sps polyp extention

I've had a bakers dozen of assorted sps frags from ebay I bought off a guy (not a vendor) so I got a really good deal on some nice pieces.

Heres the story-when recieved about 2 1/2 months ago,they came in mostly browned/washed out.One rtn'd on me within the first day or so (i chalked it up to stress and shipping),never gave it another thought.

Since then,they have really,really colored up nicely (big improvement) but now,some have great pe,some have just ok pe,and some have none.The growth and coloring up tells me my water is good,params listed below.

I've played around with the flow (i have 4 ph's in a 65 plus a mag7 return,so flow is very good and chaotic),but a few acros and a couple other show nearly no or none at all pe.Others (sorry not good at sps names yet) look like little hairy bushes.I do know some sps show or have more pe than others.

What I have done-

tried moving flow around a bit-no difference

Adjusted my led's down on intensity a bit-no difference (i did slowly
acclimate for 2 weeks to the leds when I first received)

Stared at night with an led flashlight looking for pest,especially redbugs,finding nothing.Sometimes i'll see a little pe on the sps' in question at night,but still,not much.

Is this something I should be concerned about?They've been this way for a while and as mentioned,i've noticed growth and even better coloration.Overall,they look healthy.

Any suggestions sps keepers?Most of you that know me know that i'm not new to reefing,but sps is a new step for me and just need to know if i'm on the right track or if i'm missing something.

Tank specs-65g w 29g sump/fuge,euroreef skimmer,reefbreeders full spectrum leds,gfo reactor.Dose brs 2 part,brs mag as needed to stay around 1400.

SG-1.025
temp-80
am-0
trite-0
trates-5
phos-0
cal-440
alk-10
mag-1400

 

What does PE have to do with anything? You said you have good growth and color. Is there a reason you wish your corals were more hungry when the lights are on?

 

Btw, if that was cryptic, PE is a feeding response. In nature it tends to happen at night, not during the day, probably becasue there is less risk of predation and more food at night. It also has little correlation to health. A starving coral can show lots of PE while a healthy coral may not need more food, so, has little reason for PE. I guess seeing fuzzy corals makes us feel good, so, we (incorrectly) assume PE is a sign of health. If a coral has good color and is growing, it probably isn't. I think the only exception would be if the coral does not ever display PE, day or night, is not growing and/or does not have good color.

 

Funny way of putting it,but thats kinda the answer I was hoping for ,i'd still like to hear a few others opinions,but i'm thinking the same with their overall appearence.Just new to the dark side,lol,and looking for reassurance that things are going ok.Thanks m2434!

 

I was aware that pe is a feeding response,but unaware that it's not a sign of overall health of the coral,makes perfect sense.I do lightly feed the tank often,i've got a couple wrasses that look like puppies in a window if not fed a couple times a day,a mix of NLS pellets,ON flake,marine cuisine and mysis.

 

Agree with Matt on this one; if color and growth are good, then PE doesn't mean much.

 

It boils down to some corals will show PE and some will not.

If some are than it's all good.

We get wrapped up expecting the same appearance or behavior from all our corals or tank inhabitants. When they come from every corner of the earth it's seems too much to hope that they would all respond the same way, under the same conditions we provide for them.

I no longer sweat a little STN or decreased PE, nor do I start to move things around. Keeping sps is a gamble (as Steve put it), sometimes if parameter are consistent you are going to loose some, that is just the way it is.

If I do not have AEFW or worse I am a happy camper.

 

So should I be concerned if the polyps on my coral are almost always extended (or partially extended) for candy cane, favia, monti. cap., star polyps (even at night) and zoas (extend at night frequently) coral?

 

Do you have LED night lights running?

If GPS and Zoanthids are staying open at night in my experience a night light was on.

Many LPS and SPS show a stronger feeding response at night. In the wild many types of zooplankton are active only at night when they can avoid the diurnal predators. Corals tend to feed at night unless trained to feed during the day.

 

Thanks Hunter,i'm gaining my confidence,just taking me a few,lol,appreciate the input.

Hey Cheryl,yea as i've mentioned to you before,I expect to lose some as part of the learning curve,but they've been looking so well (except the one that fell into my frogspawn,lol,but I think it'll make it),that it just concerned me not seeing pe on some.

Yes i'm a guilty one of thinking that I guess they should all act the somewhat the same even knowing they have different types of polyp structures,I guess it comes from hearing or seeing pics of peoples awesome pe and that had me concerned from not seeing any on some.I think my question was 50/50 curiousity vs concern,seeing they all are looking good.

So we'll just keep on truckin and see how things go.Thank ya ma'am