maricultured sps concerns, advice needed!!!

[keithrett]

I'm thinking of ordering some maricultured SPS pieces off of Diver's Den but I want some opinions first. I don't really have much experience with maricultured SPS and I'm worried about how they will do in my system.

System:
30 Gallons (1 year old) Mostly SPS with very few LPS
Aqua Illumination sol blue (75% white and 100% blue)
2x MP10w ES (reef crest)
GFO reactor
Biopellet reactor
Tunze 9002 skimmer
Fuge with chaeto
JBJ ATO
Weekly 5 gallon water changes using brightwell salt

Stocking:
Two clowns
cleaner shrimp
sixline wrasse
few clams
Feed tank twice a week

Parameters:
0 nitrates, ammonia, and phosphates
Ca: 450
Alk: 10
pH: night 7.9 and day 8.1
(B-Ionic two part dosing with dosing pumps)
Also using zeovit coral snow and xtra if it matters
All other parameters are within range

Concerns:
1) My sand bed is crowded (scolymias and maxi minis) so I won't be able to place them on the bottom and move them up for an acclimation process. Suggestions? Alternatives?

2) How sensitive are maricultured sps in general?
(day/night pH swings, etc)

3) Are maricultured SPS off of Diver's Den clean? (no red bugs, AEFW, etc)
(I dip all new corals in Revive but its always good to know what to expect)
3b) How well do maricultured SPS take the dip process?

Any other advice/tips/experience is appreciated

Thanks,
Keith

 

[Pallobi]

I am very interested in the same question as well as I am considering adding some of the ORA Marshall islands sps frags... they are maricultured as well

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

For me it's been hit or miss...they will likely come in brown and take some time to color back up IF they do. Maricultured are moody and some are gems and some never live up to their pics...if you have succeeded with aquaculture then try one, but don't go nuts and get 5 of them.

They are often large and are on heavy bases too where they were in the ocean. Make sure you dip them well before putting in your display.

 

[Alex T.]

Aside from the necessary quarantine and dip of all SPS corals, (especially maricultured corals that can harbor unwanted pests) I've noticed that people with parameters closest to natural seawater seem to do best in acclimating maricultured pieces. No science behind it...just an observation I've noticed over the last few months when seeing long term success of maricultured pieces in people's tanks.

I believe this is why carbon dosing and Zeovit proponents seem to do well with them. They keep their alkalinity at 7 - 8 and have no measurable nitrate or phosphate but feed heavily. Just my .02

 

[Ocean Hugger]

I have ordered many Mari. across off Divers Den and they have all survived besides one that i knew was going to be difficult to keep. I have had no problem with pest hitchhiking on them. i have also noticed that they don't lose their colors even when in high nutrient tanks like mine. Hope this advice helps.

 

[fcmatt]

for a 30 gallon tank? larger size coral pieces? that seems like overkill to me. i would stick with
frags.

this is just my opinion. you can get a wide array of awesome frags that will double in size
in just a short amount of time.

 

[keithrett]

for a 30 gallon tank? larger size coral pieces? that seems like overkill to me. i would stick with
frags.

this is just my opinion. you can get a wide array of awesome frags that will double in size
in just a short amount of time.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I only plan on getting a few larger pieces to fill some empty spaces in my tank in between the few colonies and frags throughout the tank. (probably like 2-3 of the 3"ish pieces) I really enjoy watching frags grow but the empty spots are really bugging me lol.