sps hardly opening

[Achilles1208]

i recently purchased a light blue sps coral. i have only seen a few polyps open on some of the branches. its sitting under 400 watt 20k xm bulbs theres is flow coming from the koralias and the overflow boxes...

what can i do so it opens up more

[Achilles1208]

forgot to mention its an acro

[michika]

How about some water parameters?

What kind of polyp extension where you seeing before you put it in your tank? Did you dip it or anything?

[Achilles1208]

water parameters are all zeros i didnt dip it into anything didnt know i had to. the few polyps im seeing are bluish but again very few .

they need alot of flow right? its placed at the top of the tank .

the other braches have specs of blue on them but they dont extend

[michika]

Is this your first piece of SPS?

How long ago did you buy it and add it into your system? It can take up to a week in my experience for a frag to get used to a new system and to fully display its polyps.

[Achilles1208]

this is my first sps acro

my other sps are monti's(2)
its been in our tank for week an a half

its not a frag its about 6-7in tall with several branches

[michika]

If its not loosing color, I would say just leave it for a bit. Its probably still adjusting. I'm sure the poylps will come out in time.

[nismo driver]

you say its right at the top of the tank, what kind of light acclimation did you do? 400watts is alot fo light even if its 20k

[Achilles1208]

the lights in the lfs had it under 400 watt i didnt do any light acclimation didnt think there was a need

[katpurdy]

have you looked at night when the tank lights are off? My nana has almost no daytime polyps, but at night with a flashlight it is down right hairy. have a look at night and let us know.

[Achilles1208]

thanks for the idea kat will do 2nite

[Achilles1208]

well when i came home the lights were off and there were no polyps extended...

how many hours do the mh have to be on for them to open up

[nismo driver]

my tank the halide goes off then the actinic goes off three hours later and with in about an hour their is usually crazy pe if all is happy but i also have decent pe during the light hours so hard to compare

is it getting blasted directly by any source of current?

nove it and see if it looks better in 12 - 24 hours, they are wierd you might think things are the same in one sppot vs another but sometimes they just like a certian spot and its total guess work for you to find it, there is no real set guide line for the most part just things to consider like lighting intensity and amount and type of flow

[Achilles1208]

as far as current yes its getting blasted....is it not suppose too?
i have a koralia 4 and the flow from the overflow hitting it.. should i move it maybe its too much??

[nismo driver]

its hard to say, do you like driving with the windows open and sunroof open at ninty miles an hour of do you perfer a nice light breeze coming from the vents when your driving?

its pretty hard to say what every coral likes so you ahve to experiment, i would say its pretty rare that every coral is happy in the first place you put it

[nismo driver]

double post

[Achilles1208]

gotcha... lets see where i can place it now