teach me about polyp extension

[Bblinks]

Check for flat worms and look for bite marks on the bonsai.

[apexifd]

Originally Posted by Nano

Also would a dip in coral rx kill flatworms? Or are they a little more resilient then that

I don't believe coral rx or revive kills them with 10min. but, it should stun them enough so they will loose grip of the surface that they are attached to.

However prolong dipping will kill them, and kills coral at the same time.

[PFoster]

Originally Posted by apexifd

I don't believe coral rx or revive kills them with 10min. but, it should stun them enough so they will loose grip of the surface that they are attached to.

However prolong dipping will kill them, and kills coral at the same time.

I use coral Rx Industrial to dip all our corals for 15 min when they come in and it works very well for us (it is stronger that the coral rx pro).

Dip in the coral Rx pro as opposed to reg strength imo.

There is a finite dipping point between strenght of dip and length of time and how harsh it is on the corals.
If the tip is too harsh or too long the corals will definately brown out (not an issue when they are brown already) or even die in some cases. If you dip a bunch of pieces and a few die, its usually the ones that had severe damage to begin with and the dip was just too much for them in their current state.

The only downside I have found to coral rx is that I find it doesnt do the best job at killing the evil crabs in sps and it does a great job at killing the good ones lol.

Bite marks are a sure sign something is attacking your sps. These are most easily seen on brown sps as small white circles near the bottom, at the intersection of the branches.
You can normally smell if something is bugging them, or I can anyways. When you take the coral out of the water in smells similar to when you have been fragging sps + the piece will be browned out often + no PE extention.

If you want to be really thorough then prep a dip of coral Rx + Interceptor.
Did once a week for three weeks.
If there is ANYTHING bad on your sps they will be gone for sure!
it will also kill any good acro crabs.

[Nano]

Lol very thorough thanks I'll check them all straight away when I get home

[globaldesigns]

You probably do not have any issues like flatworms, red bugs, etc. I myself don't have polyp extension during the day, but boy are they out in the dark. You have to remember that in the wild, many corals don't show much until darkness falls. So unless you are showing signs of stress or destruction, then I would not worry.

I know how you feel though, many beautiful tanks out there, with major polyp extension in daylight. I wish I could have that, but again in this hobby, the fact my corals are growing is good enough for me.

[reefgirl189]

Originally Posted by apexifd

I don't believe coral rx or revive kills them with 10min. but, it should stun them enough so they will loose grip of the surface that they are attached to.

However prolong dipping will kill them, and kills coral at the same time.

No, you're right, it doesn't kill them. I ended up buying some flatworm exit to get rid of mine.

Nano, I've got an extra dose if you need some.

[Jeff000]

If your corals are brown you need more light.

[Nano]

So no flatworms or eggs etc. I may crank up the light a bit this weekend when I have time. My big purple acro and green acro RTN'd on me through the move ugh.. lol this is life I guess but got the ato hooked up and an aquadoser so the tank is finally (kind of) high tech :P

[fishytime]

well, there is that.....maybe the tank just needs to settle a bit after the move before you will see better PE?

[gregzz4]

Kenny, when I bought my first SPS, I thought there was an issue too, but it took a couple days for them to calm down before I saw any PE
Plus, some that I have don't seem to extend much during the day as their polyps are quite short

If you'd like to check for PE, give your fish something frozen right before lights out, then watch for about a 1/2 hour after lights out
My corals close a bit when the lights turn on/off, then come back to normal, and I get crazy PE after lights out, even without a feeding

And if I overfeed during lights on, more crazy PE