you have a surface viewer that would be helpful. I agree that it is probably adjusting to new conditions, especially flow. You might want to turn down the Vortec. Also, Valida's love light. I kept mine at the top of my tank and it lost most of the brown.

This shows great color, but it is sticking out of the water.

You can compare with this shot which is under the water.

 

[Metal Man 1221]

mine is about 2"high with 3 branches. I've looked at it a few hours after dark and in the middle of the night, still nothing.

You may need to let it grow out a bit. Maybe try feeding a little at night to encourage PE.

 

[M88A2]

thnx for the advice, i'll probably give it another week then try out your suggestions

 

[Bugger]

What is PE

 

[Thisseemsfishy]

What is PE

Polyp Extension

 

[M88A2]

so i check on my frag an hour before lights on and i saw 3-4 white bugs on the base of the coral. the moved very quickly, similar to the pods i see on the sand at night but they seemed to hang around the base of the coral. Could these have been the problem? I've heard of red bugs but these were white/clearish bugs. I dipped the coral in revive, pretty much cause that all i have. any thoughts?

 

[esshoes]

Could be amphipods. But I would take a close look at the base and see if you can find any evidence of dead tissue to be safe

 

[M88A2]

i took a look at the tissue with my morning lights on. no damage was apparent. think im just freaking out about nothing?

 

[esshoes]

Until you see evidence otherwise, probably. Just keep an eye out

 

[M88A2]

ok, i'll keep that in mind

 

[chessmanmark]

You might have red bugs. They irritate the coral and then the polyps don't come out. Take some macro shots and blow them up or shine a flashlight into the tank at night and see what they look like.

Don't panic if you have them. They are easy to get rid of.

 

[rogerwilco357]

blow it with a turkey baster and see if any bugs come off i can tell you from bad experience that when I got aefw the first acro to show signs of no pe and then bite marks was the validia ...please check even though its just getting used to the water parameters ..mine used to thrive with the mp40 current and top shelf lighting...but i guess every tank is different good luck hope its just the new environment .

 

[chessmanmark]

They are like a magnet for pests.

 

[M88A2]

I looked up pictures of red bugs and they didnt look like those. They weren't yellow with a red dot. These were white, small, and fast. If i hadn't seen them on the coral, i would have thought that they were just pods. I still haven't seen any tissue damage either.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

What is PE

Polyp Extension

This thread can help with all the reef acronyms.