Fuzzy a. milleporas - Not sure what to make of it...

M

Modo

[These are two frags of A. millepora that I recieved from Nathan before he moved. Today I was over at Peterlin's and he had the frags of the same exact coral.

Peter's look like normal A. milleporas. Mine on the other hand look like a couple of "Sigmund the Sea Monsters".

What do you guys make of it? They are in a high flow area and directly under one of two 250w 10k Coralvue bulbs. The growth on these guys are fast and the color is great. But, I am just curious as to why the polyp extension is so great.]
 
[looks normal to me... milleporas are normally very fuzzy when healthy. you shouldn't normally see the "scales" on the branches during normal polyp extension.]



Edited By grim-bob on 1107057341
 
[I have two of his main colonies in my tank, and they are furry monsters.]
 
[wow

he spread that stuff around

I have both of those as well. That looks normal to me.]
 
[Okay, good!

Thanks for the replies. Here is my blue A. mille that just isn't as furry. This particuliar coral has the long polyp extension only on the shaded areas. It's very healthy and grows like a weed for an Acro. It has the more scaled look.

This is when I first got it. It's larger and much more fuzzy now. The two buds you can see are now about 1" branches and it has encrusted quite well. I'll snap a shot later and post it, but right now I've done some maintenance and the water is cloudy.]



Edited By Modo on 1107132813
 
[This is a good question, Mine are fuzzy.

I was over at Peters today and I can't say enough. That tank is beautiful.

Thanks for the frags Peter.]
 
[Thank you Ron, it was great to have your visit.

I don't know why my millepora is not as fuzzy. The polyps are out, but just not as 'furry'. The two frags I got from Nathan - the green one was not growing in the optimal condition until recently. Remember that I also lost couple of Nathan's acro frags. I say that my water condition is improved in the last week (due to me not buffering oceanic salt - and several times allow ALK to drop to 4 dkH). I'm testing Alkalinity almost daily to make sure that it does not drop below 8 dKH. Long term goal is still try to get this tank stablized - I really dislike dosing this and dosing that. Between my calcium reactor and nielson reactor - I did not expect to mess with the water except maybe once in a while add more Calcium due to the # of sps. Given that I recently switched to starboard, I am guessing that's the reason I'm having to readjust the water.

Most of my acros also don't extend the polyps during the day - I blame this on flame angel nipping on sps because at night acros do extend the polyps. And that's when I feed golden pearls once a week at night.]
 
[Peter the reason you are constantly having to dose is, you are running a calcium reactor and using OCEANIC salt. Do you have hqi bulbs over your tank? I wonder if that is the reason for the polyp extension?]



Edited By Rick on 1107154397
 
[Rick - can you give me more information on oceanic salt + calcium reactor? Or is there a good thread to read about this on RC?

I thought that if I buffer the new saltwater made with oceanic salt - I would be okay. The Nielson reactor (Picklelime) should bring up the PH and balance with Ca reactor.

The millepora are on the bottom of the tank - so they are not getting as much light.]
 
[The reason I mention hqi's is that Steve M. has them on his tank and he never has very long polyp extion on his tank either. Though his corals look good and have great color, they are just not very fuzzy. Just a thought, I could not remember what you have for lighting?
I am convinced that the calcium in Oceanic is way too high already especially for someone running a calcium reactor. Now if you had a tank full of sps and clams sucking up the calcium without a calcium reactor. You could do water changes every few weeks and I bet the alkalinity would be easier to keep in line. What is your calcium levels? I just now got mine down to 380-400 tonight after doing water changes the last 3 1/2 weeks using Instant Ocean. And now my alkalinity is staying around 10 dkh like it used to.
By the way Kurt I apologize for getting off track in your post.]



Edited By Rick on 1107156971
 
[Thanks Rick.

Yes, I'm using Aquaspace light, 2 x 250 hqi + 1 x 150 hqi.

My calcium was at 320 and ALK at 6.8 dkH yesterday. Both were low, but I only corrected ALK by adding washing soda + baking soda.

Today - I tested the ALK and it was at 9.7 dkH before I made 20% water change. I expect the Calcium to increase.]



Edited By peterlin on 1107157419
 
[Don't sweat it Rick. As long as someone benefits from the discussion how could I mind? :)

Peter,
The maroon/pink millepora I got from you is doing great. The polyps are out 24-7. The extension is about the same as the original pic you posted though. I'll let you know if it gets really fuzzy like the rest.]
 
[
Now if you had a tank full of sps and clams sucking up the calcium without a calcium reactor. You could do water changes every few weeks and I bet the alkalinity would be easier to keep in line said:
I'm doing this in a way. The only calcium supplementation I have is a Kalk in my topoff. If my Ca gets low its time for an Oceanic water change, tweak the Alk with some washing soda, and I'm back in line.]
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