On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is it REALLY to keep Acros?

[Cthulukelele]

I gave them a 3 if that helps haha! Weekly water changes of 10% and you can keep them without any issues.. no dosing or special requirements besides lighting and $20 Amazon wave maker… a full blown grown Sps tank is different but anyone who makes it to that level knows what they’re doing and dosed accordingly

I realize it's doable. It's just on the scale of 1-10 I'd assume we're judging based on ease of care compared to other corals. I feel it does a disservice to new people coming into the hobby to paint things like acros as on the easier end of what they see sold at their lfs. It's just flatly untrue.

 

[acesfull44]

I answered the question for what is asks, I feel like they are not terribly difficult to "keep" but the challenge is to get them to color and grow like we all dream!

 

[Troylee]

I realize it's doable. It's just on the scale of 1-10 I'd assume we're judging based on ease of care compared to other corals. I feel it does a disservice to new people coming into the hobby to paint things like acros as on the easier end of what they see sold at their lfs. It's just flatly untrue.

To each their own I guess… I can’t keep a birds nest alive at all! Some crazy acro I can grow it like a weed.. I think my lighting is factor in that.. I’ve never seen them hard to keep.. I like the fact people are scared of them thou! So when they take the plunge and get one they baby sit the tank more and their husbandry goes way up as they focus all their attention on growing that stick and becoming a Sps keeper!

 

[hart24601]

I think it needs to be defined with a length of time. Keeping acros, that is the same acro, for 6mo or a year isn’t too bad, make some frags as backups, but where keeping them gets really tough, at least for me, is long term over a year. Sure some do fine, but that seems to be about when some mistake or unknown variable wipes it out. You then start that variety over with a back up frag.

It’s not if you crash, it’s when.

 

[X-37B]

I realize it's a hobbyist forum so we all skew towards "obviously you can do it just monitor calcium and alkalinity," but it feels pretty ridiculous to me that the board has given them a 5. That would indicate it is the exact midpoint of ease of care in the hobby which is just objectively untrue.

The board is just peoples opinion so take it for what its worth.
If you understand the hobby its quite simple, imo.
20g nano cube from day one to month 8. I firmly believe anyone can do this if they have a plan!

 

[Cthulukelele]

The board is just peoples opinion so take it for what its worth.
If you understand the hobby its quite simple, imo.
20g nano cube from day one to month 8. I firmly believe anyone can do this if they have a plan!

I agree that anybody can do it. My precrash tank had a few acro colonies in it. I just think it's weird to describe them as average or easier compared with other corals. They ideally require more testing, monitoring, adjusting to tempermentality, and also dosing if you have any amount of long term success and significant skeletal growth. It seems disingenuous to describe them as average because they're completely doable even when the require more planning and monitoring and are more prone to sudden die off. Obviously people can disagree with me, but I feel it's kind of delusional to put acros as a 5 or below coral unless you're ONLY talking about sps

 

[peewee5779]

Get an atovthay ate cheap and work wondersiv

Get an atovthay ate cheap and work wonders

I've heard terrible stories of ATOs failing. Every time I've looked at comments for even the supposedly best ones. My tank is on the second floor of my house sitting right next to the floor register and I have hardwood floors.

 

[Troylee]

I agree that anybody can do it. My precrash tank had a few acro colonies in it. I just think it's weird to describe them as average or easier compared with other corals. They ideally require more testing, monitoring, adjusting to tempermentality, and also dosing if you have any amount of long term success and significant skeletal growth. It seems disingenuous to describe them as average because they're completely doable even when the require more planning and monitoring and are more prone to sudden die off. Obviously people can disagree with me, but I feel it's kind of delusional to put acros as a 5 or below coral unless you're ONLY talking about sps

It’s most likely peoples different styles.. I find Zoas harder to keep and not melt in my tanks..

 

[X-37B]

I think it needs to be defined with a length of time. Keeping acros, that is the same acro, for 6mo or a year isn’t too bad, make some frags as backups, but where keeping them gets really tough, at least for me, is long term over a year. Sure some do fine, but that seems to be about when some mistake or unknown variable wipes it out. You then start that variety over with a back up frag.

It’s not if you crash, it’s when.

Time makes sense but, "its not if you crash its, when", is about as far from the truth as it gets.
Systems dont crash, people crash systems, imo.
With that train of thought it will be very hard to grow in this hobby

I agree that anybody can do it. My precrash tank had a few acro colonies in it. I just think it's weird to describe them as average or easier compared with other corals. They ideally require more testing, monitoring, adjusting to tempermentality, and also dosing if you have any amount of long term success and significant skeletal growth. It seems disingenuous to describe them as average because they're completely doable even when the require more planning and monitoring and are more prone to sudden die off. Obviously people can disagree with me, but I feel it's kind of delusional to put acros as a 5 or below coral unless you're ONLY talking about sps

You missed my point. Only 24% of the people who responded think they are average level to keep.
If you feel 5 is dilusional thats your opinion, its just not what others on this poll think.
Imo most make it way harder to do than it really is.
My 120 before I broke it down after 33 months.
Anyone can do this with a plan.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Time makes sense but, "its not if you crash its, when", is about as far from the truth as it gets.
Systems dont crash, people crash systems, imo.
With that train of thought it will be very hard to grow in this hobby
You missed my point. Only 24% of the people who responded think they are average level to keep.
If you feel 5 is dilusional thats your opinion, its just not what others on this poll think.
Imo most make it way harder to do than it really is.
My 120 before I broke it down after 33 months.
Anyone can do this with a plan.

