australian sps

[rlman41299]

how hard is it to take care of australian sps. i have a friend who has purchased a nice colony of australian acros and i am also tempted. but i have heard that australian sps are harder to keep than the ones coming from bali and figi. any input? thanks

[RyanAlan]

I have read that they tend to be more hardy than most other wild corals.

I don't own any so I could not know first hand, but just thought I would share my findings.

[dvanacker]

They seem to be hit and miss for me....just like any wild coral.

I managed to kill one echinata colony. I have one SSC frag that has nice color but little growth. I also bought a small SSC colony and it has not much color or growth. I bought two sarmentosa colonies. One STN'd a bit at first but now is doing great and is colorful. The second has never STN'd but the color is not as nice as when I purchased it.

My tank overall is doing great......

[Hookup]

I've a few in my tank, but in general I find coloring them the challenge. I've one that loves the current system... But two that don't...

Similar results in others tanks around here...


Quite honestly, if I can get stability for 3 months and there no color... They're going... But mu attention over the summer has been less than stellar.

[rlman41299]

i thought it was only me. i actually have 3 colonies of acros. two are doing good but the 3rd one looks like bleached and not coloring up. polyps extends at night but seems to not color up. also all my aussie frags have RTN and are all gone except for the colonies.



I've a few in my tank, but in general I find coloring them the challenge. I've one that loves the current system... But two that don't...

Similar results in others tanks around here...


Quite honestly, if I can get stability for 3 months and there no color... They're going... But mu attention over the summer has been less than stellar.

[sandhog]

I have two now,the first one I had is doing great.The second has bleached and now has started showing signs of coming back.I hope it will make it,but you never can tell.:)

[allsps40]

Both wild ausie frags I had both slowly died even in a healthy reef tank.

[stevejrnc]

I've had real good luck with the smaller colonies
has anyone else noticed less pest on aussi stuff
then others?
Wonder why

[n0rk]

Australian SPS are easy as to keep ;) it just depends where you are that skews it.

Above all else you've got to remember the timeframes involved when it comes to export from Australia - the closest point to mainland US will take 12-14 hours in the air to get there alone, then there's handling and inspection times so there is a really big amount of time involved. Providing they're held well and exported well (which they do tend to be), you should be fine.

If you're worried... perhaps try out a frag first and see how it does. If it does okay, think about colonies.

[acroholicreefer]

They seem to be hit and miss for me....just like any wild coral.



Same here. They all seem to never really get settled in too well in captivity.

[walvis]

I bought 2 - 1.5" frags and a 3.5" colony 4mnds ago
Both frags are doing great from the git go, however, the colony was struggling and finally now show some coloring.
My take is, when your dealing with wild corals, it may take longer to adjust versus aqua cultured specimens.

[gig]

I have a frag of a spathulata and a red tabling hyacinthus (very small frag) that are doing fine, now if only I could keep green birdsnests alive! lol....