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View Full Version : Polyps not opening, bad sign?


Wrench
12/19/2006, 08:13 PM
This morning I woke up and noticed my yellow polyps were closed up tight. I thought they would open up after the lights came on but they stayed shut all day. The rest of my zoas are open, so is my hammer, GSP's and mushrooms. Is this a sign that something is wrong in the tank? I've only had corals in the tank for 2 weeks but up until now they've always been wide open and spreading fast. I haven't made any changes recently so I'm not sure what could have brought this on. Doesn't seem like a huge problem at the moment, but if there is something wrong I'd like to catch it before it escalates.

Params.:
Ammonia, 0
Nitrite, 0
Nitrate, 0
Temp, 80
SG 1.024
Phosphates 0
CA 450

Lighting is 2x96w PC, both actinic and 2x175w 10,000k MH although only one is on at a time. I am running a coralife skimmer and for current I have a rio 2100 return from my sump and 2 MJ 900's. The yellow polyps in question are near the bottom of the tank in moderate/high flow area.

jer77
12/19/2006, 08:18 PM
You may wanna check for sundial snails which might be eating at it. Or is anything stinging the zoo's?

Wrench
12/19/2006, 08:50 PM
Thanks, I appreciate the help even though it's coming from a Steelers fan ;)

What do sundial snails look like? I noticed a small white snail a couple nights ago that looked to have some green on the shell. It was in the middle of the tank near my GSP's. Wrote it off as a harmless hitch hiker. The zoa's seem to be ok, they're all wide open. The yellow polyps are the only ones affected.

alizarin
12/19/2006, 08:55 PM
If a large snail or hermit really bumps them allot while foraging around them I've seen yellow polyps stay closed for a day and a half - just this week for me in fact - must be a full moon ;-)

What's your pH by the way?

Wrench
12/19/2006, 08:57 PM
That may be the culprit. I just want to make sure they're not trying to tell me something. ;)

pH is 8.3
Alk is 3.5

alizarin
12/20/2006, 06:38 PM
Nope, those are about perfect ph and K IMHO. If it was me I'd try moving the rock somewhere out of the way just in case it was a frequent pass over by a critter. Also, look for anything super small that's on the coral that might be irritating it (never happened to me personally but I've heard people mention it). If you don't figure it out look at the bright side - they're yellow polyps, somebody'll give you some more if you ask ;-)

Wrench
12/20/2006, 09:10 PM
don't know what it was, they're open wide again tonight and a few new babies to boot. Thanks.

alizarin
12/21/2006, 05:41 PM
Awesome! Maybe it was the stress of birthing.