Acro's

[evh5150]

Which Acro's should be avoided? And what are some of the best ones to keep?

 

[Allmost]

I usually avoid the ugly ones, or dead ones. and keep the ones I like.

are you asking with regards to difficulty to keep ? growth rate ? light demand flow demand ? or .. ?

 

[Steve Wright2]

If your new at SPS

I would avoid any wild colonies at this stage
and go with the ones you like but as frags on frag plugs or small rocks etc

select corals that have shown some encrusting on the plug as these are obviously growing

avoid any with visible injuries or damage
avoid any with algae growing on them (OK if it is only on the rock or the plug)
avoid any that have bare areas around the base of the coral if you can see the skeleton and your new to the hobby, not worth taking a chance IMO

Steve

 

[evh5150]

Yes I meant that are to hard to care for, And which are the best for beginners

 

[Allmost]

start with Monti caps and montiopora digitata.

another good starting SPS is pocilopora. little mor forgiving.

birdsnest is up there as well.

the smooth skinned acros are the hardest to keep happy.

 

[evh5150]

Right now I have an orange monti cap, pinkish red monti digitata, And 1 green millepora, and 1 bright green tenuis, and 1 blue tenuis coming monday.

 

[Allmost]

millies can tell you alot about your tank, if its happy with good PE, then your good to try almost any SPS.

 

[evh5150]

oh yes it looks amazing. but i would imagine some species should be kept away from. what does encrusting monti actually do?

 

[Allmost]

ok I get what you mean now ... you want the list of species that would invade your tank ... like Xenia or GSP ...

encrusting monties encrust around the rock they are on, or glass or ... they rarely shoot up. but I wouldnt worry too much about it, your monti cap is a FAST grower ! one of the fastest corals in growth terms and u can simply frag it back as they grow too much which can shade others.

 

[evh5150]

No I meant acropora has so many different species names. Are there some species to stay away from?

 

[Allmost]

in terms of what ?

 

[evh5150]

here is my new tenuis

 

[karsseboom]

looks like a very nice frag.

 

[evh5150]

Got it for free, so yes it is thanks

 

[Peter Eichler]

No I meant acropora has so many different species names. Are there some species to stay away from?

There isn't a big difference between the levels of hardiness in Acropora species. Stick with aquacultured frags and stay away from maricultured and wild colonies and you should be fine..

 

[evh5150]

Thank you