Fast growing but easy SPS

[i cant think]

Thanks for the help so far guys!! Loving the looks of some of the SPS recommended - I’ll definitely slowly go into the harder/more needy SPS.

 

[Jedi1199]

Totally disagree. What are you trying to say that sps are harder to grow than any other coral on a stable reef operating at fullest efficiency?
Im saying as long as par is mapped and params (temp,salt,ph,alk,cal,mag,n, p) and flow are locked in to greatest capability. Im not finding any sps harder to grow than my most picky shrooms lol. Its quite the contrary.

I never stated ANY of that!! In fact, I believe that my opinion is that "quality husbandry skills" outweigh whatever expensive automation devices are available.

Ever seen a post here about "My xxx doser dumped 4000x of x in my tank" I have.. Never seen that with a WC post.

You can proclaim and hold the banner all you like about automation till the cows come home and your tank crashes.

I honestly do feel like a fully automated tank full of sps would be easier

To tell someone that a fully automated tank is "easier" is ludacris at best and outright dangerous advice at worst.

 

[LRT]

I never stated ANY of that!! In fact, I believe that my opinion is that "quality husbandry skills" outweigh whatever expensive automation devices are available.

Ever seen a post here about "My xxx doser dumped 4000x of x in my tank" I have.. Never seen that with a WC post.

You can proclaim and hold the banner all you like about automation till the cows come home and your tank crashes.




To tell someone that a fully automated tank is "easier" is ludacris at best and outright dangerous advice at worst.

My bad Told yall lol
To be real I never said a fully automated system would be better. What I said is Ive never seen (A) sps I couldn't put in a fully automated system and totally blow up beyond fullest recognition in the greatest way
I probably should have mentioned that I dont own any kind of automated equipment and still test and dose daily by hand. Everyday.
The point i was trying to make is as long as ones tank is stable to greatest capability, par and flow are mapped and coral(ANY) are placed in healthy postion in tank. (Every) coral has sweet spot just have to find it?
What i was trying to say is dont be scared homies they pretty much grow themselves from here

 

[Jedi1199]

My bad Told yall lol
To be real I never said a fully automated system would be better. What I said is Ive never seen (A) sps I couldn't put in a fully automated system and totally blow up beyond fullest recognition in the greatest way
I probably should have mentioned that I dont own any kind of automated equipment and still test and dose daily by hand. Everyday.
The point i was trying to make is as long as ones tank is stable to greatest capability, par and flow are mapped and coral(ANY) are placed in healthy postion in tank. (Every) coral has sweet spot just have to find it?
What i was trying to say is dont be scared homies they pretty much grow themselves from here

OK.. so, I get where you are coming from. And, In my opinion, yes you are right, but you are also wrong.

We have all seen and read threads of magical tanks full of automation that thrive and are stunningly beautiful.

There are likewise plenty of examples of "old school" tanks that are equally beautiful that run on nothing more than diligent water changes and old fashioned hard work.

My whole point was that every tank is as individual as its owner. We all have different budgets, time constraints and ability to maintain a tank at any level.

I wish to teach people that the "rules" of the game are not concrete. What works for me, may not work for you. For example, the SPS I have in my tank are thriving. I rarely test my water. In fact, the last entry in my testing log is dated Dec 15th. Is this right? Would it work for you? Would you advise it? I wouldn't tell anyone to do what I do, even though it works for me.

It works in MY tank, but not necessarily yours. Follow me?

I want people to learn to experiment, within certain parameters, to learn for themselves what does and does not work in an aquarium.

Parroting information, or giving advice based on information that you have not gathered firsthand, is what leads to the majority of the issues we face in this hobby, ESPECIALLY when it comes to newbies.

This forum is a Godsend compared to what was available back in the 80's when I started aquarium keeping. So many people are directed here thanks to engines like Google and Bing, that it really presents us, as a group, an obligation to double our adherence to providing the best possible advice or quote our sources, lest we become nothing more than a vast group of pimple faced LFS employees telling people what sells merchandise.

