Just bought my first LPS(es?)!

[Spork3245]

I'm a complete coral noob, my tank has been running for a little over 10 months now and I bought my first coral over the weekend, a zoa, and it's doing great. I also have a handful of mushrooms which came on my live rock. Besides the mushrooms my tank, up until the zoa, was FOWLR.
At the suggestion of some of the "New to Hobby" board members I went with some LPS to continue testing the waters with some "easier" corals.

Here's what I got:

The species is Australian Acanthastrea Acan Lord, they seemed to be going for $40+ on LA and other sites so I figured for $17...

I also got this Duncan coral (Duncanopsammia axifuga) from the same seller on ebay (extremely high seller rating) for $11.50

Offers combined over night FedEx shipping for $34 for first item + $2 for each additional so total for everything after shipping is ~$64.50

How'd I do guys?

Any advice for me with these two bad boys? Where would you recommend placement for each of these corals? How should I go about acclimating them and dipping them, also what dip(s) should I use?

PS: I just celebrated with a water change

 

[Spork3245]

Just got back from a LFS, picked up a small piece of LR (about 5.5lbs) to place the brain frag on, the more-expensive "home-grown" kind of LR without any worms/hitchhikers and encrusted in purple coralline algae. I left a small area "open" in my tank when I did my initial rock-work in case I ever decided to get something I wanted/needed to "isolate" from the rest of the "island". The area is about 9"x11". The closest living thing, besides fish who swim by, is a Hawaiian Feather Duster which is approximately 4-5 inches away from the LR piece I just put in, is this far enough away where no harm will come to it from the brain? I know I've read that they have long tentacles but I'm not exactly sure "how long" as everything I read says "several inches" which could mean anything

 

[Spork3245]

The rock's barely been in there for 45 minutes and my Diamond Goby is already tunneling under/around it :lolspin:

 

[CoralReeForrest]

Look great! Good price point for the most part, don't however get to let down if they don't color the same in your tank as in the pics as that seems to be a big complaint on eBay/ coral store sites. However all in all good pics! Make sure to place them lower in your tank to get used to your lighting for a few days. And then go do some reading on their requirements. I love my Duncan they are fun to feed. My acans are small and I don't have my great lights yet so they're just chilling on the bottom.

 

[Spork3245]

Guy/store I purchased from has a seller rating of 4602, a 5/5 for "item received as described" and only one negative review out of 3062 in the past 12 months so I'm HOPING they will look close-to the pictures but admittedly am staying cautiously optimistic

I've been reading up and watching vids on these two corals like crazy, I really hope I'm ready for them. I was under the impression that the Acan Lord brain needed to separate from other corals/inverts due to their "nocturnal predatory nature", is this untrue? Did I get an extra piece of LR for no reason?

 

[Russleary90642]

They look good . I have the same color acans. They do pack a punch but if you keep other corals 2 inches or so away and don't let anything fall on them they will be fine . Good luck!

 

[Spork3245]

They look good . I have the same color acans. They do pack a punch but if you keep other corals 2 inches or so away and don't let anything fall on them they will be fine . Good luck!

Awesome!
Maybe I'll save that piece of LR I bought for a more aggressive/dangerous coral then, like a war coral or something

Would you mind taking a pic of your Acan? I'd love to see what it looks like in a tank and not a "sellers photo"

 

[Edstewart5]

Awesome!

Maybe I'll save that piece of LR I bought for a more aggressive/dangerous coral then, like a war coral or something



Would you mind taking a pic of your Acan? I'd love to see what it looks like in a tank and not a "sellers photo"

I've got a Australian Rainbow Acan. It was an expensive little piece, but also like 12-13 polyps. It does great. I feed it mysis shrimp every other day, and it puffs up like crazy. I would agree to the keeping it 2" away, as they can and will attack other corals. I've had it maybe 2 weeks and can already see it growing. It's an awesome piece!

 

[Spork3245]

I've got a Australian Rainbow Acan. It was an expensive little piece, but also like 12-13 polyps. It does great. I feed it mysis shrimp every other day, and it puffs up like crazy. I would agree to the keeping it 2" away, as they can and will attack other corals. I've had it maybe 2 weeks and can already see it growing. It's an awesome piece!

That's a nice looking coral!

Would anyone be able to throw some LED advice my way for future LPS purchases? I made a thread on the equipment forum, here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2380625

 

[FernandoReef]

Wow man, those look GOOD!

 

[CoralReeForrest]

Go reefbreeders they are highly spoken of and are not super expensive. I'm getting a photon 48 ordered next week I can't wait! My lighting situation is not that great but everything is doing good so I'm not stressed.

 

[Spork3245]

Go reefbreeders they are highly spoken of and are not super expensive. I'm getting a photon 48 ordered next week I can't wait! My lighting situation is not that great but everything is doing good so I'm not stressed.

$500 is out of my current price range for the 48" fixture I would need, plus I already have a single Reefbrite so it feels like a waste to spend $500 on a replacement. My max budget is $350 ATM.

 

[CoralReeForrest]

$500 is out of my current price range for the 48" fixture I would need, plus I already have a single Reefbrite so it feels like a waste to spend $500 on a replacement. My max budget is $350 ATM.

Check out ocean revives or get two value fixtures they are 179!

 

[Mikey_B]

$500 is out of my current price range for the 48" fixture I would need, plus I already have a single Reefbrite so it feels like a waste to spend $500 on a replacement. My max budget is $350 ATM.

Or try and sell the reefbrite and use the money towards a light?

 

[Spork3245]

Or try and sell the reefbrite and use the money towards a light?

Then I'm left lightless until the other light arrives, which are currently on back order as it is. It's not like reefbrites are bad lights? I simply don't have $500 to spend on an LED fixture.

 

[CoralReeForrest]

Then I'm left lightless until the other light arrives, which are currently on back order as it is. It's not like reefbrites are bad lights? I simply don't have $500 to spend on an LED fixture.

Stick with what you have until you can get what you need don't go wasting money on other ones that aren't what you want.

 

[Spork3245]

If, theoretically, I were able to up my budget, would replacing the current reefbrite with a single 48" reef breeder photon series be *that* much better than having the two reefbrites? Enough to justify the additional $150+ in cost?

Are the reef breeders controllable? (ie: can I turn on just the blues at night? it's my one complaint about my current reefbrite )

 

[CoralReeForrest]

If, theoretically, I were able to up my budget, would replacing the current reefbrite with a single 48" reef breeder photon series be *that* much better than having the two reefbrites? Enough to justify the additional $150+ in cost?

Are the reef breeders controllable? (ie: can I turn on just the blues at night? it's my one complaint about my current reefbrite )

The photons are completely controllable, ramp up schedule programs, moonlites for at night, grow anything you want, strength adjustable, they're really an awesome light for the mildly expensive price. They're cheap compared to echo tech or the such. And work just as well to most people.