1 month after getting my first SPS

[dragonsong]

Bought this little tan pocillopora on a rock with some palys for $15 as a sort of test run and it's turned bright emerald green over the course of a month so I *THINK* it's pretty happy! I thought I would encounter some trouble keeping sps but so far so good. :fun2:

 

[adambom]

Congratulations! SPS can be frustrating sometimes, but also really rewarding when it goes well. I've got a little pocillopora frag in my tank that looks just like yours. It seems to grow slowly, but is otherwise quite happy. It seems to be a very forgiving SPS coral.

 

[Deftones2015]

Looks very nice! Good job!

 

[Ron Reefman]

My tri-color pocillopora is one of the fastest growing sps corals in my tank. I had to frag it some to keep it away from another coral it was killing. So I took a tiny 'Y' shaped frag that was only about 1/4" long, tied a fishing line around it and hung it 8" below the water surface off the tank's center brace. Now, 4 months later it's about 1 1/2" in diameter and has so many branches I can't count them all. And it's growing out 360 degrees in the shape of a ball.

 

[cincyjim]

That's pretty cool Ron. Can you post a pic of that, would love to see it?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Congrats, Yes pocillopora are pretty forgiving and beautiful to boot! I'll be adding one in the near future.

My tri-color pocillopora is one of the fastest growing sps corals in my tank. I had to frag it some to keep it away from another coral it was killing. So I took a tiny 'Y' shaped frag that was only about 1/4" long, tied a fishing line around it and hung it 8" below the water surface off the tank's center brace. Now, 4 months later it's about 1 1/2" in diameter and has so many branches I can't count them all. And it's growing out 360 degrees in the shape of a ball.

Now you know you have to show a picture of this one

 

[Ejazzle]

Congrats, Yes pocillopora are pretty forgiving and beautiful to boot! I'll be adding one in the near future.



Now you know you have to show a picture of this one

x2!

 

[dragonsong]

Congrats, Yes pocillopora are pretty forgiving and beautiful to boot! I'll be adding one in the near future.

Definitely!!! You can see it survived the hair algae NIGHTMARE if you look in the background of the first pic lol

I want to get some pink or purple versions and then maaaaybe move onto trying a birdsnest coral.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I don't want to hijack this thread from the OP, but here are some pics for cinyjim.

This the the pocillopora that was 1/4" long 'Y' at the start.



This is a close up.



At the same time I started a birdsnest frag that was also about 1/4' to 1/2" long and just a straight piece.



This just shows the plastic clips that old them to the glass center brace.

 

[cincyjim]

Now that is truly unique and awesome! How neat is that and not to mention that this is a very clever idea too Thanks for posting those.

 

[Ron Reefman]

It's similar to the way reef restoration guys are growing corals in the Keys for restocking reefs. That's where I got the idea and then Brian Green (a Florida coral grower) did it in one of his 30+ aquariums so I just had to try it. Last year I cut lose a birdsnest frag that had grown bigger than a softball and almost completely round except for a bit of flat on the bottom due to lack of light.

 

[dragonsong]

I don't want to hijack this thread from the OP, but here are some pics for cinyjim.

This the the pocillopora that was 1/4" long 'Y' at the start.



This is a close up.



At the same time I started a birdsnest frag that was also about 1/4' to 1/2" long and just a straight piece.



This just shows the plastic clips that old them to the glass center brace.

That looks neat! Don't worry about hijacking the thread, we are all here to talk about coral anyway

In celebration of my 1 month sps shenanigans, I bought this today for $40. It's about 3" wide and was labeled a "green birdsnest". Kinda crappy pic I took with my phone, plus the coral is still really upset about only being in the tank for 10 mins. I'll try to snap another when it's happier tomorrow.

In the store it was really puffy and bright teal with green tips. Hopefully it will fluff back out again soon. There was a tiny little crab living on it but I didn't notice and I guess acclimated too quickly and he passed after a few hours

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Dragonsong, that's a nice piece for sure. Looking forward to seeing it grow and expand the polyps.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Dragonsong, nice frag! It looks like it will be a nice addition to your tank.

I've had really good luck with the green variations of birdsnest and not so good luck with the couple of pink birdsnest I've tried.

BTW, I'm a big fan of dragons, so I have to ask, does the screen name have any special meaning?

 

[dragonsong]

Dragonsong, nice frag! It looks like it will be a nice addition to your tank.

I've had really good luck with the green variations of birdsnest and not so good luck with the couple of pink birdsnest I've tried.

BTW, I'm a big fan of dragons, so I have to ask, does the screen name have any special meaning?

I'm on the hunt for a pink one still, the only ones I've seen around here so far are sort of tan-pink and I want one of the crazy bright colored ones! It was pure luck finding such a nice green without resorting to online shopping :spin1: My end goal is to eventually obtain the bird of paradise variant, that one is probably my favorite of them all.

No new coral pics today because I annoyed all of the invertebrates again while upgrading the filter and the tiny polyps are still hiding.

The really short answer to your question is I started drawing dragons when I was about 6 years old and never really stopped. I also sort of really like music :lol2: There you have it! I will attach a few doodles, but note that some of them are unfinished

 

[Ron Reefman]

Nice art work. I really like the one with the red edging on the scales and the last portrait.

I'm always envious of people who can draw or paint. I have a few dragon items around the house. My wife even made a helmet bag for me with fabric that has dragons. A few of the guys I auto-cross with have made comments as there is a road near Deals Gap, North Carolina called the Tail of the Dragon that is supposed to be great fun to drive in a sports car. I haven't done it yet, but it's on my bucket list!

 

[jrp1588]

Looks like good growth for a month. Once SPS are happy, they really start growing fast. This is my bird of paradise birdsnest, one of my best growers.

Growth in my tank pretty much stalled for 6 months due to a Dinoflagellate outbreak. In about 3 months since getting things back in line, it went from a twiggy looking thing with maybe 3 branches to a baseball sized bush.

 

[dragonsong]

Nice art work. I really like the one with the red edging on the scales and the last portrait.

I'm always envious of people who can draw or paint. I have a few dragon items around the house. My wife even made a helmet bag for me with fabric that has dragons. A few of the guys I auto-cross with have made comments as there is a road near Deals Gap, North Carolina called the Tail of the Dragon that is supposed to be great fun to drive in a sports car. I haven't done it yet, but it's on my bucket list!

Thank you Got a couple knick knacks around here as well

Looks like good growth for a month. Once SPS are happy, they really start growing fast. This is my bird of paradise birdsnest, one of my best growers.

Growth in my tank pretty much stalled for 6 months due to a Dinoflagellate outbreak. In about 3 months since getting things back in line, it went from a twiggy looking thing with maybe 3 branches to a baseball sized bush.

Nice! The new coral has started to fluff out and its the exact color of blue & pink cotton candy but my good camera absolutely REFUSES to photograph it properly...but I tried. Also a new pic of the green pocillopora!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Just think about this. The bigger the coral is, the 'faster' it grows. Actually it doesn't grow faster, it grows more because there are more growing tips or edge, in the case of plate or encrusting corals, they grow more new coral. It seems like faster growth, but it's really more coral all growing at about the same rate. It's kind of an exponential growth rate. My 18" diameter Hollywood Stunner was growing bigger so fast I had to use a dremel with a flexible shaft and diamond cutting blade to cut it down small enough that I could get it out of the tank to frag it! The skeleton was more than 1" thick about 4" or 5" from the growing edges.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Ok Ron, we need a picture!