puttputt Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 As above, some good photos, lots of growth at present, hope you can see PE. Blue tip stag 10th Oct now Green stag 10th Oct now and some frags off it fire coral frag, (piece of shell wedged in to keep in place) now (shell part of coral) purple tip acro milli awesome little green table hairy green acro (notice new growth tips just last 2 weeks) digi frag starting to grow nice blue tip clam - easy 3 or 4 times its original size little blue with good pe and growing tips take some more in a couple of months to compare :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelifaxNZ Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Great pictures and corals. Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 few more - sorry if I've got carried away... new blue stag, great pe already my first acro, small and bleached when it, brown now, but grown and good pe nice stag starting to purple/blue up another new milli I think, should go pink/red, great pe just to prove its not all acros, a little torch scar, my big boy larmarck fat manderin Some of the running gear Sump and refugium thats all folks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 100% wicked, looking great Shawn, the only bad thing is it took so long to download them all :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Don't get too carried away with polyp extension. You can't infer a whole lot from it, as polyps have a wide variety of different functions in corals. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Great growth on some of those acros, I also dont really worry about polyp extension, some acros naturally show more than others, especially the millepora which tend to show more polyps. Acropora with high light tend to show less polyps than acropora with medium light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Acropora with high light tend to show less polyps than acropora with medium light. Yip, that's one of there primary functions. Regulating coral surface area, for respiration, and in this case light gathering area. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 maybe they are hungry then??. They certainly look healthier with more polyp extension, 3 x 250 14k MH should be plenty of light. I don't think its over extension, maybe just normal given the tank is really settling down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 maybe they are hungry then??. SPS polyps aren't primarily used for feeding in that way. Respiration is the main function of them. They certainly look healthier with more polyp extension That's a common misconception. They could just as easily be "choking". I don't think its over extension, maybe just normal given the tank is really settling down. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying there is anything wrong, just that drawing conclusions from polyp extension is near impossible due to wide variety of functions they have. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 still learning and happy to hear from you layton. Somewhat depressing at times , but how about we go for good growth and colour as signs they are happy. A question though, should I be looking at feeding the sps corals. Don't presently feed the corals at all and dont suppliments except weekly water changes, calcium reactor, and kalkwater topup. feed fish daily mainly small amounts of flake and occasional frozen treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 A question though, should I be looking at feeding the sps corals. In a word, no. SPS developed their small poylps for the reason that feeding (in terms of polyp prey capture) was a marginal function. Respiration is the goal. It's all about surface area. SPS are overwhelmingly branching type corals (high surface area). Having small polyps means that when they are extended, they don't shade the base tissues, which has higher zoox density. Why would the polyps want to extend then? Well for calcification. This demands CO2, and with zoox using CO2 to produce their sugars etc (by photosynthesis), they are in competition with the coral. By extending their polyps, sps can gather the more CO2 (by gas exchange) to support calcification and photosynthesis at the same time. Don't presently feed the corals at all and dont suppliments except weekly water changes, calcium reactor, and kalkwater topup. feed fish daily mainly small amounts of flake and occasional frozen treat. Sounds pretty good to me. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Somewhat depressing at times , but how about we go for good growth and colour as signs they are happy. Probably better, but still can be misleading. :lol: Bleached corals can be colourful and stressed corals can grow faster than usual :lol: But in general it's probably a better indication. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted February 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 ok understand that, but why do most sps increase PE at night, particularly the large end polyps. Is this again a function of respiration?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 ok understand that, but why do most sps increase PE at night, particularly the large end polyps. Is this again a function of respiration?. Well at night zoox are consuming O2 and producing CO2, so again it primarily comes down to respiration (in SPS) and gas exchange. Although like I said, you could not guarantee that, the coral could be doing the equivalent of puking or choking and you couldn't tell the difference just by looking at it, but regulating respiration is the primary function. It apparently in some corals it can also be an adaptive instinctive behaviour related to retract polyps during the day to prevent predation by corallivorous fish. Just another point on the feeding thing. If you scraped all the tissue of all your sps in your tank and put it into a little vial, you would not have a lot of living tissue, maybe a few grams at most, in terms of food, that is all the tissue you would be feeding. There is more