"OK, so where did the frags come from?"
>From a fellow hobbyists tank. They Stylo came from the LFS as well as the
larger colonies, but all of the frags were collected at the same time from
the same location.
The tank is the 70 gallon with 2-275 watt MHs and 4 - 36" vhos. Total
wattage is over 10 watts per gallon. And the frags are right on top of the
reef, probably 4-5 inches under the surface. There is a purple tipped tablet
top acro that is pretty close to the green acro. It seems to be growing and
colored up decently. The purple tipped extend polyps 24-7 (however more
present at night) and seems to be happy with its spot, but the green acro,
which is about 4 inches from it, where it is getting even more light, is
not. Do you think it is getting too much light?? I tried moving it to a
lower light area. It was there for about 2 weeks and no difference so I
moved it back a couple of weeks ago, still no difference (continuing to get
paler is about it). I have not noticed any polyp extension on the green acro
at night or during the day. It just kinda sits there :-)
You mention toxin. I am wondering if it may be PO4. I have not tested for
this, but have also not used any removal resins for it.
Also, you mention the depletion of something over time that has caused the
slowed growth rate. I do not notice any differnces in growth after water
changes. I change 20 gallons a week, with the thought that 20 gallons a week
should be enough to replace any of the "mystery" trace elements that no one
is sure if they are neccesary or not. Then, my calcium blocks also add
strontium to the water as they desolve. Iodine is added weekly and is
calculated on a water volume of 80 gallons.
My plan of attack is:
Change the other 10k out and go with the other 55k bulb (already have it)
Change the two older VHO 50/50 bulbs out for new 50/50 bulbs
Add PO4 removal resin
Continue with water changes, calcium blocks, sea chem reef buffer and iodine
additions
Are there any other additions that I am missing and should be adding? Any
other things I should be doing?
See, I wouldn't be so concerned about the color if there was growth. But
there isnt. Not even slow growth.
One last thing. I have a yellow poccillopora frag. It is also not growing
well, and is lightend up in color, however polyp extension is great. I have
a pink poccillopora that is not growing well, but polyp extension is great
and color is nice. Overall, what would you suggest for placement of
poccillopora in the tank? Right now, they are on top of the reef.
Thanks again for your help.
Shane C.
-----Original Message-----
From: DBW [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 8:37 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: Help with SPS
Shane,
>Thanks. I kind of thought that I should frag that spot out. I guess
that is
If it continues to spread, then that is the thing to do.
>what I will do. Sort of sucks though, because it is in an area of
the coral
>that has 3 branches growing from it. The spot is in an area where
all 3 of
>these branches split, so I will loose all 3 of them. Oh well,
better that
>then the entire coral. I may try to frag the 3 and see if they
grow.
Yes, just cut out the affected area with some buffer space and then
mount
the frags that you cut off.
>The color of the fading corals is just a general fading to a
lighter color.
>They just don't seem to be holding the overall color from when I
put them in
>the tank. The whole frag seems to lighten. It seems to be mainly
with the
OK, so where did the frags come from? You will find that frags will
take
on different colours in different tanks due to the variety of
factors I
outline in my last email. It could be due to less zooxanthellae in
the
tissue, which may be the result of either stress, enough or not
enough
light Too little light and the colony looks washed out, pale and
losses
colour, "too much" and it goes a bit paler as well. The latter is
not
necessarily bad, especially if you are seeing similar or faster
growth
rates which is an indicator of how suitable the conditions are.
>green corals (green acro and hydnophora). They arent turning to a
brown, but
>more just lightening in color. It is not the tips either, which,
from what I
>have read, is growth. This, as I mentioned, seems to be the entire
frag. How
That is correct. The pale tips of growing corals, such as Acropora,
is due
to the absence of zooxanthellae in the tissue. The amount of pale
area
indicates how fast the coral is growing.
>much light can the green acros and hydnophoras take, or I should
say, how
>high of a light level do they like? Right now, they are in the
brightest
>spot of the tank. Thoughts? Need any more info?
Difficult thing to comment on. What would you say if I asked a
question
about a green wrasse? Family is not narrow enough to determine the
conditions they live under, you have to go to the species level.
Problem
is with most Acropora the average hobbyist, and even an advanced
hobbyist,
has a small chance of IDing it to the correct species. Luckily
though you
can ID it down to a group of several species, and they tend to be
similar
to look after. If you are serious about your hard corals then it
would be
advantageous to get Veron's Corals of the World. It will not tell
you
aquarium conditions for a coral, it tell you things far more
important than
that, it covers where you find things in the wild. From that
information
you can then determine what you should be doing in your aquarium.
Of the various Acropora species I have had, all could handle being
directly
underneath 250W MH up to 5cm from the water surface.
My gut feeling is that there might not be enough light for them. If
the
colonies are of substantial size, then you can use the various parts
of it
and the amount of light they are exposed to, to help determine if
this is
the case. For example one Acropora I have is brown with green
highlights.
On the underside of branches out of the direct like the tissue goes
brown
with no green highlights, and as the amount of light increases so
does the
amount of green present.
>Also, you mentioned plating out (encrusting) of the frags. They all
did this
>pretty quickly, but now seem to have stopped. All, except the green
acro and
>the hydnophora. They have not really plated out at all. The
hydnophora seems
>to extend its polyps nicely, but as mentioned, is loosing color and
is not
>growing. The green acro is not extending polyps, nor is it plating,
but it
>is loosing color.
That tells me that they are not getting what they need out of your
system,
or there is some "toxin" stressing them out. Corals that grow
quickly when
put in a tank then totally stop have run out of something or are
being
effected by something in your water. If you do a large percentage
water
change and the growth rate increases then you know it is something
in the
water, either missing or too much of it.
Check for polyp extension at night, some species will only do it
then.
Polyp extension is another indicator of how the Acropora likes the
water,
well that is my experience with one species that I have managed to
do quite
a bit of work with. Between tanks the degree of polyp extension can
be
hugely different, from no extension during the day and minor at
night, to
full extension during the day such that the colony looks fluffy.
With this
species I now have the feeling that the non-extension is due to high
phosphate levels, or something associated with that.
Hope that helps you out a bit, it is currently bit of a nebulous
area at
the moment.
Catch ya,
DBW | The Caretaker, OZ REEF Marine Park
Melbourne | http://ozreef.org/
Australia | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the only tool you own is a hammer,
every problem begins to resemble a nail.
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