trumpet coral question

[ClippersTown]

Ive had both of these trumpets for 3 months now. The one on the right side is puffed up and looking good. The one on the left has never been puffed up, never. I just dont get it. And ive also never seen their sweepers come out, even if I squirt brine or mysis in their direction. Id really like some help, thanks!

http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac281/clipperstown/20131005_111327_1_zps9ebaad1f.jpg

 

[akitareefer]

They might have different light requirements. Have you tried moving it around to see if theres a better spot in the tank. It doesn't look bad in the picture. Also, have you checked for tentacles at night?

 

[ClippersTown]

Oh ye, ive dimmed my blue leds to 1% at night, and fed the tank a little bit of mysis. The tentacles just did not come out, its so weird. And as for the kryptonite candy cane, I havent moved it up yet, but I think I will

 

[Reef Frog]

I agree, they both look fine. Over a few years I've seen Trumpets go through cycles of large polyp inflation to smaller size and back again. These cycles can last several weeks or months. Nothing to worry about IMO unless you see tissue recession. I do notice the polyps that get less light seem to be bigger more often in most cases. And polyps that want to eat tend to be larger & will extend. I run 6 T5s on a 65g and have seen the teal & bright green trumpets adapt to all levels of the tank, but the bright greens seem best a little lower but the teal do really well high up near the lights.

I've only seen the feeding polyps emerge at night or close to the lights shutting down for the night. You might want to check at several different times over the night to see if they're extended if you can. The tentacles are short so look carefully with a flashlight. They can eat & extend their polyp tentacles even in a semi-deflated state.

I would also try feeding them smaller food. Mysis can be too big but can be chopped up much smaller. I like planktonic sized foods like cyclopseeze, fish & oyster eggs and freeze dried zooplankton mixed in water. Do this directly with a turkey baster with pumps off. With good feeding and good Calcium ALK & Mg they can grow & repeoduce quickly.