SPS frag packs and survival rate of small frags

[ccwbank]

Looking for thoughts, suggestions, experience on 2 following questions:

• How many frags can be introducted successfully into a new tank AT ONE TIME.
  
• Thoughts on purchasing/survival rate from vendors selling frags measuring 1 inch (2.5 cm) or smaller.

I ran across two interesting items so wanted to get feedback from the community.

eBay: SPS Frag Pack 30 Corals for $299.99 with FREE Shipping

Coral Magazine: (Scientifically) Smarter Frags Research suggests frags smaller than 1 inch and exposed to air have a survival rate around 13%. :eek1:

 

[RynosReef]

The most I've purchased and introduced at once was 15 frags. No losses. My understanding is that adding multiple sps frags is fine. Fish on the other hand need to be added more cautiously as they add waste to the water and your biofilter/ bacteria needs time to catch up. I would rather add sps in large groups instead of one a time as this lowers the chances of introducing pests into the tank. But always quarantine either way.

 

[Sun357]

Corals don't really add much of anything to a bioload from what I understand. I've added 5 at once in a small 14G.

I've had small frags grow out just fine. That low of a survival rate is a surprise to me but i'm sure they are more of an expert than I am. =D

~Fred

 

[allsps40]

I always add 1 or 2 hard sps like monti caps or birds nest as test corals, to a new tank. I will give them a few weeks and if they are doing fine then I start adding in more sps. Survival will depend on how well the corals ship, how established your tank is and your level of skill in caring for sps. So in short there is no way to tell you how many will survive, might be none might be all of them. I dont order frag packs because I like to see what I am getting and I normally only get 1-2 at a time.

 

[Donkeykong]

I have gotten several frag packs sps and Zoas, one had 25 sps frags. The only thing I lost was a small monti cap that fell in between rocks, I had so many new things to look at I lost track and didn't find it for a few days. But I also got the packs from a local grower so no shipping was needed, but the guy does run a website that ships packs all over and he said most times the only losses he sees are from things like mine.

 

[ccwbank]

All great info guys...appreciate the comments. :reading:

 

[franklypre]

There was a thread on another forum where a guy had a 29 I believe and after it cycled he filled it with SPS frags from a local reefer, it was interesting. Looked like pinhead, it was on one of the forums for nano tanks. I personally have added 30 or so frags and the only thing I'll say is make sure the plugs are cured, that many uncured frags can cause a little algae but other than that no big deal.