than enough "food" in the tank to support that amount tissue. You're not going to starve them. ;-) Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Very impressed Puttputt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 here is some info i got from the net on acropora extension. pretty much as layton mentioned. Acros only open at night 11/26/04 Hi all, I have read every thing I could find on your site and I still can't get the answer I am looking for. First let me tell you about my setup. My 55 gallon tank has been running for 18 months with DSB, remora skimmer, 15X circulation, PC 260 watts (lamps 5mths old), mech. filter for charcoal and lots of live rock. My measurements are 1.024,0,0,0, ph 8.35, pH .05, temp 80, cal 400 and alk 8.5. All test are double checked by my LFS once a month. I have a clown, flame angel and a hawk fish, all since the beginning. My corals are lots of mushrooms, zoos, one Xenia and on the top Acros, pink birdsnest, trumpet, plate and a brain coral. All corals have a good separation. I feed the fish a large variety of frozen foods. The corals I feed a cocktail of Phycopure and Cyclop-eeze or DT's and for the larger coral I feed bits of fish food like Mysis. On Sunday I stir the top of the sand bed, clean my skimmer, 10% water change and run test. I have no algae problems, lots of coralline algae and everything is growing and happy. In fact, at least once a month, I have to pull some of the corals and give them away. When I first got the Acros, they opened during the day for 2 weeks but for the past 4 months the Acros open only at night. I see lots of them in other tanks that are open during the day. I have tried to entice them with food during the day but it does not work. However, they eat well at night. I have to believe that my Acros are getting all they need. I know that I could use more light but they are at the same level as the birdsnest and if it is growing, I don't think that light is the problem I have a question regarding my Acropora. I have three different species, some I've had for over three years. My most recent are the more thicker stem species that look like the Aspera or Tenuis species. The latest is a really nice tri-color from Walt Smith. The problem I am looking for help on is the polyps are not extending. In the store I purchased them from they appear almost fuzzy like due to the polyps. Mine are smoother due to the retraction. The growth rate is good, but I fear that this may not be for long. My tank parameters are good. T=75, DKH 10, Calcium a little low 360 (no reactor), Magnesium 1350, and ORP 345. I change about 10 gallons a week in a 125G tank with 35 gallon refugium on reverse lighting with sea grasses no Caulerpa. main tank lighting is 3-175 watt MH, and 2 VHO 140 Actinic. I also have 2-tangs 6", and 5 small fish 3". I have never seen any fish peck at these corals. Any ideas?? Joe, I have some of my acropora species that only extend their polyps at night. Eric Borneman says that polyp extension is not a good way to judge the overall health of an acropora. I think alot depends on the species as some are only nightime extenders. Then I have some that are out 24/7. I think if you give them good water quality, good current, good nutrition, good lighting then you will have a nice, healthy acropora whether the polyps are out day or night time. I think it may be that night time on the ocean reefs is the time wild colonies feed that may be why some do only extend at night. HTH.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Seems to be varying opinions, however for me, if my tank is not doing well and there is little growth, there will also be little PE. If I get conditions right & good growth starts, there will also be good PE. PE serves several purposes, one of which is resperation. If there is good growth, there must be metabolic activity & therefore resperation. Anyhow things looking great Puttputt, whatever you're doing, keep doing it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Yes same here, my acros never had PE until recently i started that Pohls coral food and WOW what a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Pretty much the same effect with any coral food.?? WOW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Hey Layton and Alastair, thanks heaps for your effort to share the info so we can understand more rather than just trying to react to stuff happening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Yes same here, my acros never had PE until recently i started that Pohls coral food and WOW what a difference. :lol: Contrary to popular opinion, polyp extension is not the corals way of telling you what suppliment to add to your tank. It's one function which polyps don't provide. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Seems to be varying opinions, however for me, if my tank is not doing well and there is little growth, there will also be little PE. If I get conditions right & good growth starts, there will also be good PE. The polyp extension / growth relationship is also related to water flow. The high the flow, the thinner the boundary layer around the coral and the faster diffusion can take place, meaning that corals don't have to extend the polyps as much to get the required elements to support calcification, or to remove waste. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 all i can say is I've fed other coral food, until i used the Pohls stuff nothing happened, Thats just my tank everybody else may well be different! would u like me to name the other foods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 all i can say is I've fed other coral food, until i used the Pohls stuff nothing happened, Thats just my tank everybody else may well be different! would u like me to name the other foods What's the polyp extension telling you though? It could just as easily be gagging and choking on the stuff for all you know. Once again, you can't infer much about corals based on looking at polyp extension. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.