SPS with 0 polyp extension

[goda]

today my normaly fully extended sps ( green fuzzy "acro" )( probobly milipora)
has 0 polyp extension.. ZERO i had him for almost a week and a half and this is the first time this has happend... of course today one of my ballast blew so he is only getting 440 watts of vho instead of the normal 770

but i dont think that has anyhting to do with it since he is usualy out even at night or when the lights are very dim

anyideas ?

water quality
CA is at 450
ph is 8. somthing

and i dont have anyother testkits ( gonna test when i go into work today)

anyideas of what is going wrong?

 

[Beastmaster]

Any fish been bothering it?

 

[goda]

nope.. clown fish. lawnmower blenny anda danmsal... thats all thats in my tank for fish

 

[Sk8r]

Check your params. Alkalinity could be suspect. Xenia is a good bellwether for that---if they're not out, that's a problem.

Change is never good in the non-mental opinion of corals. Any change can put them off.

 

[Horace]

Goda, my first piece of advice is to get all the proper test kits for SPS before even thinking of putting SPS in there. This includes the following:

Refractometer
Nitrate
Phosphate
Magnesium
Calcium

and MOST IMPORTANT ALKALINITY!

You should keep your parameters close to the following:

Salinity - 1.025 +- .001
Nitrate - 0.0
Phosphate - 0.0 (according to salifert)
Magnesium - 1300
Calcium - 380 - 420
Alk - 7 - 8.0


If these things are not in check, and maintained at those levels w/out bouncing around your SPS will never be happy. Having an SPS tank is much more difficult than any other coral for the most part. They are not forgiving if the proper water quality is not maintained.

 

[goda]

i dont nee dhte kits.. i work at a fish store and can just test the water every time i go in ^^ they have all the test kits there. no need to buy them
( i do have a refractomiter. SG is at 1.026 and has been for the past year with absolutly no change at all)

 

[goda]

LMAO i go into get my water sample and the coral is starting to expand ( lower branches only)

i think maybe since my lights came on later in the day and at full force ( had a ballast blow this morning ruining my sunup simulation) the coral just took longer to come out

btw cant keep xenia alive.. it always walks up the back wall into a shaded part of the tank... >< then it melts ( takes about a month for it to move up the rock into the back of the tank)

any ways.. still gonna test my water today

 

[Horace]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7856457#post7856457 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by goda
i dont nee dhte kits.. i work at a fish store and can just test the water every time i go in ^^ they have all the test kits there. no need to buy them
( i do have a refractomiter. SG is at 1.026 and has been for the past year with absolutly no change at all)

Good luck with that......

Just a FYI, the last thing I would ever do is try to emulate most LFS setups. Most are FAR from ideal. The folks working there are also tyically far from experts on SPS keeping as well....frankly most LFS dont specialize in or know much about it.

 

[castorpollux]

you sound bitter, horace. tell us how you really feel.

 

[Horace]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7857873#post7857873 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by castorpollux
you sound bitter, horace. tell us how you really feel.

Naw, not bitter at all Just trying to get the point across how important testing your water is for SPS. I wouldnt dream of putting any SPS into a tank w/out knowing all the above parameters ahead of time....but I guess thats just me?


IMO it should go like this

Research ----> Learn ----> Buy

Not

Buy ----> Coral looks like crap/dies -----> Research -----> Learn

 

[twon8]

if you only buy one test kit it should be alkalinity. why bother knowing your ph? know your alkalinity.

I agree with horace about most lfs not knowing about sps, luckily i have a few good ones around that do. I still test my own water.

if you are keeping sps you need an alk test kit; if you can't justify that purchase you should take the acros back to the store.

 

[fijiblue]

Try putting one of your corals in a cup filled with 1.023 water. Leave it for 10 minutes and see if it opens up more. I had a similar experience with 1.026 water and did the exact same thing...polyps opened fully in minutes.

 

[Horace]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7859095#post7859095 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by twon8
if you only buy one test kit it should be alkalinity. why bother knowing your ph? know your alkalinity.

I agree with horace about most lfs not knowing about sps, luckily i have a few good ones around that do. I still test my own water.

if you are keeping sps you need an alk test kit; if you can't justify that purchase you should take the acros back to the store.

amen...alk will destroy your reef if its high or low.....some of the others will cause problems as well, but SPS are not forgiving to Alk problems at all. I would also like to point out that Alk can swing enough in one day to cause problems if you dont have a good dosing regiment....thus the need for a test kit to figure out PRECISELY how much Alk you use each day and then you can add that alk/ca back in on a daily basis by your method of choice (2-part, Ca Rx, Kalk).

 

[goda]

"Good luck with that......

Just a FYI, the last thing I would ever do is try to emulate most LFS setups. Most are FAR from ideal. The folks working there are also tyically far from experts on SPS keeping as well....frankly most LFS dont specialize in or know much about"

I DO TEST MY OWN WATER... but just using there kits.. ^^ and i do each test 3 times to make sure it works out fine.. hey im not paying for it why not retest ( i bring water in daily... probobly test more often then most people)


im actualy pretty lucky so far. it seems like im not needing any additives to keep my alk up or my CA up ( i do have a doser pump pumping 2 part but its on such a low does.. like.. i think its at 1/1000th the dose it says on the jugs... and even that seems to be raising the ca slowly ( note sand bed in the refuge is visiably shallower then a few months ago... its doing what i wanted.)

special ordered a salifert alk test... should be getting it soon

 

[twon8]

so what did your alk test for?

if your ca is slowly raising then your alk is likely going down. you don't need to test ca every day, I only test for cal maybe every two weeks. Alk is checked at least five times as much. You need to me able to test next to your tank, and then add alk, and it wouldn't hurt to check it a few hours later. If you can take multiple samples from different times of day in to work and test them there, and can keep them straight so you can see your alk usage, then by all means keep doing it that way. You are fine checking the other parameters there for as rarely as they require checking. I test for nitrates every six months, phosphates about the same.

 

[goda]

tested at 8 point somthing