My Acro Nursery

[Reefvet]

Very Nice Acro !

You're a perfect candidate for F.R.A.G this Saturday.

I guess my problem with Hanna was the clumsy powder pack. I just didnt like it and was never sure what was stuck inside the package. After being frustrated too many times, I decided on overkill and bought an EPA approved Colorimeter (SMART3) by LaMotte. It can test for everything you can think. Since using the Smart3, i have never had a reading of zero for anything. Its fun to use, but definitely not needed.

I'm with you on the Hanna reagents, pain in the ars. But a heck of a lot less than the LaMotte. I did notice that in your picture.

 

[maoiwowie]

FRAG? Havent heard of it. I guess if I find the time ill venture out to Simi. Its about an hour out of LA. My problem is I am literally running out of room. I have 25 or so frags coming from BattleCorals soon that should have been here already. We got unlucky and the frags got stuck in Indiana. Adam at BC is a standup guy and we are working on replacing those frags as soon as the weather gets better.

I see the vendor list has Jrpdriver selling frags. I have several from him including the Purple tip and Hawkins i posted earlier. I also have several from Garret's Acropolis, that Shades of Fall. His outdoor system is incredible. Ill try to post where I got my frags from in future posts so you can get idea about lineage and a picture of what to expect because most of my frags are from members here. In case anyone is wondering the Rainbow Gran, Upscalles, Purple Passion, Pearlberry, and Plum Crazy are from Yariel0527. That Toxic Green is another from FxdupCobra. The Red Dragon and some pretty no-names I posted are from Ivan Orsonio.

Yeah I originally was going to buy the one step up photometers from Hanna for the different tests reefers use, but once you add them up, it wasnt much cheaper than the Smart3. If you do some searching, you can find the Smart3 for much cheaper than suggested retail.

 

[maoiwowie]

The Boneyard... I have been posting all my most colorful frags, but everyone that keeps sps have a boneyard. If they tell you differently, they are floating on de nile. The boneyard is the resting place for all those frags that mysteriously RTNs or STNs... I have those too. I stopped trying to figure out why it happens, it just does. People post endlessly about perfect parameters and are manic about why some of their frags are wasting away. Well if your tank was truly balanced and there really wasnt a drastic change that happened, then let it go... it happens. Dont chase a few frags and screw with the balance. I find most losses occur within the first week of introduction, then a drop-off; but it can happen at anytime. My survival rate is about 80% overall. "Wild"(From chop shops) fresh cuts will obviously have a higher rate of death.

 

[alan.reef]

very true. all my sps frag growing well. out of no where overnite some :fun2:sps frag die completely!!

The Boneyard... I have been posting all my most colorful frags, but everyone that keeps sps have a boneyard. If they tell you differently, they are floating on de nile. The boneyard is the resting place for all those frags that mysteriously RTNs or STNs... I have those too. I stopped trying to figure out why it happens, it just does. People post endlessly about perfect parameters and are manic about why some of their frags are wasting away. Well if your tank was truly balanced and there really wasnt a drastic change that happened, then let it go... it happens. Dont chase a few frags and screw with the balance. I find most losses occur within the first week of introduction, then a drop-off; but it can happen at anytime. My survival rate is about 80% overall. "Wild"(From chop shops) fresh cuts will obviously have a higher rate of death.

 

[maoiwowie]

Alan... It happens to all of us that keep sps.

i want to share my experience with sps frags with STN. I used to be like many and chop them up to save them. I dont recall saving any to be honest. I cant argue with people that say it worked for them, but i do know that mysterious STN does not mean its a goner. I no longer chop them up, in fact i dont do a thing anymore. The following is a GARF Purple Bonsai i got from Garrets Acropolis back in March. This thing has been STN'ing since i got it. But as you can see from the pic, it stops and grows, then starts fresh again.

A. Florida (Garrets) - another example of STN that suddenly stops. This one clearly has started to reverse.

Oregon Tort (Garrets) - The STN decided to start mid frag... Then like the mystery of how it started, it stopped. Cant tell you why, but this is a slow grower and is recovering slowly.

Blue Halo (Yariel0527) - Ive had this frag since mid-march too. It has grown maybe 1/4 inch. It is just starting to color up now, but 4 months ago it also decided to STN mid frag. But now it stopped as well and is recovering.

Ive done nothing to address the STN in these frags except for patience.

 

[Crispy001]

These are some great pictures, what sort of camera gear are you using? Any post-processing?

 

[maoiwowie]

Thanks Crispy... I use a Sony A7 with a Macro lens on most shots. The camera has several settings and I struggle to get the white balance correct at times, but basically try to match my eyes with what I see on the camera screen. I shoot all the photos with all my lights on. I dont like the blue look that give corals an unnatural glow. Since all the corals are not permanently attached, I can position them anywhere, usually close to the top for overhead shots. With all the pumps off i dont need anything more to get focused shots.

 

[Dendros]

I have the same story when it comes to stn. I use to freak out and try fragging off the "healthy" chunk but I've realized that if it's gonna go it's gonna go. I have a few frags that have done the same and stopped the stn and turned into healthy frags. I've thought about why but it's got to be a parameter of some sort whether it be water, flow or light.

 

[maoiwowie]

This piece started to 'STN'. Then it looked like perhaps AEFW. But it turned out to be simply placed in direct flow of my Vortech.

After moving away from the Vortech, the piece quickly recovered.

 

[Redrosetuscan]

Great thread and interesting about the stn. It does just sometimes happen :mad2:

 

[maoiwowie]

I have bought over 100 kinds of frags from different reefers here over the course of 2014. I found a few to have red bugs, but none had AEFWs. I have only bought two maricultured pieces back in March when I first began collecting. They were from a sponsor here. I will never buy maricultured pieces again. Of the two pieces I purchased, one was found to have AEFW. I dipped this piece in Bayer and cut it from the base. Of course you become worried that they would spread. I was lucky as I just began collecting and didnt have many frags to begin with. I did not see any worms on the other frags either. Since taking care of this piece, i have not seen any evidence of AEFW since. It is my experience that acroporas will recover quickly when you remove the AEFWs. Bite marks will heal in a matter of days.

 

[maoiwowie]

Some corals will lay a big base. Some just dont. These were put in about the same time. Prostrata? (Coral Obsessions) February.

Blue Gomezi (Jrpdriver) March

 

[maoiwowie]

Another slow baser. Tyree Ponape Tort (Garrets) March 2014

 

[Macscale]

That's pretty cool!

 

[Torture]

that is an awesome collection!
I envy you so much right now!
I only have 2 acros and I am struggling to get them to color up.

 

[maoiwowie]

You need patience and any changes you make that improve color will be seen weeks if not months later. I still have a few frags from March that have not grown at all and are still brownish. Like this Pink lemonade (Yariel0527) that has only based in 8 months.

 

[maoiwowie]

But with patience you get these results.
GregC. Granulosa (Garrets Acropolis)

Exquisita 2 (Garrets Acropolis) You can see the new growth is colorful, while the center is still brownish.

PurpleStylo (Garrets Acropolis)

 

[njones]

That all is amazing!!

 

[pirate2876]

I think your reefing philosophy is spot on. Tank looks great.

 

[maoiwowie]

Thanks for the compliments! I used to pull my hair out over things because of unreasonable expectations due to ignorance and impatience. I have followed advice here simply because it sounded good or not followed advice because it was too much trouble. The newbie section is where we all start... and unfortunately many creatures are gonna perish because experience is gained through living, not reading. Tis life... Peace tonight, and always... Happy Holidays!