Anthelia Question

[dhoch]

I have an anthelia colony on a piece of live rock.

Originally this colony started from about 3-5 polyps in a 30 gal tank (that I have since broken down) and is now 50-60 polyps. I transfered it to my 125 after breaking down the 30.

In the 125 the anthelia looked white and lackluster. I was concerned after reading some information on melting. So I moved the anethelia rock to my sump/refugium.

It came back in leaps and bounds. Thinking it was adjusting to the water I moved it back into the main part of the tank, but in a new location. Again it became white and lackluster. So back to the sump/refugium, where it is again doing well.

What my question is what is causing this. It can't be the water (can it?) the sump/refugium would have the same water params as the tank.

My guess is that it is either lighting or flow.

Here are my tank & sump params:

Tank 125 gal w/ 4 6' VHO (2x acitanic ~1 month, 2 10K ~5.5 months)

Salinity 1.023
Nitrites 0
Amonia 0
Nitrates ~10ppm
Alk 9.5
Calcium 400

The refugium part of the sump has 1 40W PC on it for lighting. (~1 month old bulb)

Flow through the refugium is about 600 gal/hr

Main Tank has 1200 gal/hr main return from sump + 350 gal/hr from a Magnum 350 + 2 power heads for another 300-500 gal/hr

Please help as I would like to get this colony back in the main tank.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[sawyerc]

I wonder if the main tank's lighting is too bright and stressing the coral. Perhaps you could place it at the bottom of the main tank and reduce you lighting to just actinics. Then slowly bring the lighting up. What do you think?

 

[dhoch]

Both times the coral was in the tank It was at the bottom.

I could try cutting back the lighting to just the acitanics?

I'm just worried that the other corals would miss the light...(torch, zoos, gorgonian that are all doing very well).

Dave

 

[Len]

Dave, I have the exact same problem with clove polyps; they simply start to whither away in the display tank. I'm not sure why this happens in a system where the waters are interconnected (and thus chemistry should be the same). I've always thought it was a chemical interaction with neighboring fauna, but the lighting might be the culprit too.

 

[npaden]

I doubt it is the lighting personally. I have some Anthelia that was rocking along directly under 400W Iwasaki's.

That said I'm not sure what the culprit would be. Water flow? What kind of neighboring corals does it have in the display?

Nathan

 

[dhoch]

Well, the tank was a FOWLR that the coral decimater (French Angel) has been removed from to another friends tank, and is for the most part without corals.

The Anthelia was not near any of the other corals (Torch coral, 4-5 diferent zoos and a gorgonian).

Is Anthelia a low flow species?

Does it seem like my tank (see specs above) has too much flow?

Dave

 

[Ben1]

I have had it under a few conditions but have seen it really take off under dimmer lighting, 175 halides instead of 250-400's. I wouldn't blam it on the flow either. I think it adapts well, and just grows tighter shorter stalks in higher flows. Are there any other fish in this tank that might be bothering it? Or what about night time inverts bothering it? I have seem urchins run right over xenia and eat it.

I would try to lower the temp with fans a few degrees also. If it runs 84-85 on some days it might run 90 on the hottest days.

 

[dhoch]

Well for those of you who are following this I'm sure it's the lighting now.

Two days ago I again removed the Anthelia from my refugium and placed it back in the main 125 tank (this was tuesday evening). By the time lights out it was allready starting to look bleached.

I took one of my old all glass hoods and put it on above the section of the tank where the anthelia was (I've been running hoodless with fan for temp control BTW 79-81 is my range).

Now after 3 days like that (wed-thur-fri) the anthelia is looking great. A good pink color and not white or melting looking.

So the question is is 4x160W VHO too much light?

In terms of low amount light or high amount of light how much light is in this tank?

(I've recently got a bubble tip anemone and it's hiding a little bit as well...Looks good and healthy just the spot it moved to is a little shaded... Tomatoe Clown pair took right too it).

Dave

 

[npaden]

I don't think it is a matter of to much light but you need to acclimatize it to the different lighting.