Very Poor Polyp Extension...Why?

[JSM]

My system has been up and running for 9 years, it's a mixed reef with some soft, LPS and some SPS. Some sps the polyps ext is great but others have slmost none but the coral is still growing. I dose vodka so nutrients are undetectable, the rest is

cal 380-420
mag 1300
alk 3meq/ltr

It's a 120g with 2 250w 20k Radiums with 4 T5's and a couple VHO actinics, comes out to 7.8 watts per gallon. There are a couple Tunze's along with the returns, but I can't rememner what my turnover rate is. Can anyone suggest why some of these corals aren't extending their polyps? It's mostly some monti's such as the sunset, superman, rainbow and a setosa and a couple milli's. They are all growing with barely or no extension. Help!!!

Janna

 

[reef 'n ale]

Did they have PE before, or is this new, Janna?

Rob

 

[JSM]

No, they have never really had good extension. I should also mention that SG is 1.026 and temp is 78-80.

Janna

 

[reef 'n ale]

What are colors looking like? Age of lighting?

Off the bat, I'll say I don't know much about softies, but that *could* be causing some irritation.

And maybe back off the vodka as an experiment?

 

[JSM]

Colors all look good, I change the bulbs every year, in fact they just got changed in the past few weeks. The PE was bad before dosing vodka, only been dosing 4 months and bad PE has been about a year.

Janna

 

[trippkid]

Janna, Could something be bothering them, fish nipping at them or crabs crawling on them(just throwing it out there)?

Hey Rob, what's going on bro.
Matt

 

[91yota]

im having the opposite problem... i have so much PE it's annoying and i believe it to be causing lack of color in the rest of the tissue due to blocking the light... its THAT bad lol...

anyway, when i posted the question of how to tame my wild polyps on my local board some interesting suggestions were brought up... maybe reversing what was suggested to me will help you... try this:

more flow
more particulate food in the water
more flow

also, there was some ideas tossed around that the further a coral gets from being "wild" the more relaxed they are with showing PE during the day... since sps generally keep their polyps retracted during the day in the wild to prevent predation, maybe they can become used to a lack of natural predators in our aquarium over time

as a reference, my tank is a standard dimension 75g with a bare bottom... i have 90-100x turnover rate within the aquarium... i feed lots of homemade food which contains micro foods, and several liquid foods with micro foods in suspension... my corals may have come to rely on this food source- therefore keeping their polyps out in an attempt at catching these particles that i add regularly and that the water movement keeps in suspension

its just a thought, but maybe something to try?

 

[shenyong]

did u try to moving them around? b-cuz some of the sps don't like high lights and flow direct.

 

[Frankenpora]

I would say to look at night. If your polyps are extended then,
then I would not worry about it since this is naturally how they act.

 

[60Cubed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14109701#post14109701 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Frankenpora
I would say to look at night. If your polyps are extended then,
then I would not worry about it since this is naturally how they act.

Funny B-cause mine are less extended at night.

My suggestion is to get your pH up and keep that pretty consistant. I attribute my PE to my 8.3 and higher pH value. I know some will argue. I am not saying it will work for you, but I feel that it has the most to do with my success!

One thing is for sure, they don't like the tank @ 90degrees!!!!! I found that out a couple of days ago...............not a good thing!

 

[Paul_PSU]

When do you feed your tank? I have been seeing the debate about PE at night versus day and I was thinking that some people feed during the day (like me) and some only feed at night when the lights are off for a couple hours. I may be way off base, but if you only feed at night the coral would extend polyps "mainly" at night. I have high alk (12) and low ph (around 8.0) and no issues.

 

[trippkid]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14114412#post14114412 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 60Cubed


One thing is for sure, they don't like the tank @ 90degrees!!!!! I found that out a couple of days ago...............not a good thing!

Yeah, I had that happen over the summer from relying on a cheap Coralife Digital temp sensor, was off by about 12 degrees, I think the tank was hot for a while, I ended up losing a couple of pieces. Hope you didn't lose anything Cubed, I know you have some nice pieces. Have a good one.
Matt

 

[x2uranium]

I have the same problem with my Pink lemonade, I got it as a TINY nub but its still encrusting so I dont worry about it, plus it has good color, I cant see the polyps at all tho, ever.

 

[Paul_PSU]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14115325#post14115325 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trippkid
Yeah, I had that happen over the summer from relying on a cheap Coralife Digital temp sensor, was off by about 12 degrees, I think the tank was hot for a while, I ended up losing a couple of pieces. Hope you didn't lose anything Cubed, I know you have some nice pieces. Have a good one.
Matt

We might be able to start a club. I had one that was off by 11. I lost about 6 frags and 2 small colonies. I thought the tank was at 83 in the summer. We might have some kind of class action suit against coralife....:lol:

 

[trippkid]

JSM, sorry this is my last post about the temp. sensor, not trying to be a thread-jacker.
Paul, There should be some course of action against them, I seriously doubt there is though. We need a lawyer to look into it, I would not even know where to begin. There has been more than just a few that this has happened to. I use the Pinpoint wireless temp sensor now. Will be getting something like a Ranco controller soon.
Have a good day Paul.
Matt

 

[myrchandle]

Could it just be your water? When did you last change the membrane out your RO/Di? You might be getting a false reading of phosphate as well.... Just pointing out other options. I know a buddy of mine was encountering that issue, and since he changed out the membrane from his RO/Di his PE has launched...

 

[reef 'n ale]

My man Matt! I'm calling you this weekend!

Hi Janna. A couple things above sound interesting, but the one that struck me most was about the flow.

Are the corals mentioned in some sort of extreme laminar flow that others may not be?

Just another thought!

 

[reeftard73]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14117475#post14117475 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reef 'n ale
My man Matt! I'm calling you this weekend!

I want to make mad passionate love to you on the hood of my tank!

Sure, Matt gets a call and a proposition. I get Jack.

 

[trippkid]

I'm glad to see you're back to your normal self now Tard. Have a good one buddy.
Matt

 

[reeftard73]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14117559#post14117559 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trippkid
I'm glad to see you're back to your normal self now Tard. Have a good one buddy.
Matt

U2 man. I feel much better.