how can you tell if acros are happy?

[pomme]

how can you tell if acros are happy?

hiya yah i am thinking of putting some acros into my tank but i have been wondering how you can tell if they are okay in there, as its easy with soft corals as they shrivel up or the polyps go away, but is this the same with acros?

if so could someone please show me a picture of this, and are all acros the same in this way?

thanx andrew

[gtrestoration]

Here is a picture of a Monti, not an Acro. But I think you can tell the degree of happiness much the same way.

Good extension and coloration, growth which your can see from week to week.

Steve U

[gtrestoration]

And another, close-up. Here you can almost see it smile its so darn happy. Though I have never seen more than one at a time.

Steve U

[pomme]

oh yeah i see i will make sure i look out for it when i get my acro?

[pomme]

are montes harder or easier then acros?

[gtrestoration]

pomme,

Though I talk and joke around in strange ways that maybe only I think are funny...you will see polyp extension in many SPS just as you do in many soft corals.

If you are able to see the coral before you purchase it you might be better equipped to know when it has changed it habits. Look closely at it at the LFS, preferably at a couple different times of day. This way you might know what to expect in your tank, though many times if it doesn't like your system you can't act fast enough to fix it, if you can even find out the cause.

I will normally only buy a coral which shows good extension at the LFS and one which shows somewhat darker coloration than I might prefer. My experience in buying light colored morphs is not good as they all seem to be on the decline (maybe bleached), and not just light colored. There has only been one exception to this and it ended up much darker in my tank after a couple of weeks anyway.

Steve U

[gtrestoration]

IMO, Monti's are easier.

Steve U

[EricHugo]

A feeding response is a good sign, polyp extension, fast growth - and a feel for the little guys. Because I can think of no other genus where it takes a real connection between the coral and the aquarist like Acropora.

[pomme]

cool ill go to some lfs and see if i can see the polyp extensions.

[MiddletonMark]

And I would say for SPS, always start with frags.

Not really that hard to get [ask around, go to a reef club meeting], much cheaper, you can find out it's previous captive conditions and how to tell if it's healthy ... and if these are your first SPS it's nice getting a frag [of a frag, of a frag, of a frag]. Multi-generational frags seem to be quite hardy.

Personally, I have all but 1 `fragged' SPS ... and don't see a reason to get a full/wild colony. I can get nearly any color morph in time I'd want ... can get questions answered ... if I trust the person [or get it for free] I know it's doing well ... and IMO any weird morph that I can't easily get a frag of now I will be able to when I have more `sps-sense'.

Six months into my tank, I realize that I can look at a couple of my monti's and almost `see' how the calcium level is that week, and tell by some acros how `happy' the tank is in general. Can't shuck upkeep ... but IMO one can get a feel of how things are `in there' that week.

As for first SPS to get ... go with Montipora. Branching [digitata] or plating/whorling [capricornis] ... grow fast, hardy, some nice color morphs [ORA blue digitata] ... and fast growing which is nice when you're just getting a feel.

Anyway, I type too fast, so talk too much.

[pomme]

no not at all very informative, i have found a place locally to me that sells montis and acro frags, so i amy go and get one of each and see how they do?

[eums]

this is a happy acro that has lost its color, see how the polyps are out http://members.aol.com/moraleislow/acro-fullspectrum.jpg

and this is the same acro a few weeks later once it has gotten its color out, it still has the same polyp extension, it just colored up.
http://members.aol.com/moraleislow/greenpink.jpg

i would get a frag, only one to start off with and see how it dose in your tank, after a few weeks and a little growth and no bleaching i would say its safe to add another one or 2 frags, but make sure to keep your water level as good as you can.

[pomme]

cool, yeah i will have a go with a frag and hope for the best:)