SPS_Addiction
New member
Great looking Macro shots. Can we see full colony and full tank shots? how many of them have changed colors since being farmed from the wild? if they did change colors, they still look great.
I love wild acros! Here is the proof...
- Thread starter Piper27
- Start date
Piper27
I love bengals
Well every tank is different and needs different things to have success. So I don't have specific tips. But I normally let the colony or frag sit in a lower light area of the tank until it changes color or "browns" if you will. I will leave it there after it changes until it starts to look healthy. The skin of the acro normally is my indicator. Once its done that I will place it where I want it in the tank and in the correct light and flow that the sub species generally likes. Every piece is different so some will take a few months to start growing well and some years. I have one frag I got from someone who had great success with it, but mine hasn't grown at all for about two years! The hardest thing but best thing is to keep the piece unmoved and untouched. Moving stuff around has generally not helped me if an acro is not coloring up, time is what most of mine needed.
Also I attribute the amount of food I feed as one major factor in how the acros look. I have tons of fish and a number of tanks connected to this system with a pretty tall skimmer. Feeding as much as possible while keeping nutrients in check gives me good results. I like to run very high flow and high light as well. The high flow is another thing that keeps certain wild pieces happy. Plus it makes my acros look more natural and tightly clustered branches. So I don't have to trim the tank as much. Plus I can't stand to see acros with skinny and thin branches that grew that way because of lack of flow and good light. To me it looks un natural.
Thanks! I don't think you need to be on top of your game to keep wild acros. More like you need to be on top of your game to have great colors on your wild acros
Glad you are just a few minutes away from me
I am glad too, its nice to have someone close by that shares the passion for sps. I am glad they are growing well, hopefully you can get the old tabling shortcake to grow like I did in the 210.
I know how that goes! I have one in our ZOA tank hiding under the rocks. Let me see if I can find a pic of the one we pulled out of another tank on this system. Thanks for the kind words, I think your tank is stunning as well!
Man I love that tricolor
Did you get the little blighter Biggles?:lol:
Thanks! I love the tricolor as well. They look amazing under the right conditions.
Most have changed color or shifted color. The Aussie rainbow thing was greenish tan when I got a hold of it, as were most of the Aussie frags. Most of the stores around here get big colonies from there and out a huge price tag on them. Then they start to die or don't sell so that's when I have snatched most of mine up. Never had enough money to buy nice stuff so I had to get things and hope they turned out looking good. Where the colony is from, how well it was shipped or kept at the storefront and what species it is normally dictates what kind of change it goes through.
Its coming, I have to get it taken before I change to the new tank at the beginning of the year. I am getting a rimless 3' by 24" wide by 19" high tank on the 20th. I want to put a external overflow on the new one but haven't decided if it will work the way i want it to by drilling the side. Its just a standard tank so I have to decide on that soon. I can't wait for the extra little bit of space, the tank is packed, and the fish will be at least somewhat happier.
trueblackpercula
New member
Ouch !!!! What will you do with it?
reefmutt
Active member
beautiful shots and nice acros!
the tricolor is so rich in color and that pink is a beaut as well.. so is the yellow...and...
all nice!
you know, you'll have to give us the whole system breakdown no.. along with parameters..
oh and that fts is a must!
although wild acros are often 'cleaner' than frags or mari corals, pests do come on them from time to time.. what is your technique for identifying and dealing with them in qt?
oh, and is your qt a completely separate system, or just separate tank which is connected to the main system?
the tricolor is so rich in color and that pink is a beaut as well.. so is the yellow...and...
all nice!
you know, you'll have to give us the whole system breakdown no.. along with parameters..
oh and that fts is a must!
although wild acros are often 'cleaner' than frags or mari corals, pests do come on them from time to time.. what is your technique for identifying and dealing with them in qt?
oh, and is your qt a completely separate system, or just separate tank which is connected to the main system?
sh8g8delik
New member
Beautiful corals! I hope ill have good luck with these awesome corals. Whenever you get the chance can you share your steps on picking out the healthy corals, acclimation, and Qting them? I want to adopt a good method so i can someday have a beautiful tank like many on here.
Piper27
I love bengals
It was dead when we found it. We knew it was in there but it must have hitched a ride on a rock into a tank we don't feed much.
Thanks man, I will let you know but it will be a while til it grows out.
I have seen more pests on mariculture than wilds. I use a jewelers loop to inspect acros for issues. I have used both a separate qt tank and used tanks connected to my system for qt. I prefer to use a separate qt when collecting more than one acro at a time. I have also had luck using tanks that are at least two tanks down the line from my display but normally only have one coral to watch and always make sure its from a good source when I do this. Some say its not a true qt but it works for me. Especially given the amount of time a new aefw that may drift off into current lives I don't worry about it. I am always prepared to deal with pests and don't worry about them, that tends to ruin the whole reefing experience for me. Me and my fiance have a lot of experience dealing with aefw and other pests from working at local fish stores and helping other reefers, but we learned from our own experience with a few pests.
