SPS polyp extension

Hyperlitexr50

Hyperlitexr50

Member
I get great extention on birdsnests and some montis but all my acro's never show what they have. I know that PE is not always a good thing but I dont get any out of most of my sps. The only coral food I use is reef chilli from brs. I give frags to a friend of mine who doesn't take care of his tank at all and they look like totally different corals especially my 2 different orange digi's. All my corals grow good but some of them are just plane ugly with out any PE. I have tried moving them to different locations hi low more flow less flow ext.
 
m.miller1547

m.miller1547

Active member
BN and montis can handle fluctuations well. They have always done well for me. Acros and millies on the other hand will not tolerate phose or nitrate. Alk swings are always bad, but sps won't tolerate em like softies or Lps. Have u checked at night? Flow? Parameters?
 
brianspider

brianspider

New member
Hyperlitexr50 said:
I get great extention on birdsnests and some montis but all my acro's never show what they have. I know that PE is not always a good thing but I dont get any out of most of my sps. The only coral food I use is reef chilli from brs. I give frags to a friend of mine who doesn't take care of his tank at all and they look like totally different corals especially my 2 different orange digi's. All my corals grow good but some of them are just plane ugly with out any PE. I have tried moving them to different locations hi low more flow less flow ext.
Click to expand...
Maybe the corals have better PE in your friends tank because of the worse conditions as they try to sustain in a less hospitable environment? Spitballing..I'd maybe try another food and see if they respond differently during feedings.
 
madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
red bugs cause bad polyp extension and only effect acros usualy smoth skin but seen em on others too.
 
fwadiver

fwadiver

New member
i wouldnt jump to red bugs unless you see signs of predation. chem warfare will also cause poor pe, do you run any carbon?
 
madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
Im not jumping justbsomething to check for most time peoplevfont notice till they look for em. And all it takes is to look so why not suggest right
 
reeferlover

reeferlover

New member
PE is HUGE IMO with sps health. Again IMO, my sps have big time PE, and they are taking off right now. I did loose two acros in this tank.. Same kind and they were acro thats look like millis they had so mush PE. once that PE went away they got RTN, DED next day. With those mp40s it should be easy to get the perfect flow. i have two mp10s in my75 and they love it. Too much flow will def make the polyps not ext. too little and u can tell the pe is too much.

and temp ime is better around 75-76 for sps
 
EricTheRed

EricTheRed

No, I'm not a communist..
PE is one of the great mysteries of life. Let me know if you find the answer.

I have great PE on most of my acro's and virtually none on a few. It drives me nuts sometimes. I've researched this for hours and hours and the best info I could find was that sometimes certain acro's even under optimal conditions won't have PE in your tank, for no apparent reason. Many of the "experts" have even said that lack of PE on acro's is nothing to be worried about as long as they look healthy and are growing. Additionally, too much PE is a sign of stress.

Since you're not getting it on most of your sps then I'd say something is off. You running carbon?
 
Hyperlitexr50

Hyperlitexr50

Member
I run .08 carbon from brs in a reactor. I have checked for pests, redbugs, AEFW and so on I just can not figure out what it can be. I have read a lot about chemical war far and that is why I pulled all the leathers out of my tank for 4 months. The only thing I cant pull out is the mushrooms way to many of them. It could be a temp swing that is causing the problem maybe it is time to buy a controller or new lighting that doesn't put off as much heat. I can just have ugly looking acro's that still grow with no PE lol.
 
reeferlover

reeferlover

New member
This is Gonna be tough. Just offer the most stable and optimal Parameters u can. I agree color growth and appreance are more important. But if i have a coral*without pe I get worried. I never run carbon with heavy sps unless u need too. Can u tell us more about ur system, age, types of inverts. Maybe some pics of what ur coral look like too
 
Funlad3

Funlad3

Well-known member
I'm different from the rest of the crowd. I feed heavily, and I skim heavily. That's it. I have an acro that had no PE for three or four weeks when I didn't feed the tank (fallow), and within five minutes of me adding frozen mysis and the nutrient leaden juice, it had open polyps. It's had great PE ever since. Focus on parameter stability, and keep the corals from being bumped or moved. I have another acro that won't give me PE for around a week if it gets moved, even the slightest bit. My advice is to get a little dirty. :)
 
reeferlover

reeferlover

New member
Yep I listen to people like u. I used to think clean was better. I feed a lot and skimmer a lot. Love my swc and I'm dumping a full cup once a week thick nastiness
 
Jason R

Jason R

New member
I've always been under the impression that polyp extension is about collecting food in the water column. If that is correct then it makes sense that there would be more extension if there is more food available in the water. If there is no food to catch why would it bother extending polyps?
 
Hyperlitexr50

Hyperlitexr50

Member
Hyperlitexr50 said:
125g 40g refugium 80g sump Reef octopus 5000 skimmer
cal 420-450
alk 10
phosphates .02
ph 8.1
nitrates 0
flow 2 mp40's
Click to expand...
my system is 2 years old I upgraded from 2 biocube29 so alot of my rock coral and fish are 5 years old. I don't have any out of the ordinary snails,crabs, cleaner shrimp, chitons,and a coral banded.
I feed every day and I have a auto feeder that dumps a little in twice a day for my grazers. I do weekly.water changes I use brs 2 part at 100 ml a day.
 
madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
U know not all my have crazy pe during day but at night with moonlights thats when pe gets crazy on all
 
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