Tuinaria not opening fully

[Rlumenator]

I bought a yellow cup coral about six days ago- the polyps are not showing good extension; is this normal??

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, as long as the rest of the tissue is not receiving and skeleton is shown, it is normal for it to have little polyps extension.

You may also want to take a look at it when the lights are out. Sometimes, it extends better at "night."

 

[Rlumenator]

Maybe I didn't explain this correctly- the polyps only extend out about 1/8 of an inch or so, and they're really TINY. not as pictured in photos in book. At the lfs it had just arrived, so it was closed. will the polyps get larger? Thank you.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't expect every one of my coral to be text-book perfect

Seriously, how much it opens up depends on the environment (water condition, etc.) and its mood (scientific term people use when they can't explain why Xenia does not pulse or polyp does not extends as well). There is a too much emphasis placed on attributes such as polyp extension, and it should not be something of concern unless the coral does not grow (cup/pagoda coral is a *very* slow grower!) or otherwise unhealthy.

The polyps can get pretty big, but did you check it out at night?

 

[Rlumenator]

I'll check the tubinaria tonight, I think it was closed at night.

 

[Rlumenator]

It wasn't open last night.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, maybe that's how it going to be unless you want to change things and see if you can get it to open up more without hurting anything... :?

Some may suggest to keep the nutrient as low as possible, other may want to play around with pH and alk. parameter. Some may say it has to do with light or phytoplankton feeding... but AFAIK, there is no sure way to tell you that's going to work all the time. I am going to say that as long as it is showing good health, don't concentrate too much on polyp extension.