ClownReef®
Bubbletrousing
Hardy corals?...A. sarmentosa's are VERY hardy IMO..and Very cool too..They grow "table-ish" and are usually multicolored..I have one green, pink and orange tips..
The most hardy SPS frag's out there
- Thread starter acropora213
- Start date
kmagyar
In Memoriam
Montis and poccis are among the easiest to keep of sps, especially when they are aquired from captive colonies. Acropora yongie is one of the better acroporas notorious for fast growth but It does need good flow and light. There are plenty of other acroporas that are hardy, just try to make sure that you get frags that do not have red acro bugs on them. Almost all of my colonies were captive grown frags from hobbiests.
Keith
Keith
acropora213
Tenured Stick Grower
Anyone have some idea's for the most " hairiest polyped sps " ??
I always see alot of A.Millipora's with gorgeous polyp extension.
I suppose it gives some more to look at when viewing.
Are their others that have that " Hairy " look ??
I always see alot of A.Millipora's with gorgeous polyp extension.
I suppose it gives some more to look at when viewing.
Are their others that have that " Hairy " look ??
acropora213
Tenured Stick Grower
YES !!! EXACTLY LIKE THAT... WOW
But that is the A. Miilipora correct ??
In my research those are the one's to have the largest polyps true ??
LOL ... looks like you could almost get arrested for havin that in your possession.
But that is the A. Miilipora correct ??
In my research those are the one's to have the largest polyps true ??
LOL ... looks like you could almost get arrested for havin that in your possession.
acropora213
Tenured Stick Grower
Well .... when cash comes my way again Keith , I'll order some frags from you.
Is it always necessary to feed these types of sps with a supplement like cyclop-eze ??
Is it always necessary to feed these types of sps with a supplement like cyclop-eze ??
acropora213
Tenured Stick Grower
Can you give me an idea of a good "small" feeding for the few frags I have. No need to overfeed a tank thats not fully stocked, so im wondering if there's a target feeding method, and what should I use ??
Thanx
Thanx
AWExotics
New member
frags
frags
Good to hear you are having some success.
I agree with alot the posts on here referring to Captive raised frags VS Wild raised. I try to use the terms:
Captive Propagated: or CP : Meaning, grown in an artificial environment like and aquarium or some sort of propagation system. For a coral to be Truely Captive Propagation, the corals should have a considerable portion of new growth while in captivity.
Wild AquaCultured: or AC: Meanng.. Frags grown in the ocean. Usually fragged off the "Wild Reef," then grown at an off-reef location.
I would try to get True CP as much as possible. Unfortunately these are usually the smallest corals, but they are the hardiest by far. Some of the corals that I have date back 7 yrs in captivity. These corals are by far the hardiest SPS corals I have in my collection. They color the easiest in he broadest ranges of lighting parameters. Grow the fasest, and seem to be the last to show signs of stress if the water parameters fluctuate. For one, they are species that have proven to be kept in the stressful artificial environments we call aquariums. For two, they have adapted over the years in captivity to aquarium life. Long term CP corals can be entirely captive grown. Meaning every polyp in every corallite on the coral has never lived in the ocean. ORA is a large Captive propagation facility in Florida. You can find their corals at alot of LFS and Internet Fish Stores Nationwide. They are offering 5-6 differnet SPS species right now and are working with atleast 40 SPS Species which come available through out the year. They are also many reputable Interenet sites who deal in CP coral frags. Ask questions and people will steer you to sites that they trust is honest about what level of "CP" they are offering. CP corals have almost no burden on our coral reefs that are so threatened by our parasitic existence on this planet (haha) CP is the future of our hobby, and probably the only viable long term source for corals in the marine aquarium and needs all hobbyist support.
Some of the AC corals are avaialble from Fiji, Bali, Tonga, Indonesia, Australia, amongs other locations. They are great corals but are not much hardier than Wild collected corals. We simply cannot replicate the ocean in our reef tanks. Therefore, AC corals need a longer acclmation time, allowing them to adjust to our artificail ligting, Salt, parameters such as Kh, Ph, CA, nitrate, phosphate,. and current. AC corals are a huge advancement over the collection of wild corals. We simply cannot keep collecting corals off our reefs in large numbers. Not with the large amount of other stresses that are on coral reefs. AC is here now and should be supported.
