Colt Question
- Thread starter radge69
- Start date
j21kickster
Active Member
give it some time- what are your perams? Lights? Water flow?
radge69
Member
Water parems are all good. lighting is on the low side but he is high in the tank. He is in medium current. He seems to be fine except for later in the day.
On a side note, my lighting is low, but I'm not upgrading now because I'm buying a 75G and want to save the money for the lights for that tank. I have button polyps, green and pink star polyps, and assorted mushrooms that are all doing wonderful. I feed DT's every other day.
On a side note, my lighting is low, but I'm not upgrading now because I'm buying a 75G and want to save the money for the lights for that tank. I have button polyps, green and pink star polyps, and assorted mushrooms that are all doing wonderful. I feed DT's every other day.
azonic
Active Member
You say your lighting comes on at 7am?!?!?!? and it still on in the evening while you are home?? That's the problem right there, you are leaving your lights on WAY to long...
I have actinic and metal halide on my tank....the actinics come on at 11am.....the hallides come on at 1pm....the halides go off at 9pm.....actinics go off at 11pm. by the time 9 oclock or so comes, many corals are beginning to retract and sweeper tenticles are starting to come out. 7am to 5pm is 10 hours of light...after that much they want to "rest".
I have actinic and metal halide on my tank....the actinics come on at 11am.....the hallides come on at 1pm....the halides go off at 9pm.....actinics go off at 11pm. by the time 9 oclock or so comes, many corals are beginning to retract and sweeper tenticles are starting to come out. 7am to 5pm is 10 hours of light...after that much they want to "rest".
ags
Member
ON TOO LONG? I personally don't get out of work until 7 pm at the earliest and I keep my tank to enjoy it therefore set my lights to come on at 11am (atinics) and 12pm (aquasuns). The aquasuns go off appx. 10pm and the atinics appx. 11pm. My tank gets appx. 12 hours of light and I personally do not think that is too much. My corals seem to know when the lights are about ready to turn off and as a result start "putting themselves to bed." I see nothing unusual with the behavior so long as the water parameters all check out ok.
j21kickster
Active Member
your lights arent on too long- what is that, 12 hours +/- a few?
j21kickster
Active Member
also we keep colts at my work under halides for 12 hours a day- all open soon and stay open- grow fast too.
saltyrich
Active Member
OK everyone! I agree that12 hrs is not too long. I run mine 10.5 hrs personally. We are all assuming things here. All we know is that the lights come on at 7a.m. and the colt is shriveled by 5p.m. That is 12 hrs., but we don't know how much longer the lights are on after 5. It could be that the lights are on too long, but without additional info. it is a guessing game.
j21kickster
Active Member
the coral is only 2 weeks old- it is probably still getting used to the tank
Of course most of us can't simulate nature in terms of lighting our tanks, else we'd never see our tank lighted! However, 12 hrs is long enough for any tank lights to be on. In that respect, while we have our lights on/off at various times, at least we are have the duration of light exposure within the ballpark of what reefs in nature are used to--12 hrs. Corals will get used to this if you are consistent with your light. However, sleeping and feeding is necessary, too, and much of this is done when the lights go off for the filter feeding corals.
azonic
Active Member
I disagree about it getting used to the tank...it's a colt coral, it would live in a bucket with a flashlight for light. I still stand by what I said. Based on my experiences by the time the 9 or 10 hours of light comes along in a day, they want to rest. The coral doesn't know that 5pm everyday it has to shrivle up because it's getting used to the tank...if it were still getting used to the tank then it wouldn't be open from 7am until 5pm. Want proof? Don't turn your lights on until say 11am or even 12 noon...I can guarantee you the colt with stay open for roughly the same amount of time.
j21kickster
Active Member
hence it is getting used to the tank- the lighting period is different im sure- this is still acclimation- and also i have a colt that goes 14 hrs w/o closing- it is getting used to the lighting period. so sure it would stay open for the same amount of time- eventually it will stay open during the whole length of the day- seen it many times- so if what you say is true, then all colt corals stay open for the same amount of time which i know is simply not true- and colts can die just like any other coral and while they are hardy- asd you say they are- it would be to their disadvantage to shrivel all the time and miss feeding opprotunities- im telling you unless there is something wrong with the water, or something is bothering it, it will perk up and stay open all day
azonic
Active Member
I'm by no means saying all colt corals are the same. I'm merely saying that after 2 weeks in his tank, it would be adjusted by now. IME of my own colt and other people's colts and any other hardy coral for that matter it simply doesn't take that long to adjust. That coral is "awake for" 10 hours when it starts to shrivle up for the night, IMO this does not show adjusting, it shows it has had enough light for the day and wants to rest. I don't think it matters what tank it were in, after 10 hours of light the coral wants to close. I really don't think he will see much change in the corals habits over any longer amount of time. Again, this is just my opinion, based on personal experiences.
j21kickster
Active Member
yes they do usually acclimate quickly, but as you said - not all of them are the same- at my work un 3 different systems our colts are aroun the middle of 400w MH bulbs and they are open from the time the lights come on to about 30 minutes after they go off- and then occasionally the shrivel up but mostly the polyps just retract-
j21kickster
Active Member
so i guess to test this we can ask other members if their colts stay open for more than 10 hours-
azonic
Active Member
Every coral is different. It's like comparing apples to oranges by asking other people if they stay open for more then 10 hours. I believe that his particular coral will not stay open longer then the 10 hours it stays open now. Asking what other people's colts do is really irrelevant IMO. His particular colt seems to only want 10 hours of light and I think if it were due to his tank conditions or it's adjusting to the tank then it would have been done by now.
I think a more appropriate way of testing this would be for him to post again in a month's time to see if his colt stays open for the 10 hours like it currently does, or if it stays open longer because it needed time to adjust.
Me and you can sit her all day and go back and forth with a hundred different reasons why it's happeneing but we can't determine it for sure at this point.
I think a more appropriate way of testing this would be for him to post again in a month's time to see if his colt stays open for the 10 hours like it currently does, or if it stays open longer because it needed time to adjust.
Me and you can sit her all day and go back and forth with a hundred different reasons why it's happeneing but we can't determine it for sure at this point.
j21kickster
Active Member
True- then again we cant assume his water is in good quality, or his lights are sufficient, you know as well as i do that not everyont who owns SW tanks know what to do other than add salt and feed fish (not saying that he dosent, but at this point we have little info)