Green Sinularia not extending polyps well, ideas?

[AstroCoral]

So I’ve had this green Sinularia for about 6 months now. I upgraded from a 0.25 gallon tank to a 3 gallon tank. All other corals are doing well (Stylo, frogspawn, mushrooms, and leptoseris). It used to have a much more purple undertone with better polyp extension, it also was growing very fast in the 0.25 gallon tank. I moved it down into the front corner of my new tank as it wasn’t doing well on the rocks. First picture is the current state, the second pictures was just before upgrading tanks. The only differences is that I’m attempting to keep my tank much cleaner + the lighting has changed significantly as I have gone from one quite actinic spectrum to an AI Prime that brings in more full spectrum white lighting in the middle of the day (spectrum changes throughout the day). It doesn’t seem to like the shifts in brightness throughout the day - corals have been acclimated to this lighting over a 30 day period with a 50% intensity reduction (only reaching less than 25% of AI Prime full intensity). The Sinularia becomes very shrunken at certain points in the day - PAR readings are around 66 in this corner. I don’t know what else to do, I moved it once and don’t desire to move it again unless someone believes it is getting too much full spectrum white lighting. I believe it is likely lighting or flow related (although flow seems moderate in this area), so I’m leaning towards lighting.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Mine shrink and expand through out the day. Sorta looks fine to me. It could be shedding

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I’ve had this green Sinularia for about 6 months now. I upgraded from a 0.25 gallon tank to a 3 gallon tank. All other corals are doing well (Stylo, frogspawn, mushrooms, and leptoseris). It used to have a much more purple undertone with better polyp extension, it also was growing very fast in the 0.25 gallon tank. I moved it down into the front corner of my new tank as it wasn’t doing well on the rocks. First picture is the current state, the second pictures was just before upgrading tanks. The only differences is that I’m attempting to keep my tank much cleaner + the lighting has changed significantly as I have gone from one quite actinic spectrum to an AI Prime that brings in more full spectrum white lighting in the middle of the day (spectrum changes throughout the day). It doesn’t seem to like the shifts in brightness throughout the day - corals have been acclimated to this lighting over a 30 day period with a 50% intensity reduction (only reaching less than 25% of AI Prime full intensity). The Sinularia becomes very shrunken at certain points in the day - PAR readings are around 66 in this corner. I don’t know what else to do, I moved it once and don’t desire to move it again unless someone believes it is getting too much full spectrum white lighting. I believe it is likely lighting or flow related (although flow seems moderate in this area), so I’m leaning towards lighting.

View attachment 3060067 View attachment 3060075

Often this happen when there is inadequate water flow and even light. Also assure phos has not become elevated but location best at mid tank. Overall does not look bad

 

[AstroCoral]

Often this happen when there is inadequate water flow and even light. Also assure phos has not become elevated but location best at mid tank. Overall does not look bad

Thank you for the input, I greatly appreciate it! I just realized I never tested the old light’s par output so I might go find that and see the comparison. I may need to relocate it again, I don’t want to push my luck with constantly stressing it with relocation.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

These guys want way more flow than people think. I've got a few cuts of it and my mother colony sits up in the very top of the rock work in high flow, med-high light and it outgrows the others by a mile.

 

[AstroCoral]

These guys want way more flow than people think. I've got a few cuts of it and my mother colony sits up in the very top of the rock work in high flow, med-high light and it outgrows the others by a mile.

I may need to place this higher on the rock for more flow and light, I just tested my old light compared to my current light settings on my AI prime. It was under 120 PAR in my old tank compared to its current 66 PAR location in my upgraded tank.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I may need to place this higher on the rock for more flow and light, I just tested my old light compared to my current light settings on my AI prime. It was under 120 PAR in my old tank compared to its current 66 PAR location in my upgraded tank.

Can your lights go any higher?

It is a small tank, but 66par at the sand bed won't be ideal for much. You may be able to get a lepto or blasto to live in that, but likely not thrive.

 

[AstroCoral]

Can your lights go any higher?

It is a small tank, but 66par at the sand bed won't be ideal for much. You may be able to get a lepto or blasto to live in that, but likely not thrive.

I can go much higher with my lighting, my frogspawn was not liking much lighting at first so I’ve been using the acclimation mode to slowly increase the lighting over the tank. My AI Prime is only running at around 15-20% of full power.