 

[jda]

Late to the party, but nearly anything from ORA is a good choice. They are well chosen to do well in captivity and some have very long records of doing just that.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

@LRT is for sure right I'm a lover of both all it takes is one wild yuma coming in the tank and bring in a bacteria and spreading it through the tank if you're quick you can iodine dip but usually once the mouth grapes they're done and puke up guts


Theres nothing worse then buying a yuma colony seeing it start to shed tissues and get a brownish red spot start to puke up gut and shrink u dont think anything of it maybe u turn ur lights down and cut the flow a little


You wake up the next morning u smell an sweet earthy metallic after rain wormy then dead fish stench u see cloudy water all those mushrooms u just grew out nine months are puking up guts and now have bacterial infection

Even if you're not clean with propigation or if u use glue u can kill a mushie and spread a pathogen or bacteria to nearby mushrooms


Some mushrooms dont ship well either or are sensitive to change in light and will shrink or get white spot and puke out oral disc


What are you gonna do now it dosent even have a gaping mouth like a sick mush its mouths gone I've seen wild rhodactis do this and it's not fun

Now you gotta sit and watch them starve to death with your fingers crossed they grow a new oral disc outta silica in the water and form a new mouth

 

[UnderseaOddities]

@LRT is right if you're passionate about anything itcan be done easily alls he is trying to say it's not as easy growing mushies and zoas like everyone says on the internet


Most spa are easy as long as you keep up on water quality


Theres alot of risk involved in soft coral alot are wild or maricultured and passed of as something they're not because they're actually conditioned wild piece(been in captivity for a months and held by someone)

Then you have to face the consequence of left unchecked


With sps it's mostly buying quality aquacultured pieces, quality in quality out

If ur buying a frag with heavy handed glue job and your frags all hooped up on the bottom you got stuck with glueburn,

The main thing with sps is a quality supplier


Mushroom have more risk but a higher reward because the propigation output can be ridiculous if done correctly


While sps take longer to grow out and have phases first they grow then they'll looked ticked then they form a growth ring or bleach tips ten that becomes new growth and it gets a new color then you propagate then they're ticked then they regrow or die


But once they start growing they'll grow nicely for a while the stop then spread out then get a different color

 

[Chrisv.]

I’ve been looking at SPS for a while as a plan. I plan for the easier SPS but also would love to fill in some of the area rather quickly. I’m up for any slower/medium growth SPS though.

So far I have:
- Montipora spongoides
- Acropora cervicornis

I’m looking for some nice growth rate but easy SPS. I’d love a couple colonies of Cervicornis but so far all I have is an RD Joker. I love montipora aswell and would like a couple recommendations of good branching monti aswell as plating/encrusting.
Other coral I’ve looked at are:
- Seriatopora hystrix
- Pocillopora damicornis

The main colours I’m after are Oranges, Blues, Yellows, Reds. I have a lot of fluorescent greens but would love some other fluorescence. The oranges I have looked at from the cervicornis, same as the blues but other ideas are welcome!

Wait wait wait.... Are you sure you have Acropora cervicornis? Where on earth did you get that?

 

[UnderseaOddities]

@Chrisv. I think if u live in florida SeaWorld outta wwc old facility and coral morphological both sell or give away native florida coral I'm not sure but dont quote me on this certain coral like the cervicornis have a certain cap every year so seaworld and other divers in florida get like one week to collect where the usmc drill oil and leave behind massive sandstormsand kill reefs so divers in florida try to do their best every year to save x amount as possible and then keep x for mother colony's and replace x on new man made reefs or in the flower banks garden


But it has something to do with off shore drilling that's why they're allowed to collect certain piece with in a x amount sqft area

But I dont think they're allowed to sell certain species under lacey they have to be given away for free that's how they get around it

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Just like Caribbean inverts

And florida ricordea

Arent supposed to be harvested but still end up in our tanks somehow

 

[Hairyteeth]

Purple Stylopora

The fastest of growers right here

 

[UnderseaOddities]

I think ora even sells the cervicornis as another name Scripps green tip stag

But they may have got grandfathered in bc they've been in operation since the 90s

 

[Dave Cureton]

There are some nice varieties of Anacropora out there as well that are very hardy and grow like weeds.

