how do you make your acans "pop"

[mojojojo]

i have a couple of different acan lord species and they dont seem to have the "POP"/polyps extending all the way unlike other acans i see in person and on the net.

Here a couple of pics i got from the net

http://media.photobucket.com/image/acans/clintos08/AUSSI/acan34.jpg

http://www.neptunescove.net/images/acancandy2.jpg
http://media.photobucket.com/image/acan%20lord/andysgr/Aussie_Acan_Lord-1.jpg
Mine seems to be retract all the time.
i have a 75g tank sps/lps dominated
all acans are on the bottom part

2x250 14k bulbs
water params are fine with the occasionally increase of nitrates to 10

[amore169]

I just got into acans and mines they get all fluffy like those pics, could u post some pics of urs.

[mojojojo]

heres a couple of shots
my acans have been with for around 6 months now, they started off faded red and are slowly morphing into their natural color

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1049&pictureid=6502

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1049&pictureid=6501

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1049&pictureid=6500

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1049&pictureid=6499

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1049&pictureid=6498

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1049&pictureid=6497

[Curtie44]

Do they ever puff up? What about when you feed? What kind of flow are they in? Are their feeding tenticles ever out? Mine have closed up like yours for a couple of days but never 6 months.

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu8/curtie44/Macro%20Shots/IMG_3211.jpg

[Curtie44]

Another question...what is your water temp?

[mojojojo]

Do they ever puff up? What about when you feed? What kind of flow are they in? Are their feeding tenticles ever out? Mine have closed up like yours for a couple of days but never 6 months.

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu8/curtie44/Macro%20Shots/IMG_3211.jpg

nopes they never puff up since i got them, feeding tenticles are always out at night. water flow in the bottom part of my tank is low - medium .

my maintaining temp is 28

other background.
standard 4ft 75g sps/lps tank.
2x250watts MH DE 14k ( my suspect is my light is too much for the acans thats why they dont puff up?)

nitrates 0-10
phospate 0

i always wonder why they dont puff up in my tank.... :sad2:

[Curtie44]

That all sounds right (temp seems a touch high to me, though). I agree with your lighting thoughts, try moving one of your colonies to a shaded part of your tank and see how it does.

[snorvich]

Yes, they like lowish light, lowish flow. I keep mine at 77F.

[WethandsCT]

I dose amino acids, they go crazy to eat - then I feed every other night. I found by reducing flow but increasing light has helped mine to pop.

[SDguy]

Blue LED powerbrites did it for me :)

[nivram]

Blue LED powerbrites did it for me :)

+1 You need actinic lighting. A 20k bulb will help. But LEDs or actinic supplementation is really what you want.

My powerbrites really bring out the colors.

[mojojojo]

good stuff, i just placed 2x54(actinic and 20k) t5s supplements for my tank and im looking to purchase a 20k bulb in the next couple of days. anything thing else i should be looking at? or look to doze to make my babies pop?

[deedee123]

I keep salt levels high

[audiophile42]

I'd try moving them into partial shade. Some of my acans do just fine sitting in the sand bed in full light, while others receded and looked flat in the same situation. I moved those to get a little bit of shade from a rock shelf, and they puffed right up and are now looking great.

[mojojojo]

some of my acans are in shaded parts, but they dont really puff up like the ones above.

how high are your fixtures from the tip of your tank? mine is 7" from the tip of the tank to the tip of the fixture. The bulb is around 10-11" high from the tip of the tank just to give a clear picture.

is this too low? how high are your fixtures from the tips of your tanks?

[mojojojo]

by the way my tank is 18 high...

[mojojojo]

up!