so i have a question

[Montaquelaveist]

Why am i finding it sooooooooooo hard to keep Favias and Acans alive in my SPS tank i would think that they would flourish in such a setup here are my tank stats: you tell me what you guys think also tank been running for over a year.

Lights 2MH 14k 175watt, 3 super actinic blue, 1 6500k all are 80watt t5's
Ca- 460
Alk- bet. 7.8 - 8.4 ( trying to get it steady at 8.4 )
Mag. 1410
Temp steady 78 deg.
salinity 1.025
Nitrites 0
ammonia 0
phosphates 0
Nitrates 5-10ppm
Iodide 0.01
PH 8.40 @ the time i sent this thread
120gal. tank dual overflow

i would love to get some nice colorful favias to go along the bottom of the tank to add some color or even some nice acans

 

[jdnumis]

how is your flow? They need moderate flow.

And what is your livestock?

 

[rookie07]

Perhaps the sps release toxins that bother the acans? Ive always heard you cant keep both sps and lps.

 

[Montaquelaveist]

how is your flow? They need moderate flow.

And what is your livestock?

it varies depending on the location some areas have very low flow next to nothing and then some have high most of the moderate flow is towards the lower end of the tank and i have a hammer and GSP and then all SPS

 

[jdnumis]

is there anything in the tank that can nip at your corals?

 

[Arati]

To much light maybe

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Do they bleach or does the tissue just fall apart? If they are bleached it's too much light. Lot's of "reef safe" fish actually do eat fleshy corals. They can also be starving. Do you spot feed? I would say turn off all flow wait a little while then try to feed them with a syringe. If they are in very bad shape as in crumbling you can also try putting in sump with minimal light/animal interaction to try and bring it back.

 

[Montaquelaveist]

i think it may be a combo of all the above starving fish picking at them and light i know I've seen my flame angle pick at my clam until it just gave up and died but didn't think it would do that to the favia since i only seen there feeder tentacles at night and i don't spot feed i broadcast i turn off protein skimmer for about 15 minutes and broadcast the tank

 

[NewfiDog]

Acans tend to do well with low light, moderate flow. Bottom and partly under a shelf works well.

 

[gatojebv]

If everything else is in check most likely your water is to clean, sterile. Do your SPS look a little pale and not saturated in color? Then you need to feed more (be careful). I have been trying to to get a more sautared color in my corals by feeding more (twice a day) which is working nicely. As an added bonus any acans and zoa started to come back to life. In my tanks these were just merely surviving. I did not care much about that as I had only a couple of frags. Even some remnants of Xenia is coming back. I had not seen this in months.

 

[E.intheC]

Acans tend to do well with low light, moderate flow. Bottom and partly under a shelf works well.

This. I've found that acans don't do well with high light or high flow.
Fish picking is another definite possibility.

I would look at those two possibilities first.

 

[jdnumis]

I would definately consider the Flame Angel

i think it may be a combo of all the above starving fish picking at them and light i know I've seen my flame angle pick at my clam until it just gave up and died but didn't think it would do that to the favia since i only seen there feeder tentacles at night and i don't spot feed i broadcast i turn off protein skimmer for about 15 minutes and broadcast the tank

Just my experience, my Flame ate my acans and nipped at my favias as well, before he moved out

 

[KuyaMark]

If everything else is in check most likely your water is to clean, sterile. Do your SPS look a little pale and not saturated in color? Then you need to feed more (be careful). I have been trying to to get a more sautared color in my corals by feeding more (twice a day) which is working nicely. As an added bonus any acans and zoa started to come back to life. In my tanks these were just merely surviving. I did not care much about that as I had only a couple of frags. Even some remnants of Xenia is coming back. I had not seen this in months.

+1 feed your tank more and you will see them comeback