Hey guys I just wanted to get some opinions on some sps corals.

[Djames707]

I'm just trying to get a general idea on the care levels of different acros. For example would you consider staghorns to be easier or more difficult then millepora etc.

[stevedola]

Ive found that certain smooth skin corals like Red dragon, hawkins and ice fire are more difficult than others.Certain Torts can be finicky too. All the other millis, stags, tenius, yongei etc...are generally more accepting of slight swings in chemistry or water quality. Once you achieve a stable environment then most Acros are the same difficulty. Now lighting/flow are different story.

[ridetheducati]

All the corals are easy. Sustaining high quality water is challenging.

[cugly]

I would maintain the water quality first like stated above thats the hardest part. .once you have everything stable then you can keep things easy..but there's always gonna be some things that just donT adapt to captivity ..start with monti'$ and birdsnest very hardy ora stuff do really well also.

[Jettareefer]

+1 On water quality is very important. Monti Caps and digitatas are very forgiving.

[maikoa02]

Ive found that certain smooth skin corals like Red dragon, hawkins and ice fire are more difficult than others.Certain Torts can be finicky too. All the other millis, stags, tenius, yongei etc...are generally more accepting of slight swings in chemistry or water quality. Once you achieve a stable environment then most Acros are the same difficulty. Now lighting/flow are different story.

Well said.

[Djames707]

My water quality is pretty stable, this tank has been set up now for about 16 months, and I got 5 frags of different birdsnest that have all grown into some decent colonies and my T. Maxima is doing really good and has grown quite a bit. I think I'm ready to get some acros but wanna try to start off with some easier ones.

[Djames707]

That's kinda the reason I was asking, what acros did you guys start with first?

[Djames707]

By the way my tank is a 175 bowfront, with a 50g sump/fuge
Total flow is a 1700 g.p.h. return with 2 hydor 1100 1 hydor 800 1 sic 800
My light is 3 100w onyx rapid led and I'm about to add a small metal halide maybe 150w just because of the acros being more demanding of light. And I ordered a top off because I was reading acros cannot tolerate salinity swing as well as other corals.

[ridetheducati]

As stated above, any coral will work, just maintain high quality parameters. Then think about lighting and flow.

[ridetheducati]

Do you know what parameters require monitoring?

[zenom]

The main 3 are Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium. If you can keep those 3 in acceptable ranges daily or close to it, then you should be good to go.

Take it from me and don't try to jump in and use something like Kalkwasser if you are not ready yet. Make sure that your supplements are being used up, measure at what rate they are used, then start thinking about two part, kalkwasser etc.

Keep a journal, use an app, something, to mark down dates and amounts of dosing done and what the numbers are from your test kit.

Once at minimum your Top 3 are stable then you should be good to go.

[ridetheducati]

Add salinity, nitrates and phosphates to the list as parameters that require monitoring.

[Djames707]

The guy at LFS told me that its better to dose calcium, mag, strontium etc. using the dry powders rather then the liquids. He said something along the lines of they maintain consistent levels and don't swing as much. Is there any truth to that? One more quick question. I just bought a new tank because the plastic rim on my 175 bowfront just cracked 2 days ago, plus i was reading that if your tank is over 100 gallons its just safer to have an acrylic tank, but when I transfer everything to my new tank including a good portion of the water, I'm not going to have to treat it like its a new tank, right? Or am I gonna have to wait before getting some of these corals I mentioned earlier? By the way thanks for all the info guys.

[zenom]

I think you would see more large glass tanks than acrylic.

If you set it up with live sand , same rock etc you should probably be ok as the bioload would be the same. Definitely do it as slow as you can. So that things don't spike.


As far as liquids vs dry I see more people dosing dry, but mostly due to cost not consistency.

As with all elements do not dose unless you have a test kit for it.

[ridetheducati]

The guy at LFS told me that its better to dose calcium, mag, strontium etc.

To be clear, monitor the following parameters:


Salinity
Alkalinity
Magnesium
Calcium
Nitrates
Phosphates


Strontium and etc is not recommended.

[Oldude]

In my opinion Millepora is a very forgiving and easy to keep acro. So are some varieties of hyacinthus - ORA Red Planet for example is a very hardy & almost bullet proof acro that grows fast and is very forgiving in my experience.

When you consider many of these type of acros are out of the water at low tide for hours at a time in Fiji and like areas they have to be very hardy.

[stevedola]

buy the chems in bulk during a holiday discount sale online and it cuts down on the price of these additives. I buy my esv in 5g buckets and it lasts a very long time. I think it cost me 88 shipped last time. I would buy mag that way too if I had a large enough tank to warrant the storage and useage of the material. Im lucky if I use 1/2 gallon a year. My salt is high in Mag and I do them frequent enough that I find myself dosing once a mth (maybe twice).


as for resetting the 175g tank and all it inhabitants...you will need to allow for the tank to settle in after moving the sand and rock. You could get a mini cycle from disturbing the sandbed depending on how long youve had the tank set up. Test all of your levels before the move and if your nitrates/po4 are low then Id just have 20 gallons on hand(just in case and for top off) and run the existing tank water thru a filter sock to keep particles down. then let the tank settle for a few days and test your levels ( including ammonia)...see where youre at and go from there.

[Djames707]

Thanks guys I really appreciate all the info and advice. I'll post some pics later 2nite when its all done.

[GroktheCube]

That's kinda the reason I was asking, what acros did you guys start with first?

I'm still new to this. My tank is just under a year old.

The first acro I got was a kinda browned out A. millepora that had some distinct red in the polyps and distinct green on the corallites. It had no branches, was about 1" high, and had encrusted may 1/4" beyond its base onto the plug. It took about two weeks before it started growing like a weed, and coloring up big time. I've picked up a few other acros from LFS frag bins, tenuis, valida, and a few others that didn't look too delicate and that I hadn't heard specifically mentioned as difficult on the forums, and have had good luck with all of them.

I waited to buy Acros until I was sure that my alk, cal, and salinity were very stable.

[Djames707]

Tank pics

[Djames707]

Took a lil longer then expected

[Djames707]

So i got a red mille and a blue and green tenius. Has anyone had any experience with tenius

[Djames707]

Since my red mille has been doing so well i went ahead and placed an order with Unique Corals and ordered 4 pieces. I ordered a stylophora, pocillopora, an acropora multiacuta and a frag of the Ora borealis. The care for the multiacuta was listed as easy, has anyone had experience with it before? And what about the borealis? Is that one a really difficult? I've wanted to get a frag of that for a while now. I'm pretty sure I won't have any issues with the other 2 I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with the 2 acros and if so any advice they can give would be awesome. Thanks again for all the posts.

[brett7768]

if you are looking for easier to keep acros your best bet is to go with aquacultured stuff like ORA. they will be much hardier than wild frags

[roberto_lopes]

All the corals are easy. Sustaining high quality water is challenging.

+1

That's a well said phrase my friend

[Art13]

I know bulk reef supply carry's a kit i just got for dosing, nothing is automated but it is very simple, gives you three jugs, two measuring cups and two squirt nozzles. Enough supplies to make three gallons of additives for calc and alk each as well as 1 gallon of mag, also comes with three extra mag additive pouches that make 20 ounces each. I just picked it up a week ago, very cheap and a good start before you get to dosing pumps and automation. I just spread the dosing throughout the day.