New to SPS. Question.

[supertank]

Hi All,
I am a new owner of a small piece of Blue Acro. I recieved it in the mail today along with a couple Favias, and a new Clam. The Acro was and still is really "browned" out, and I have yet to see any extension of the polyps.
I was just wondering if this is normal for a newly shipped / introduced Acro? Will the blue coloring comeback, and is there anything that I can do to help make it feel more comfortable in my tank.
Thanks.

 

[meowzer]

Just wanted to say WELCOME to SWF
Since you just received it today...it may need some time to get use to the tank...can you tell us all about your tank....size, lights, water parameters, age????
A pic would be nice too....

 

[supertank]

My tank is a 75 gallon setup. The lights consist of four 54 watt T5 Lamps. "I hope that is enough for my new acro" I have had good luck with LPS, Soft corals, Zoos, and a Crocea Clam. I am trying to talk my wife into any early Christmas present so I can get the tank set up with MH Lights. Anyway, I placed the Acro as high as possible on my LR in a good flow area. My tank is a little over 7 months old now, and everything else seems to be doing well.
I am pretty sure my water par. are in tolerance, but I am still new at reefing so any help would be appreciated.
Nitrates, Nitrites, and Amonia are all 0
PH sets at 8.3
Calcium is at 460
Sp Grav is at 1.026
Water Temp is consistant at 82 degrees
I will ty to get some pics posted when I get home from work tomorrow morning. Any advice would be greatly appreciated since I am still somewhat new at reef keeping, and deffinetly new at SPS.

 

[meowzer]

Everything sounds good to me....LOL...What type of light is it? I have read a lot of threads that people have the T5HO lighting and keep all sorts of stuff...
How long have you had the clam?
Can't wait to see the pics

 

[supertank]

Thanks for the replies MEOWZER. I have read some of your other post in the past, and it sounds like you know what your talking about.
Anyway, I honestly couldn't tell you the brand name of the lighting set up since I can't find anything stamped or writen on it. I bought the tank, lights, powerheads, and skimmer as a used setup from my LFS as a concienment sale. The fellow that sold it to me is pretty knowledgeable as far as I can tell, and he told me what the lights were. I am pretty sure that they are HO's, but again I'm not 100% on that. I know the bulbs are only about 7 months old though. I would like to get new bulbs, but like I said, I am waiting to see if I can talk the Mrs. into a MH setup. "I think I am wearing her down LOL"
As for the Crocea clam, he has been in my tank for over 2 months now, and seems to be doing well. "Happy as a clam"

I just got a new Maxima today as well, so we will see how he does in my tank.
Pics are coming soon.

 

[supertank]

The Acro still looks the same as when I recieved it yesterday. It's been in my tank for right at 22 hours so far. Like I said, it is supposed to be a hazy blue color, but it has completely browned out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I hope the pictures are good enough. I am a first time picture poster.
Thank You.

 

[steelytom]

acros are very sensitive and brown out pretty easy. The key is to keep your water parameters as stable as can be. One of the most important parameters for acros is KH. I like to keep mine at 9dkh, but you will find people have success anywhere from 7 to 13. the key is stability, any swings can cause browning or tissue loss/death. you should also test magnesium, it tends to be low in a lot of salt mixtures.
They coral looks like an aquacultured coral. meaning it was raised in the ocean. they tend to have some trouble adjusting to aquarium life and may take a while to color back up. They also can stn or rtn. Which means the tissue just kind of falls off and leaves the dead, white skeleton behind. If you plan on having acros in a mixed tank you need to keep up on water changes, run carbon, and a good skimmer. Leathers release toxins that acros do not like. I am not saying it can't be done, you just have to keep up with it. If you loose the coral don't be too discouraged. The best acros to get are frags that come from someones aquarium that has been out of the wild for a long time. my 2 cents anyway

 

[supertank]

Thank you for all the info. I really appreciate. I'll dowhat I can to keep everything stable, and keep this little guy alive.

 

[sir mixxalot]

Ok first of all the 3 MOST IMPROTANT levels are alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. All 3 all play a very important role in growth and color of any coral, period, but particularly SPS. Here is a post that simplifies the Cal, Alk and Mag https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/48111/another-way-to-look-at-calcium-alk-and-ph…. Understand this and you can rule the chemistry world of reefing.
Secondly is lighting… there are 2 different types of t-5’s. there is t-5 and t-5HO. If you have regular T-5’s then they are not doing you any better than PC lighting. Then there is the types of T-5HO lights that you have…. You could have 50 actinic bulbs and never get as good growth at 3 or 4 daylight bulbs… What DOES matter is the PAR the light is putting out. Now with actinic bulbs you can pull some good color out of the corals so typically 2 daylight bulbs and 2 actinic bulbs are the usual combo but there is a HUGE range of bulb temperature (Kelvin) and PAR output of each bulb. You just have to make sure that you have a even balance that is pleasing to the eye AND appeals to your corals.
With these 2 things in perfect harmony you can have a happy and healthy reef tank with anything you want to keep in it. Just make sure you do at least a week worth of research before buying any coral so you know what it eats, how aggressive it is, if it has stinger tentacles, flow it likes… etc.
Oh and one other thing 20% bimonthly water changes!!! You can never go wrong with them!