? about polyp extension

[reef junkie]

Ive noticed that my sps dont realy extend there polys except for at night during lights out. Is this normal. And If not how do I get them to extend during the light times. The only one that shows any kind of extension is my green slimmer. All have been growing (slowly). Im running retro kit, 2 t5s for 11 hours and then 4 t5s for 9 hours.bukbs are ati 3 blue + and then 1 aqua blue. They are in the upper half of the tank in good flow. All the sps all have good color. Im also dosing kalk water, and all test well. Thgnks for any help.

[reef junkie]

anyone?

[truvkngfan]

I don't know enough about them which is why i was keeping my mouth (or keyboard) closed, but I can tell you that some of mine do the same thing, polyps at night, and some during the day. I actually have a new zoanthid acquisition that never closes. All the rest of mine close at night except for this one polyp, almost looks fake because of it.

[reef junkie]

thanks for some in put. I have been reading that some do stay closed and then open at night. I have seen pics of some that are open during the day or lighted time, I wasnt sure if it was just me.

[mattb]

There are numerous reasons for polyp extension, and you won't know why the coral is/isn't doing so. Bottom line: polyp extension doesn't mean anything as far as health, don't worry about it.

[reef junkie]

Thank you. that was what I was hoping to hear. Still wish I could do something. they look alot nicer extended.

[mattb]

You can't though :) Here are some reasons sps exhibit polyp extension,
- species specific (some species do it more often)
- feeding response
- gas exchange
- increased surface area for photosynthesis/shading

[reef junkie]

Again thanks.

[clownnut]

try zeovit amino acid, i have great luck with it.

[reef junkie]

do you carry this at the store? how much $? Is it food. Like reef chilli?

[Bigdragons]

http://www.aquacave.com/zeovit-amino-acid-br-concentrate-2536.html

[reef junkie]

Thanks. Does this stuff really work like it says.

[Bigdragons]

Dont know but I'm thinking of trying it I have a frag that wont open and
i have moved it several times trying to make it happy

[mattb]

PE doesn't equate to coral happiness, you didn't read my post above :) .... Certain amino acids can cause PE but you are adding N to your system, which may lead to increased levels of NO3 which is counterproductive to having good coloration in sps.

[reef junkie]

Matt do you use anything in your tank?

[mattb]

I have used the product that Li mentioned for years, but only for it's intended purpose: preventing N limitation in sps in a low nutrient environment.

[reef junkie]

ok, what is ''N'' and what would be concidered a low nutrient environment, and how do you know you have one.

[mattb]

N is nitrogen.... You'd want undetectable NO3, which you need good test kits to measure like LaMotte or Hach. Typically when we're talking low nutrients were talking about organic carbon dosing...

[reef junkie]

way over my head. Thanks for the feed back.

[twincitiesreefer]

He is saying pepole like myself doseing vodka as a carbon source deplete the N,and dose amino to put back a trace amount of N in the water column

[manycolors]

Not to hi-jack the forum, but... I am dosing vodka and want to provide the best environment for my coral, as we all do (they seem very happy/ sps & lps) but I haven't heard of replacing the "N" in the water... care to inform me?

[Fish'InMN]

No one is 'replacing' nitrogen, where did you get that? People running ULN (ultra low nutrient) systems dose amino acids as Matt mentioned previously. The amino acids are broken down into a nitrogen source. Why people spend stupid amounts of money on 'amino acid' supplements over plain old NO3, now THAT is a good hijack-worthy question...

[twincitiesreefer]

Doseing vodka will eventualy deplete N levels dangerisley low,all liveing things need some N.

In a ultra low nutrient tank,you need to provide some sort of N,achevied buy doseing aminos.

[reef junkie]

No one is 'replacing' nitrogen, where did you get that? People running ULN (ultra low nutrient) systems dose amino acids as Matt mentioned previously. The amino acids are broken down into a nitrogen source. Why people spend stupid amounts of money on 'amino acid' supplements over plain old NO3, now THAT is a good hijack-worthy question...

Ok now I feel like I have centured into a ? that was way over my head, but what did you mean by ''plain old NO3. How is that achieved?

[reef junkie]

if you dont dose vodka, and use kalk water but still want to achieve nice looking corals is addind things like amino acid going to help? And by nice looking coral I mean polyp extension. My corals all have great color and growth, just not alot of extension.

[acharpenter]

It all seemed a bit over my head at first but this thread helped me a ton. Ken posted a link to some great info in the first post of the thread, once you read through the article you should have a much better understanding of the whole process...

http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=21073&highlight=vodka+dosing

[kensilvey]

I have about 100 different SPS, and the majority of them have polyp extension during day and night. I have low nutrient levels and dose some of the KZ products along with Amino Acids.

[mattb]

Not to hi-jack the forum, but... I am dosing vodka and want to provide the best environment for my coral, as we all do (they seem very happy/ sps & lps) but I haven't heard of replacing the "N" in the water... care to inform me?

Its not about replacing the N in the water, but making certain your corals have access to N to live and grow, without N they die. Bacteria can strip the water of N and P.... this is why most people dose aminos to add a source of N.

[mattb]

No one is 'replacing' nitrogen, where did you get that? People running ULN (ultra low nutrient) systems dose amino acids as Matt mentioned previously. The amino acids are broken down into a nitrogen source. Why people spend stupid amounts of money on 'amino acid' supplements over plain old NO3, now THAT is a good hijack-worthy question...

Unused aminos are mineralized, and become part of the N cycle. SPS can absorb aminos directly from the water column (in scientific literature, they are called DFAAs - dissolved free aminos aids). The question then becomes how long do aminos stay aminos before they are broken down, not sure.

There IS a difference though in dosing aminos versus something like KNO3 or NH3NO3... aminos an be directly absorbed by the coral and used. NO3 will likely require breakdown to get at the N from the NO3, also the coral will likely be competing for the N in NO3 with its zoox which can directly uptake from the water column.

Long story short: aminos are a better solution to N limitation in corals than dosing a NO3-based compound such as CaNO3, KNO3....

[mattb]

if you dont dose vodka, and use kalk water but still want to achieve nice looking corals is addind things like amino acid going to help? And by nice looking coral I mean polyp extension. My corals all have great color and growth, just not alot of extension.

Its not... you ONLY dose aminos when your tanks nutrient levels are low.... It doesn't matter if you are dosing vodka, running zeo, etc IF YOUR TANK IS NOT LOW IN N, DO NOT DOSE AMINOS....

[kensilvey]

Just a thought, do you check out your Acro's with a magnifying glass at all? Any small red dots? Red Bugs will keep polyps shut.

[reef junkie]

Just a thought, do you check out your Acro's with a magnifying glass at all? Any small red dots? Red Bugs will keep polyps shut.



No. I have never done that. But I havent had a real reason to do so. What I mean is the corals in my look the same as they did when I put them in. But I also never thought to look at them under a scope. Thanks for the idea.