Ok I am done ranting. =)
If you are asking for ideas on which species or Genera you should keep, tell us more about your aquarium. There are alot of Montipora, Pocillopora, Stylophora, Seriatapora, and even Acropora that are good hardy SPS corals for yor aquarium. It just depends upon you husbandry skills, and equipment.
Todd
frags
Good to hear you are having some success.
I agree with alot the posts on here referring to Captive raised frags VS Wild raised. I try to use the terms:
Captive Propagated: or CP : Meaning, grown in an artificial environment like and aquarium or some sort of propagation system. For a coral to be Truely Captive Propagation, the corals should have a considerable portion of new growth while in captivity.
Wild AquaCultured: or AC: Meanng.. Frags grown in the ocean. Usually fragged off the "Wild Reef," then grown at an off-reef location.
I would try to get True CP as much as possible. Unfortunately these are usually the smallest corals, but they are the hardiest by far. Some of the corals that I have date back 7 yrs in captivity. These corals are by far the hardiest SPS corals I have in my collection. They color the easiest in he broadest ranges of lighting parameters. Grow the fasest, and seem to be the last to show signs of stress if the water parameters fluctuate. For one, they are species that have proven to be kept in the stressful artificial environments we call aquariums. For two, they have adapted over the years in captivity to aquarium life. Long term CP corals can be entirely captive grown. Meaning every polyp in every corallite on the coral has never lived in the ocean. ORA is a large Captive propagation facility in Florida. You can find their corals at alot of LFS and Internet Fish Stores Nationwide. They are offering 5-6 differnet SPS species right now and are working with atleast 40 SPS Species which come available through out the year. They are also many reputable Interenet sites who deal in CP coral frags. Ask questions and people will steer you to sites that they trust is honest about what level of "CP" they are offering. CP corals have almost no burden on our coral reefs that are so threatened by our parasitic existence on this planet (haha) CP is the future of our hobby, and probably the only viable long term source for corals in the marine aquarium and needs all hobbyist support.
Some of the AC corals are avaialble from Fiji, Bali, Tonga, Indonesia, Australia, amongs other locations. They are great corals but are not much hardier than Wild collected corals. We simply cannot replicate the ocean in our reef tanks. Therefore, AC corals need a longer acclmation time, allowing them to adjust to our artificail ligting, Salt, parameters such as Kh, Ph, CA, nitrate, phosphate,. and current. AC corals are a huge advancement over the collection of wild corals. We simply cannot keep collecting corals off our reefs in large numbers. Not with the large amount of other stresses that are on coral reefs. AC is here now and should be supported.
Ok I am done ranting. =)
If you are asking for ideas on which species or Genera you should keep, tell us more about your aquarium. There are alot of Montipora, Pocillopora, Stylophora, Seriatapora, and even Acropora that are good hardy SPS corals for yor aquarium. It just depends upon you husbandry skills, and equipment.
Todd
acropora213
Tenured Stick Grower
Thanks Todd,
As far as the tank goes ~
Its a 75g AGA , with a 20g sump. Runnning an Iwaki pump on a "closed loop" I guess you would call it. With the back of the tank drilled, giving me a nice turn over rate. The sump houses an ASM G2 Skimmer and a Media reactor. Lighting is a 250w 10k Halide system, with 48" Actinic vho's.
The rock totals about 60 lbs. ,and has been matured for over a year now.
the Param's ~
pH - 8.3
No3 - 0
Po4- 0
Ca - 300 and back on the rise to 400
SG - 1.024
DKH - 10
So there we have it. All the info for the topic of Frags I can handle, with a grain of salt..... could'nt help it...no pun intended
As far as the tank goes ~
Its a 75g AGA , with a 20g sump. Runnning an Iwaki pump on a "closed loop" I guess you would call it. With the back of the tank drilled, giving me a nice turn over rate. The sump houses an ASM G2 Skimmer and a Media reactor. Lighting is a 250w 10k Halide system, with 48" Actinic vho's.
The rock totals about 60 lbs. ,and has been matured for over a year now.
the Param's ~
pH - 8.3
No3 - 0
Po4- 0
Ca - 300 and back on the rise to 400
SG - 1.024
DKH - 10
So there we have it. All the info for the topic of Frags I can handle, with a grain of salt..... could'nt help it...no pun intended
Greg Hiller
New member
I kind of like the polyp bailout that regularly occurs from Pocillipora damicornis in my tanks. The colonies start growing on power heads, walls, and plumbing and hide things naturally pretty quickly. I've usually found Pocillipora damicornis to be pretty weak when it comes to competing with other colonies, and it is plenty easy to smash up and kill if it's somewhere you don't want it (not like green star polyps, or zoathids, for example).
