Acan question

[d-maz]

I`ve been keeping acans for about 9 months and they looked great, but the last month or so they`re looking really flat. They used to be nice and puffy, but now they almost take the contour of the rock that they are on.

Everything else in my tank is doing well(LPS,SPS,Zoas). The only thing I`ve changed is, I started dosing MAG and I got into a new bucket of salt. The salt is a different brand than the last bucket.

Anyone run into this, or have any ideas?

Thanks, Dave

[PCfishman]

What salt did u switch to? Could be growing. Mine, tend to flatten out when popping out baby heads.

[d-maz]

I went from Tropic Marin to Instant Ocean. I may buy another bucket of Tropic Marin and mix them. The numbers that the instant ocean tested out at were terrible.

I though about the growing thing, because I`ve seen that before, but it`s been about 2 months now that they`ve been flat like that.

[PCfishman]

Strange, I had one do the same. Tried moving it to different conditions, and kept feeding it, seems to be bouncing back.

[amore169]

I use Reef Crystals salt and I do a 15% water change weekly and also my numbers are horrible, I will be chaging salts.

[PCfishman]

I've used Seachem Reef Salt, and Tunze. Love both. Tunze mixes slightly faster, but either way the params are similar.

[Walking_Target]

After having used Instant Ocean and had a host of Ca/Alk/Mag issues, i've switched to DD H20 and seen almost immediate results. My Xenia actually started pulsing again.

IMO, you end up saving by buying a higher-quality salt from the get go, because you don't spend a ton on Kalk or 2-parts or Mag suppliments.

And having only one frag of Acans at the moment, i can say that yes, they do look to be 'flat' when they start producing a new head. I've had good results with feeding small meaty foods about 3x per week to get them looking normal though.