Can someone help me with acan behavior?

[Rpc07]

I have had an acan frag (3 main heads and about 3-4 smaller ones) in my tank about 3 weeks and it has opened everyday and contracted every night. Today I just got home from work and the moon lights were already on but my wife said the acan never opened up today. All I had time to check was my salinity which is normal at 1.025.

 

Some other points that may or may or may not matter I'm not sure.

 

- water change 3 days ago. Same salt and same procedure mix salt bring up to temp check and change.

- added a hammer frag 2 days ago but they are at least 8 inches apart and on different levels

- other corals are a torch which is on the opposite side of the tank and the mentioned hammer.

- both other corals are doing fine and open like normal.

 

Any help would be appreciated

[makingfilms]

Did anything/anyone bump them or handle them? One of my Acan colonies was pissed at me when I attached him to a new frag plug for like a week. another thought is that my acans sometimes close after I feed them for a bit. Not sure about staying closed for a whole day but I would only start to worry if they are still closed tomorrow as well. two days ago I got scared when My torch coral didn't open at all. Yesterday he was open first thing in the am and appeared fine. I also dose my pico with reef energy for coral growth which can go really well or really bad due to the small amounts of water and could be upsetting my corals

[ReeferBoo]

do you have a photo of the acan's current state? corals can be temperemental too and would not expand normally from time to time, mainly when pissed or getting rid of waste in their bodies. I wouldn't worry much if it maintains the same colour/no dead spots etc.

[Elizabeth94]

I have always found my acans to be temperamental at times. Usually once a month one of my acans throws a hissy fit for a few days. If it looks bad give it an iodine dip, it really works well. I have a whole bottle at hand all the time just incase.

[Rpc07]

I turned the lights on quick and snapped a few pics.

 

 

 

You can see the new heads growing in the second pic.

[jack1978]

Looks totally fine. They'll do that every once in a while. Normal.

[Rpc07]

Looks totally fine. They'll do that every once in a while. Normal.

Cool thanks. I spot feed them 1-2 times per week and have seen them wrap around food so to speak. This was different and it's my first reef tank so everything new gets me searching online.

[Rpc07]

So how long is to long for them to be closed? It's the same deal today. When should I worry?

 

 

Here is an updated pic they seem even more shriveled today. And the only thing I can see is the protrusion on the left side, is that a new head forming?

[Rehype]

So how long is to long for them to be closed? It's the same deal today. When should I worry?

 

Some of my colonies do that every once in a while... ive seen them retract that for a couple of days but they always fluff back up eventually.

[Rpc07]

Ok so don't panic yet. Thank you

[dandelion]

Mine did that to me a couple weeks ago too. Color looks good so it should be fine.

[Rpc07]

So I was home from work today and was watching the tank while drinking my morning coffee like I usually do on my days off and found out why my acan was closed up.

 

I saw my coral beauty nipping at it. So I spent an hour removing rock and netting the fish. Brought it back to the lfs. By the time I was back home the acans were fully open.

[Rehype]

So I was home from work today and was watching the tank while drinking my morning coffee like I usually do on my days off and found out why my acan was closed up.

 

I saw my coral beauty nipping at it. So I spent an hour removing rock and netting the fish. Brought it back to the lfs. By the time I was back home the acans were fully open.

 

You failed you to mention you had an angelfish. They are notorious coral nippers..

[Rpc07]

 

You failed you to mention you had an angelfish. They are notorious coral nippers..

Over sight on my part. The first month the beauty was in there it never even looked at any corals. Once I had a day off work I witnessed what was going on.

[Rehype]

Over sight on my part. The first month the beauty was in there it never even looked at any corals. Once I had a day off work I witnessed what was going on.

No worries.. unfortunately with angelfish it's not a matter of if they will nip at corals it's a matter of when and what species they decide to go after.

[Rpc07]

I took the coral beauty back to the lfs and brought home a fairy wrasse. It's still hiding but I figure it will take a day or so to get comfortable in its new surroundings. It did take some flake and pellet food about 4 hours after being in the tank so that made me happy

[Urchinhead]

Yep. The angel is what did it. If you feed those acan heads 3-4 times a week you should get 2-3 heads growing a month. I would use Salifert pellets to feed mine. They would grow like weeds. So much so I had to stop feeding.

[Rpc07]

Yeah the angel has been out of the tank a few days and the acan is fully open again. I'll start feeding them more per week.