AWExotics
New member
is that 1 or 2 250 Watt MH in that system?
If it is two... I don't see a problem with any of the different SPS Genera in your system. Find sources for good CP frags from somoene that is trustworthy.
There are alot of people here on RC who ship and/ or can recommend someone to buy corals from. Ask around.
Acropora millepora: CP frags adjust easy to many differenet systems.
Acropora tenuis: Another easy to acclimate Acro. Long term Captive stock is available from many sources.
Acropora tortuosa Easy to keep. Solid blue up high. Heavily CP'ed
Acropora yongei: Green Bali Slimer: Perhaps one of the first Acro's to be kept and traded.
Many of the Monti's are long term CP as well. Start checking galleries and photos of corals to find some you like.
Pocillopora, Stylophora, and Seeriatapora should not be a problem either for you
Todd
If it is two... I don't see a problem with any of the different SPS Genera in your system. Find sources for good CP frags from somoene that is trustworthy.
There are alot of people here on RC who ship and/ or can recommend someone to buy corals from. Ask around.
Acropora millepora: CP frags adjust easy to many differenet systems.
Acropora tenuis: Another easy to acclimate Acro. Long term Captive stock is available from many sources.
Acropora tortuosa Easy to keep. Solid blue up high. Heavily CP'ed
Acropora yongei: Green Bali Slimer: Perhaps one of the first Acro's to be kept and traded.
Many of the Monti's are long term CP as well. Start checking galleries and photos of corals to find some you like.
Pocillopora, Stylophora, and Seeriatapora should not be a problem either for you
Todd
acropora213
Tenured Stick Grower
Thanks for the help Todd.
The lighting is one fixture. It is centered over the tank.
If 250w is great for a 2' x 2' area, then I would understand why two would be needed over my tank.
But , IMO , I would just keep the sps under the light, and not to the shaded sides ...correct ??
Or moving the Halide to one side , could give a cascading effect for higher light needs, to the lowest on the other end.
Its time to change my bulb anyways, It will power a 400 watt'er , if that were to help my cause ??
I really like the color temp , of the Blueline series.
~ Tony
The lighting is one fixture. It is centered over the tank.
If 250w is great for a 2' x 2' area, then I would understand why two would be needed over my tank.
But , IMO , I would just keep the sps under the light, and not to the shaded sides ...correct ??
Or moving the Halide to one side , could give a cascading effect for higher light needs, to the lowest on the other end.
Its time to change my bulb anyways, It will power a 400 watt'er , if that were to help my cause ??
I really like the color temp , of the Blueline series.
~ Tony
acropora213
Tenured Stick Grower
Any word on the thought of putting a 400w back in the fixture, instead of keeping it 250w.
Possibly to bright ?? I keep it about 12" off the surface.
Possibly to bright ?? I keep it about 12" off the surface.
acropora213
Tenured Stick Grower
Are you under the impression that most " CP's " are kept under 250w lighting around the 10k to 20k range.
I really think the lower wattage gives off a better color scheme.
Not to mention, the heat, and bleaching of random species.
So I suppose I just answered my own pole ...lol
Oh cool, this post will reach an access of One Thousand views by tonight !! Im such a dork, I tell ya. Hope some of this helps many as well as I.
That's what its all about.
I really think the lower wattage gives off a better color scheme.
Not to mention, the heat, and bleaching of random species.
So I suppose I just answered my own pole ...lol
Oh cool, this post will reach an access of One Thousand views by tonight !! Im such a dork, I tell ya. Hope some of this helps many as well as I.
That's what its all about.
AWExotics
New member
I personally do my CP under 150 DE and 250W.
Electricity costs are a huge factor for me. I have heard of some CP operations using an extremely large Watts per gallon.
I like the look of my prop systems. It seems like the same level of lighting there as in my show systems. Consistent stability
todd
Electricity costs are a huge factor for me. I have heard of some CP operations using an extremely large Watts per gallon.
I like the look of my prop systems. It seems like the same level of lighting there as in my show systems. Consistent stability
todd
