when adding new sps to a tank

[sunilp]

When adding new sps to a tank, how long does it usually take to acclimitize? I am using the 2 part method, excellent water chemistry, and GHL metras led lights. My other SPS have great polyp extension. The new sps have been in the tank about 4 days with no extensions yet.

 

[Dexters Reef]

Could be days, weeks, months, or never. I have experienced all of the above.

I have a GARF purple bonsai that had full polyp extension in the pics from the seller taken the day before it was shipped to me. I have had it for months now and only a few of the polyps have barly any extension, but I have been gettting growth. Other Acros and Millies I have opened up within 24 hours. Some took a week before they fully opened.

Have patience, dont move it around, and give it stable parameters and hopefully it will open up.

 

[MarcWeaver]

I can tell you my experiences:

Hardier tank-grown millies and acros from friends and stores always within a day, sometimes right away. Also the case with maricultured frags that have not been fresh-cut, but allowed to heal and acclimate to a captive environment.

Maricultured acros right out of the shipping box have varied from a few hours to a week. Some die despite anything you do. If you bought from a LFS and the coral was pastel-looking and light, chances are it came out of the ocean within the past week.

Deepwater and smoother-skinned corals usually within a week. I have one that has never shown polyp extension and one that took 3 months.

 

[trinity1012]

this is a good topic,i think most people that have little polyp extension think there is something wrong and have to change something to get them to come out more.
i was that person at one time:dance:

 

[aNDoN]

acclimation can vary like stated above. Light acclimation of SPS corals is very important. I start mine at the bottom, and use cut out rings of screen on top of the tan to diffuse the light. I normally use 5 layers of screen, removing one every 3-4 days. Then once the screens are gone, I slowly move it up. But there are many factors that would cause polyp retraction, so don't fret just make sure it isn't being blasted with flow.

 

[Boboli]

acclimation can vary like stated above. Light acclimation of SPS corals is very important. I start mine at the bottom, and use cut out rings of screen on top of the tan to diffuse the light. I normally use 5 layers of screen, removing one every 3-4 days. Then once the screens are gone, I slowly move it up. But there are many factors that would cause polyp retraction, so don't fret just make sure it isn't being blasted with flow.

So 12 to 20 days to acclimate a coral ?
What a pain in the ***!

 

[aNDoN]

when you factor manhours throughout those 12-20 days you wouldn't even get one. its a simple process that allows my pieces to be properly acclimated to a completely different setting. also saves plenty of coin down the road

 

[bogg]

How did they look when you got them?
I agree with the above if its a wild coral it will go through some major changes most of the time,
Sometimes they don't skip a beat, other times it can take a short time to a long time before they get adjusted to their new environment and sadly sometimes they will just not take the drastic change well at all. If they still look bad after a while you might want to think about fragging a few pieces off if their colonies.

 

[Dexters Reef]

Here is an acro the day I got it, and several months later. It was very bleached out and pale when I first got it, and had to acclimate it from the 216w of T5 from its source tank, to my 716w halide t5 combo. I used mesh screen from home depot, cut to be the size of my tank. Started with 4 layers and every few days I removed a layer. Sounds like a lot, but it is really about 10 seconds of work every few days.

Here are some pictures after a few months, you can see the growth and color coming in nicely. The first two pics are from 9/26 when I bought it, the last pic is from 11/27 so approximately 2 months later. I still think there is more green that needs to develop, but I have been getting nice growth. It may be time for me to move it up out of my sandbed, but I am hesitant because in this spot the growth has been great, I just want it to color up a little more. Im worried if I move it higher, I might cause it to get pale again. So for right now, I'm leaving it where it is, since I have no RTN or STN, Polyp Extension is great, and growth has been quick.

Is it normal for new growth to lack polyps for a short period of time? I think the tips grow first, and then the polyps grow, because my tips dont have the same PE as the main colony, but they do develop and by the time they have longer polyps, the next row of tips starts growing and the process repeats.

 

[Setragni]

From my experience moving it up slowly is the most important part. After dipping of course. IMO we should worry more about the beautiful and healthy colonies we already have in the tank than the new ones. Last thing u want is to have a FW or bug introduced to the system.