Polyps on Acropora (growth expectation?)

[farfromsea]

Hi all

I bought my first acro because I'd never had any and wanted to try it. I'm not sure what to expect in terms of polyps because I only see frags in the store. It has just as many polyps as it did when I bought it... but it should have more, right?

Should I expect each corallite to always have a polyp? Or does the lack of polyps on some of these corallite structures on the frag indicate that the corallites are not yet fully grown?

I don't believe I see any tissue decay or discoloration. I've been feeding the tank with phytoplankton and the frozen cubes I feed my fish. I haven't dosed aminos because I was curious to see if the frozen would take care of that.

The cutesy name for this piece is "voodoo magic" for anyone curious. No idea on the species name.

 

[griss]

How long have you had the frag? IMO, it looks good to me.

 

[Reefing102]

Looks pretty good to me as well. Sometime frags can “freeze” and produce minimal growth for days or even months and then have significant growth. Others are just so slow of growers, you don’t notice it. I honestly wouldn’t be too concerned with some polyps not showing, but from what I can tell, each corallite should have a polyp

 

[farfromsea]

Looks pretty good to me as well. Sometime frags can “freeze” and produce minimal growth for days or even months and then have significant growth. Others are just so slow of growers, you don’t notice it. I honestly wouldn’t be too concerned with some polyps not showing, but from what I can tell, each corallite should have a polyp

Thank you! Hopefully the other ones show their polyps in time. I will keep feeding and see

 

[ct_vol]

Looks good to me as well. Generally speaking, as long as you have polyp extension the coral is happy. Once it settles in, you'll likely notice more pop out.

 

[farfromsea]

Looks good to me as well. Generally speaking, as long as you have polyp extension the coral is happy. Once it settles in, you'll likely notice more pop out.

Oh that is good to know! The mother colony looks so fluffy comparatively...

 

[JCOLE]

The frag looks good to me. I wouldn't stress about it.

 

[farfromsea]

The frag looks good to me. I wouldn't stress about it.

Thanks. I've heard so much about how difficult they are to keep so I'm waiting for the shoe to drop lol. It's still hanging in after a week at least...

 

[mtnbike101]

Thank you! Hopefully the other ones show their polyps in time. I will keep feeding and see

@JCOLE can chime in with expertise, but one of the best Acropora 'foods' is fish poop. Feed your fish and you feed your Acros. IMO, you need not use 'coral foods' like ReefRoids, etc. for Acros.

Make sure it has really good flow, proper lighting and you have some PO4 present (.03 - .1). Those values are debatable, but a good baseline.

 

[JCOLE]

I agree with @mtnbike101. Fish poop is the best for corals. Another good food for SPS is phytoplankton. I dose a solo cup full every night to my system when feeding the fish.

 

[JCOLE]

Thanks. I've heard so much about how difficult they are to keep so I'm waiting for the shoe to drop lol. It's still hanging in after a week at least...

Thats good! Usually if they go two weeks without color loss, STN/RTN, etc then they should be good to go. Acro's have a bad rap. Most SPS is actually pretty easy to keep. The key is stability. Pick numbers you are comfortable at keeping and try and stay close to those at all times.

The issue with Acro's and why they seem to be difficult to keep is if something goes wrong then it can happen very fast. I have had a happy dinner plate sized colony RTN overnight to a white skeleton.

Just don't look at them the wrong way and you'll be fine!

 

[farfromsea]

I agree with @mtnbike101. Fish poop is the best for corals. Another good food for SPS is phytoplankton. I dose a solo cup full every night to my system when feeding the fish.

Excellent because reef roids smell weird like cat food. I begrudgingly gave a few pinches. Dinkins Aquatics is local to me so I buy their phytoplankton. This is a 10 gallon so I've been doing 10-15 mL a night

 

[JCOLE]

Excellent because reef roids smell weird like cat food. I begrudgingly gave a few pinches. Dinkins Aquatics is local to me so I buy their phytoplankton. This is a 10 gallon so I've been doing 10-15 mL a night

Perfect. Reef Roids is good for LPS. My LPS used to go crazy for it when I would target feed them. I don't use it anymore with a SPS dominant system because it raises PO4 levels really fast.

Phyto is excellent for not just corals but for your Pods and microfauna as well. Grab you a bottle and start culturing it yourself if you start using more.

 

[farfromsea]

Perfect. Reef Roids is good for LPS. My LPS used to go crazy for it when I would target feed them. I don't use it anymore with a SPS dominant system because it raises PO4 levels really fast.

Phyto is excellent for not just corals but for your Pods and microfauna as well. Grab you a bottle and start culturing it yourself if you start using more.

I was tempted to culture it but UV sterilization and a set-up in my apartment sounds like a headache I definitely dose phytoplankton for the pods. I got KP live rock so I hope to keep the good stuff on it alive with some good phytoplankton!

I also am wary of the phosphate from the roids