 

[mdb_talon]

I'm probably going to get cancelled for saying this especially because I have a tank full of shrooms and only some sps but I honestly do feel like a fully automated tank full of sps would be easier as long as tank is stable and all params are locked and maintained with due diligence. Probably going to switch over soon Tbh

Lol cancelled!!!

Honestly in many ways i completely agree. I do find once the tank is dialed in and stable it can be less finicky that my acans for example. The big difference i find with sps is I find often you have mich less warning signs....it can go from seemingly happy and growing to stn/rtn without warning.

Think various types of coral can all be hard in their own way. Of course all coral is easy....until your parameters are all spot on and they still aint happy and start pulling your hair out trying to figure it out.....which i think most people in the hobby long enough eventually find themselves in that spot at times.

 

[encrustingacro]

I think ora even sells the cervicornis as another name Scripps green tip stag

But they may have got grandfathered in bc they've been in operation since the 90s

I don't think the Scripps green tip stag is an acropora cervicornis. Reef Builders says it's an acropora microphthalma.
Also, what is getting grandfathered in mean?

 

[i cant think]

Wait wait wait.... Are you sure you have Acropora cervicornis? Where on earth did you get that?

From what I’ve read - Yes.
I could be wrong though, it’s definitely a Staghorn and from what I’ve read only cervicornis is known as the Staghorn. The bits of “bleaching” are because of a blenny.

 

[Chrisv.]

From what I’ve read - Yes.
I could be wrong though, it’s definitely a Staghorn and from what I’ve read only cervicornis is known as the Staghorn. The bits of “bleaching” are because of a blenny.

Ah... A. cervicornis is one of many (dozens to hundreds) of species acropora with a staghorn growth pattern (just like A. millipora is only one of the table forming acros).

A. cervicornis is a critically endangered coral from the tropical west Atlantic and Caribbean. At least in America, it's super duper illegal to own.

It's not likely that you have some unless you collected it and smuggled it out, got it from someone who collected and smuggled it out, or got it from someone who misappropriated it from a research study.

Still a great coral, but probably not cervicornis.

 

[Chrisv.]

@Chrisv. I think if u live in florida SeaWorld outta wwc old facility and coral morphological both sell or give away native florida coral I'm not sure but dont quote me on this certain coral like the cervicornis have a certain cap every year so seaworld and other divers in florida get like one week to collect where the usmc drill oil and leave behind massive sandstormsand kill reefs so divers in florida try to do their best every year to save x amount as possible and then keep x for mother colony's and replace x on new man made reefs or in the flower banks garden


But it has something to do with off shore drilling that's why they're allowed to collect certain piece with in a x amount sqft area

But I dont think they're allowed to sell certain species under lacey they have to be given away for free that's how they get around it

I'm pretty sure it's against federal law to posses it without research permits. Would be interested to learn more about the program you're mentioning.

 

[Chrisv.]

I don't think the Scripps green tip stag is an acropora cervicornis. Reef Builders says it's an acropora microphthalma.
Also, what is getting grandfathered in mean?

"Grandfathering" is when a person does something illegal before it's illegal and is therefore allowed to continue the activity after it becomes illegal. Pretty sure that's not happening here, and that any reputable coral seller would never go anywhere near a western Atlantic hard coral, due to the huge risk of just being shut down.

 

[Chrisv.]

Just like Caribbean inverts

And florida ricordea

Arent supposed to be harvested but still end up in our tanks somehow

This is not correct. These are 100% legal.