I think we just have a difference of opinion on what the question is asking. Anyone who regularly monitors the big 3 and doses can keep more temperamental SPS, but I feel even though that's true, that doesn't make them as easy or easier than most LPS and softies. I don't think we actually disagree on the ability to keep them just what the numbers on the poll represent.

As an aside, beautiful tank

 

[vlangel]

If you hate testing, I vote 11, impossible! LOL

 

[ReefHunter006]

I am so happy to see people having a relatively easier experience than me, but man it’s disheartening.

I invest hours a day into my tanks, and have years of experience growing acros. I test multiple times a week, prioritize stability, and yet not only has my frag tank decided to basically kill 50% of the acros I’ve had for 2+ years, but my new display won’t let any survive more than a week after letting it sit for 8 months.

start of DT

At 6 months

killing multiple frags from my frag tank still at 8 months. Tissue necrosis takes 2 weeks to 2 months

frag tank last year

Frag from frag tank last week, about 15 frags have died in a similiar fashion. 20 ish more show the bubbles on the tissue and will die over the next 4-6 months.

I am glad it seems like a good amount see the difficulty as average. After years in this hobby I am not sure I will be continuing.

Given the money I’ve invested in this hobby if someone was able to turn this into a 5 for me then I would pay them a lot. Doesn’t seem the 5’s approach is repeatable for me.

 

[flyfisher2]

My experience is as follows:
when I first started everything was all over the place. Parameters fluctuated greatly and I found that I was doing so much more than I am now just to arrive where I thought I wanted to be.
As time went by and the desire to achieve specific levels and have a tank like ‘Mr. Jones’ dwindled,things just fell into place naturally. The different algae’s grew out and died away. The incredibly high nutrients came down. Was it magic? Nah, I was gaining experience and learned how to keep my hands out of the tank. I stopped trying to fix nature.
I‘m doing so much less now and getting the best growth I’ve ever experienced in my years of reefing.
10 percent water change weekly
refill Mag,Cal,Alk containers as needed
refill Kalkwasser container as needed
Empty Skimmer cup

Much less to do and much more time to look at the progress.

 

[Orito]

I rate at 7 because of how fast things go down with acropora, the signs that something isn't ok sometimes aren't clear and it die in a matter of hours...

 

[Wasabiroot]

The hard acros are unforgiving and require good husbandry and mega stability.

The easy ones are nearly bulletproof. Green Slimer comes to mind, or most stags. Slimer just grows and grows.

Acros are such a large group that their difficulty is a spectrum.

 

[mattdg]

For a beginner, definitely 9 or 10. For an advanced hobbyist, I'd say 5.

I think we forget all we went through to become successful keeping Acropora. Once you have the ability to keep SPS coral thriving, it's like a reef keeping super power that almost feels like second nature. That said, SPS will always throw you for some sort of loop, not matter how much experience you have. That is why it is never truly "easy"

Advice, start with basic SPS coral and do your best to keep it alive and growing. The main reason is, once you have a tank full of capricornis, digitata, spongodes and stylophora taking up nutrients, you will be forced into phase two. Keeping everything stable and happy, while adding cal, alk, mag, no3 and trace elements. At this phase, 'water changes only', will no longer cut it. You will likely be capable of keeping the easy SPS colonies alive, but strive for healthy and growing, with your alk levels locked in, adequete flow and lighting. Once you can do that, you will be well on your way to that next step... acropora.

 

[OlafsReef]

Am I using MH and T5's or LEDs and is it a A. Valida or an A. Speciosa?

Cause one answer is a 3 and one is an 8

 

[Kasrift]

I personally believe wild colonies gave them all a bad name! Bringing in a wild colony or mariculture can be tricky to acclimate to captivity.. any stick that’s been in the hobby for a decent amount of time is just as bullet proof as any other corals… ora would be good ones to start with! I’ve seen people do everything wrong and their sticks always pull through.

I agree with this 100%. I've tried wild ones and they are much touchier. Tried my first tank grown ones later and didn't even realize how much hardier they were.

 

[bakbay]

The hard acros are unforgiving and require good husbandry and mega stability.

The easy ones are nearly bulletproof. Green Slimer comes to mind, or most stags. Slimer just grows and grows.

Acros are such a large group that their difficulty is a spectrum.

Agreed - it's all relative across Acros. Some of my stags were able to survive 2dKH alk swings but other sensitive acros didn't do so well. So far, I'm batting 0/2 trying to keep Tenuis alive more than 3mos, even on a "stable" 2yo system. Yes, it could be the frags (both were fresh cuts).

 

[i cant think]

I voted 5, they’re easy for the average reef keeper as long as you keep ontop of a lot (I’d assume the average reefer does this anyway no matter what coral type they’re growing).
Once you start gaining large colonies they slowly decline in ease and do start going towards the 6-8 range depending on species.