I will let you know when the time comes. Cross your fingers that it grows quick!
Picking healthy wild corals is easy once you understand the signs that the coral is giving you. Generally browned out corals have been sitting in the wrong light or high nutrients for a number of weeks. As long as the polyps are out, there is no stn or rtn at all, and the flesh looks thick and not thin and sunken in its normally a good coral to buy for a good deal if they are in a clearance. Given they are not brown from stress of pests, this has been the case with a few LFS around here many of times. Brown corals generally color up quick with good light and water and flow because they have already shifted colors. Pale, stressed, or bleached corals are harder and take longer to get acclimated and colored up. Having a good eye and learning the signs that pests are present is a good trick to learn.
A lot of maricultures fool people into thinking they are going to hold their colors. Yellows turn to greens almost everytime. Pinks change to reds or similar shades and so on. I have bought a red cardus looking acro that looked like a mariculture red dragon and it is now bright blue almost purple but gets a reddish color in the base and such. It rtned randomly a while back and I saved a frag thankfully. Buying light or pastel colored thick clustered tabling corals is a no go for me personally. Things like hyanthicus and similar corals. Anything pale or whitish looking from shipping stress should be left at the store until it starts to regain its color. Unless its an amazing deal and you have a nice stable system it could be worth a shot, but I don't like to bring in corals that are risky.
To qt corals properly you should learn the life cycle of all pests that could potentially be on the coral. Everyone has their own preference on holding time and procedure but it can be done a number of ways, some more certain than others. Figure out what fits your tanks needs, your needs, your wants and time schedual. Again this process is supposed to be part of the hobby and should be fun
. As long as your active in trying to keep a clean tank you will have a much better reefing experience as well. Love that saw.... And your fiancé.
Don't worry I'm married..... But I might like your fiancé more..
I could never get a saw.
She is great, she just brought home a nako fairy wrasse
. I also went to a buddies store and he ordered two of the corals I have always wanted. A tricolor Millie and a blue tip humulis, its more white than blue but either way is beautiful!The saw is going to come in handy when we have to aquascape our zoanthid tank. Ugh, that's going to be a lot of work but needs to be done. Tall tanks are a pain.
Do you have a full picture of the Abrolhosensis? And do you really think it is this coral?
Nice pieces for sure.
https://www.google.com/search?q=abr...ml%3Fcid%3D148%26step%3D4%26pid%3D441;392;367
Nice pieces for sure.
https://www.google.com/search?q=abr...ml%3Fcid%3D148%26step%3D4%26pid%3D441;392;367
stevenc1187
New member
Very nice acro collection. What is the name of the yellow one ?
Piper27
I love bengals
Yup its just a macro of the tip. Its similar to the green one melves reef posted on that list. The coral gets blasted by flow from both sides so the tips up high are growing funny and clustered. I got this from a friend who moved away. I needed a center piece in the tank. It was in rough shape when I got it. And I have another similar one from my buddy that's in rough shape still. Both were from tanks that were not taken care of parameter wise. The reddish one with green tips is really ****ed because it was in water that was reading 40ppt! That was making a few of his corals look really weird growth wise. Along with other things. It should come around soon and start growing. That one I was eyeing when a new shipment came in and I got to the store right after he did, and I saw what he was holding and said "Man that's mine!". He didn't let go that time but its mine now he he... I basically saved it and a few others from his tank that was leaking from a seam. Two were wilds and one was a blue tort that I can't seem to find wild or mariculture anymore so I picked it up knowing I need some true blue and love torts.
Its a wild frag so it doesn't have a name. What would you name it?
I do name some of the wild stuff I have had for a while if people like them enough where its always being fragged. That way its easy for me to know who has my pieces.m.adamschwartz
New member
Very nice collection! The tri-color is incredible!
Piper27
I love bengals
Thanks man, it has been turned out great. That's why I collect Mari and wild corals. Most turn out beautiful with a little love The only aquacultures I have are a couple nice frags I have always wanted like, poisedon tort, punisher, Aussie gold, mother of pearl and a rainbow hyanthicus. Got them all from CC in one order (we have ordered ZOA's multiple times with big orders) and didn't get one freebie... Only time was the first purchase from what I remember. In my opinion if you spend around a grand in a few frags you should get at least one very nice freebie. So twice in a row with nothing thrown in pushed my buttons
The only aquacultures I have are a couple nice frags I have always wanted like, poisedon tort, punisher, Aussie gold, mother of pearl and a rainbow hyanthicus. Got them all from CC in one order (we have ordered ZOA's multiple times with big orders) and didn't get one freebie... Only time was the first purchase from what I remember. In my opinion if you spend around a grand in a few frags you should get at least one very nice freebie. So twice in a row with nothing thrown in pushed my buttons
