Hardy SPS

[aulepe]

I've had my mixed reef aquarium running for a couple of years now, with a variety of LPS (acanths, chalices, euphyllia, fungia) and palys doing well and am hoping to add some SPS. The catch is i'm running an LED system- relative PAR was a little higher than my old Hamilton T5 320 W total system but lower than halides.
I currently have a montipora hirisuta for the past couple of months that has shown good growth. What are some other "hardy" sps? I've also heard montipora digitata and capricornis as well as seriatopora are somewhat easy. Any suggestions as to particular acropora species?

Thanks!

 

[sjfishguy]

The ones you mentioned are good choices to start. Bali green slimer is one of the hardiest acros. I would see how you make out with the others first before venturing into acros

 

[Shadowramy]

Everyone seems to have "thier frag" they just can do, I can't do acans and chalices for some reason. For begining sps I would consider any of the thicketed birdnests, they typically do well (the ORA neon green is a great choice since it looks good and grows fast.) Also montipora digipora are pretty easy. If you want to try Acroporas then start off with some stags (slimer, steve elias, elysie, surf and turf, miami orchard) are all good choices.

Some people do well with monti caps and encrusting monti's, I would place caps as pretty easy but encrusting in the medium area.

 

[aulepe]

Thanks for the input. Assuming I'm successful with a couple of montis, and want to move onto the acropora species, is there a further gradation of difficulty- i.e. i've heard now a few times that Bali green slimers are on the "easier" side of the acro spectrum and that echinata are difficult, are the other stags mentioned (surf and turf, etc) on the "easier" side. What about tenuis, bottlebrush, torts? Or is it all just trial and error? :fish1:

 

[schoch79]

IME the brighter/fancier the colors the more difficult to keep generally. I know this doesn't neccesarily work for everything but its a pretty good rule of thumb.

 

[spsal23]

agreed with the above, try montiporas to start with