PDA

View Full Version : SPS Polyps. Day vs Night.


Nick S
01/13/2014, 09:49 PM
My SPS's polyps have not been extended as much as I would like them to, except for one. But I realized that as soon as the lights come on in the morning, they are all super bushy! Is it normal that the polyps hide in the day and only come out at night? Does that mean there is something in my tank eating or bothering the polyps during the day?

NastyZ
01/13/2014, 10:17 PM
My polyp extension is great during the day but all most doubles at night that's when most corals feed do you have any pests that you know of red bugs or AEFW

Nick S
01/13/2014, 10:46 PM
I don't see any pest problem atm. I had flatworms at one point but i got rid of them easily with salifert flatworm exit. My flame angel sometimes picks near my sps but never seen it go directly at an sps polyp. Could he be nipping when I'm not looking maybe?

NastyZ
01/13/2014, 11:03 PM
I had a flame angel for a month it did we'll till all of a sudden I add a brain coral and it went nuts started picking on everything might want to watch it closely

Crackem
01/14/2014, 12:38 AM
I have really good pe at night and almost zero with lights on. I do have red bugs and I'm planning an in tank treatment. Why would red bugs stop pe during the day tho?

Art13
01/14/2014, 07:48 AM
I think I've seen this question before and I believe the answer is because the predators that pick on them, like fish, sleep at night and I think it's this way in the wild as well. Usually if the coral feels ok during the day it will start to come out more, not sure about the full extension like at night but if something is pecking at him, I don't think you'll ever get the full extension during the day.

NastyZ
01/14/2014, 08:44 AM
I have really good pe at night and almost zero with lights on. I do have red bugs and I'm planning an in tank treatment. Why would red bugs stop pe during the day tho?

The coral is getting agitated by the bug and doesn't extent it's polyps at, night they really have no choice that's how they feed

LobsterOfJustice
01/14/2014, 10:37 AM
What fish do you have?

If you have an potential nippers, that is likely the cause. You can never see the fish nip, but if you remove the fish you'll see the PE come back. That said, this is COMPLETELY NATURAL. SPS naturally are closed up during the day when picking fish are awake and usually open at night. Only in our protected home tanks with no predators do they open up during the day.

Nick S
01/14/2014, 02:13 PM
Thanks for all the helpful replies!

Lobster, I have a flame angel, a yellow tang, a few anthias, green chromis, and a pair of ocellaris clowns and the display tank is 225 gallons. I suspect the flame angel if any. Naturally, I would like for the polyps to be extended in the day time when you can see them. However, if I remove the flame angel, will the corals still hide from the other fish swimming around even though they aren't nipping them? And what about helthwise for the coral? If they are naturally in "defense mode" in the day time in their natural environment, would allowing them to extend their polyps in the day adversely affect their health?

Thanks!

LobsterOfJustice
01/16/2014, 03:10 PM
The corals will be healthy either way. If you remove the flame I bet you will gradually see more PE during the day. Considering the health of the corals is unaffected it's just up to you wether you'd rather have the angel or PE

Palting
01/16/2014, 04:50 PM
I have several species of SPS, and their polyps are always fully extended during the day, and I believe also at night. I do agree with Lobster that it's most likely the flame angel that may be bothering them, but there could be a variety of other reasons too. My suggestion is to go ahead and move the angel and see what happens.

Here are some daytime photos, with polyps fully extended.
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/Snapbucket/3BB0813F_zps51b9d6c9.jpg
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/Snapbucket/DB25BBB3_zps11f9e51d.jpg
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/Snapbucket/DF34FB6B_zps4f6db199.jpg