sps help???

[jrthomas40]

got some new sps the other day and they came as acropora species dont know what kind...but the polyps are not extending granted i just got them yesterday...they are in my 40g breeder with 2 maxijet 1200s and a current sunpod 2x150w hqi...should i just wait it out or do i need to move them higher and put them in direct flow??? currently they are about 2 inches off the bottom on egg crate...any advice would help...thanks in advance

 

[nietzsche]

dont put them in direct flow. they like indirect chaotic flow and a ton of it. sounds like youre going to need more powerheads around the tank
i usually start my sps at the bottom of the tank for a week or more and slowly put them up higher, but i have a 250w MH on my 28.
you also need to look into nitrates, phosphates, ALK, magnesium, and calcium

 

[jrthomas40]

got home today and a few of them looked bleached.. .i have a mag 5 return but dont have it going because i am doing some work with the plumbing and cant get the stand pipe to drain right

 

[yosemite sam]

Is there any flesh on the corals that look bleached? If not, that means they RTNed (which stands for rapid tissue necrosis), which means they are dead. What are your water parameters? What all is in the tank? Where did you get the sps from, a store or from online? How did you acclimate them?
Also, fwiw, don't add corals when you're doing work on your tank. Have you used pvc glue or anything recently?

 

[spanko]

Intereseted to see answers to above and how this turns out for your Acro's

 

[nycbob]

most sps comes from mh anyway. there isnt a need to light acclimate them. i put mine right where i want as soon as i get them. is it all bleached? i had one bleached from the bottom a few weeks back when i got it. it wasnt rapid, more like 2 cm per day. i moved it to a better light source and has since thrive.

 

[nietzsche]

i would not suggest putting them where ever. everyones tanks are different and we might not know anything about the bulbs and ballasts that were used. you should still light acclimate
i thought the same thing when i had a slimer and put it way at the top, it bleached and started to STN, i fragged it in two and put them both at the bottom of the tank. now theyre bright green and started to encrust and grow

 

[jrthomas40]

got them online...these are my first sps so i wouldnt know what is flesh and what isnt.....1 looks all white but has brown specks where the polyps would look like they are suppose to come out...i have since put them im my main tank on an egg crate...the other tank has been up for a few weeks...my main tank been up over a year....but there is nothing (barebottom) in the tank i had them in but water and have not used any glue or cement on the piping yet...it is just pieced together...reason i am working on my plumbing is cuz the stuff it came with only kept the tank about half full so i wanted to do my one stand pipes

 

[nycbob]

when i ordered sps, i always find out what light it was under b4. most sps i ordered r from 400w mh.

 

[jrthomas40]

that could have something to do with it...i only have 2x150s....1 is not looking good at all and the other is just kinda splotchy some white some brown all other have color but polyps still not out

 

[nietzsche]

its really hard to say unless you provide pictures and noted what happened since you got it. if you post what has happened since you got it along with parameters including phosphates and nitrates, then maybe we could diagnose it
it sounds like it either bleached or went through RTN or STN depending on how fast or slow the tissue lost was. it might have not liked the shipping and then going into a different tank
were these maricultured pieces or aquacultured?
have you checked to see if you have PE at night?
another thing you have to consider is flow, i have a lot of flow in my tank and have polyp extension during the day
also do you have any fish that might have been pecking at the pieces?

 

[jrthomas40]

i will try to take some pics later on tonight...but it was rapid....i left in the morning came home that night and it was white....i will also test the water again tonight too...but the tips were bleached when i got it in....i checked for polyps last night and it was nothing....and i am about 98% sure they were aquacultured sps....the tank they were in has no fish in it....as soon as i get the return pump going i should have the 2 1200 maxijets and about 350-400gph coming out the pump

 

[nietzsche]

sounds like it couldnt handle the shipping plus going into a new tank. how are the other frags doing?
try to get a lot more flow in that tank though. i would either do some kind of mods to the maxijets, or look into some tunze powerheads. i've got two modified 6025s in my tank that are supposed to push out 1,200 or more gph. i also have my return and my koralia#1 in there. i have around 90x "turnover" in there. i dont use my returns for flow but just use it to return clean water back into the tank

 

[jrthomas40]

i thought about doing the mods to the maxijets but i thought around 25 times bare bottom tank would be enough

 

[jrthomas40]

oh yeah forgot to mention i just looked and there was no polyp extension

 

[nietzsche]

on all the frags?

 

[littlebuck]

Like said above they like indirect flow. I have 613x turn over rate in my tank and they SPS love it. But they dont like to have the flow directed at them.
But if they look bleached which if u look at the coral and its white as can be with no other color. If there is a hit of color then u are good. But i think they are gone from the way u are talking u left in the morning and came home and they were totally white.
Sorry but like said b4 with out pics hard to tell.