blasto merletti not opening

[paininthewrasse]

I got a nice peice of blasto merletti from a trade and it was opening up great for the first two days.. I kind of put it under a overhang of LR so it was slightly shaded beacuse i didnt want to burn it up I didnt know what lighting conditions it came from.. anywya it looked great all polyps were opening until a couple days ago only a couple .. maybe 5 out of the some 30 polyps or more are opening.. whats the deal?

Its in low flow.. low light.. on the bottom of the tank today I moved it over so that its getting full light.. but its still on the bottom of the tank..

Anyway any suggestions please let me know!!

[paininthewrasse]

bump

[blange3]

Any corals nearby? Could they be stinging?

When I add a new coral to my tank the crabs, snails and shrimp spend a lot of time searching the base for goodies and cause the coral to close up until they leave it alone.

The obvious questions about water parameters need to be answered as well. I wouldn't move it anymore unless you find a location related cause.

[paininthewrasse]

It was near favia but I dont think that it could have been getting stung by it.. I have it away from other things and a few more polyps are opening today..

My water parameters are all in check and every other one of my corals and fish are doing great... It must have just not liked something about its location.. or it was to close for comfort w/ the favia..

He is on the bottom of the tank under one of my two 175 watt MH fixtures.. These dont like a TON of light right?? But being on the bottom of the tank should be fine right?

[blange3]

Bottom is the best place to start, especially under halides. Slightly shaded is what most seem to favor.

If it continues to improve, just leave it alone. If you still have some closed in a couple of days, try the shade. But moving too much can be a problem as well.

[paininthewrasse]

I'll keep you posted.. Its still on the side of the tank.. i am away for the weekend.. so we'll see what it looks like when i get back tomorrow afternoon.. I'm hoping it wil be nice and open!!

[paininthewrasse]

They're opening :-)

[JLBubbles]

I have a blastomussa wellsi and I noticed that it helped to move it to a lower part of the tank. I actually put it on the sand where my two clown fish dont notice it. One polyp of mine completely died and another is starting ot reside. I am feeding it mysis shrimp everyday now becauise I heard it helps it grow faster. I am thinking that the cause of this is the clown fish possiblly because I notice they pick at the polyps, especially when they have food in their mouth. Is there any suggestion to how I can feed my blasto without my clownfish taking thier food away? Also if there is something I can do to prevent their skin from residing?

[blange3]

Slow and steady wins the race! Glad they are opening PITW!

JL, I feed my clowns first, then target feed the blastos while they are eating. I feed the clowns as far away as possible from the corals I am focusing on.

What are your water parameters and temp? How about a picture of the blasto and the receding polyps??

[paininthewrasse]

They're all open and doing great.. Must have been to close to the favia..

[blange3]

Glad it worked out!

[paininthewrasse]

thanks bill..

here is a photo of it all opened up

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/paininthewrasse/102_5912.jpg

[blange3]

Cool!

Do you target feed? I would start feeding it 2x a week with chopped mysis and cyclopeeze and watch those little suckers pudge out!!

[paininthewrasse]

I have not target fed these guys yet.. i was planning on it though.. Because of the amount of them and everything I was thinking of doing it like I used to do my sun coral.. I put a cup over them w/ a hole in the top and squirt in the food.. otherwise my fish and shrimp steal it all