No SPS polyps...

I got several great sps frags from the last frag meeting.  When I put them in my tank the Branching Monti frags both had polyps extended for a couple days.  Since then none of my frags have had their polyps extended.  They still have good color and some have colored up better since I got them, but no polyps extend.  What am I doing wrong here.

A little background that may help as I'm wondering if any of this is a problem:

1) I have a spraybar at the top middle of my tank.  This is the only water movement in the tank at the moment.  The SPS's are in the highest water movement area of the tank, but the flow is uni-directional.  Could this be the problem?  I am in the process of obtaining several Powerheads to hook up to the wavemaker I have.  Would anyone expect this to help?

2) I do not currently dose much in the way of calcium.  Every time I test it's at about 450 ppm.  I haven't checked the Alk in forever, but I will be getting a test kit for it as soon as I can get to an LFS.  Everything else in my tank is doing Awesome so I don't think anything is off too much.

3) I have lots of Softies & LPS.  Could they be somehow affecting the SPS negatively?  Nothing is actually touching the SPS.

Any ideas would be helpful as I don't know much about SPS and am kind of perplexed.

You can give me the troublemaker softies & LPS if that will help!

I'll bet it's the alkalinity. How's your hermits?

1. Water movement unidirectional? Is there any strong water movement in any direction? YES, definitely hook up some powerheads to that wavemaker and blast those suckas!

2. Since you have coralline algae and everything else is doing well, I doubt it has as much to do with alkalinity. But, is there available calcium? Is there calcium available to replenish that which is taken from the water, as fast as it is taken from the water? That's the key. If you are not dosing with Kalkwasser or adding a B-Ionic type of additive, you might try that and see what happens.

3. Coral chemicals in the water can inhibit other coral. This is also a valid concern. The easy way to remove those chemicals is to run activated carbon at least half-time.

And in conclusion, the way they are acting may just be how they want to be in your tank. I would check them at various times at night for polyp extension. Some coral just don't do well together. Don't let this discourage you from making the modifications recomended above. Also keep trying other SPS. There will be some that like the conditions, while others do not.

Will, you might want to check your magnesium also.

Thanks a lot Kevin.  I know it's your fault.  Here I was going to say "Yes I have a Bicolor Blenny, but no he doesn't nip at the corals."  So I turn around and sure enough he's nipping at one.  If you hadn't written it down here he wouldn't have read it and gotten the idea.

Maybe he will have to go in my new Damsel tank when I set it up.  It will be a Fish Only tank so nothing he can nip on.  That will be a few weeks though.

 

Magnesium Check, Check!

 

So here's my shopping list:

Alk Test Kit

2-3 Powerheads

Activated Carbon

Stuff to rig up a Kalk dripper thingy

Magnesium Test Kit, Possibly.

Also: Look at everything else and wish I could have it.  (My wife won't like that.)

Will, as long as you're looking longingly at fish stuff, and not other girls, life is good.  Just teasing ya!  In our tank, things look much happier when the alkalinity is up around 10.  I can tell by the look of things when it is around 9.  If I come home and I'm thinking "Dangit!! What's UP with you guys!  You need Prozac, or WHAT"... then I check the alkalinity and it's around 8 or 9.  I don't know if that will help, but since my tank is sort of a "twin" to your, and my polyps are out... and the only thing I've started doing different in the last month or so is alkalinity... it's worth a though.

Btw, we have our first Mushroom Baby.  It's a brown fuzzy one that I got from you.  We watched it split.  It was terribly cool.  Your green mushrooms are all at least 3" across, and one is about 6" across, I'd guess. 

Will, I don't believe anyone knows the answer to your question.  Just remember out in the real reef most of these corals keep their polyps retracted except at night.  As long as they grow, no worries.

(but all those things you're going to do will certainly help your tanks health)

Thanks for all the help.  I'm starting to think I may need to be up in the night since that is when I found the polyps extended.  I would still like to impliment the above ideas though.  As Jon said they would all improve my tank anyway.

Mark, I think if I feed my tank more than I do I might have problems.  I'm one of those people who has to be feeding all the time because I enjoy watching everything eat.  I've been out of town quite a bit lately so I've let the algae grow on the front of the tank and all my herbivores are quite enjoying it.  Especially the Bicolor.  Even when I'm home I never clean the sides or back of the tank in hopes that this will keep them all fed.  I also feed a lot of other green since I think the tangs and angels enjoy that.  I don't know if the bicolor does or not.

Kevin, as for catching a bicolor, I found it very easy.  Simply take all the rock out of your tank and he will come with whichever piece he's hiding in a hole of.  The hard part is figuring out which piece that is.  When I rearranged my rock several months ago I thought I'd lost mine.  After putting it all back, the next day he was swimming happily and looking for food.

Rodney, I think I've seen a DIY Kalk Reactor either on this board or on RC.  I was hoping to find some instructions on setting one up.  If I do I'll point you in the same direction.

Wiemers, thanks for your support.  Right now my alk is at 8.  Maybe I'll shoot for 10 and see what happens.  I finally got an Alk test kit yesterday and now realized that my PH kit is crap.  (It's one of those dip sticks.)  Guess I'll be getting one of those soon too.  I'm glad to hear your mushrooms are doing well.  I still need to get out and see the other twin soon.  We'll shoot for before the reef tour.

  I have been out of town for a few days and come home tonight and noticed that polyps are out on all but my Branching Monti.  My Tri-Color Acro is looking really cool right now.  I'm so stoked!!!

Shane, I haven't seen my angels picking at my polyps, but you know how they are.  They may wait until I leave the room.