SPS questions!

matt2364

matt2364

Member
Hello - I have a couple of sps questions for everyone.
1. I have a small piece of acropora that is maybe 1.5 inches in total length, branches off into three pieces. How should I place this? I had it laying on its side for a few months and just picked it up and the bottom side of it is a brownish color, what is this? Did this happen because there was not enough flow on the under side?
2. I know that I should place as high up as possible since SPS love the high light, but what do I do so all sides of the acropora get light, do I mount it on something sticking straight up?
3. Anything else an sps/acropora beginner should know?
4. What are the fastest growing species of acropora and sps?
Thanks in advance for everyones help!
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
its normal. the side that is away from the light will be like that. i would glue the frag horizontally where all the coralites are facing up. eventually theyll begin to make their own branches. done be surprised if it takes a while to grow; it might encrust a lot before it really takes off
try to lower phosphates if there are a lot, keep nitrates low as well, try to keep alk between 7-10 dKH, i keep mine 9-10 dKH, calcium i keep around 430ppm, magnesium 1300ppm. try to keep parameters stable. and add a lot of indirect flow to the tank for SPS. they love clean water, flow, light, and stable parameters
not sure about the fastest growing acropora, but green slimers are a good choice to start with. monti caps and monti digis are good to start with as well, but digis like a lot of light
 
matt2364

matt2364

Member
digis are good to start with as well, but digis like a lot of light
I have a 55 gallon aquarium with 2x175w 14,000K halides and 2x40watt actinic fluorescent tubes, is this enough light?
I have a pump pumping out 1,100 GPH for my return and 2 koralia #3 which do 850 GPH is this enough flow in a 55 gallon tank? Or do I need to get some power heads?
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
the lighting is good, also depends on the bulb and ballast though, but they should be good
if your pump is really returning that many gallons per hour, then you should be good with the powerheads included. i think youd be at a great start
are you running a skimmer, phosphate reactor, or anything like that?
how are the colors on your acro? are they brown or do they have color?
 
matt2364

matt2364

Member
how are the colors on your acro? are they brown or do they have color?
The color right now is a like a pale pinkish color. It has been like that since I got it. I am getting three more small acro frags this saturday :)
are you running a skimmer, phosphate reactor, or anything like that?
I have a Aqua EV-120 Skimmer, with a quiet one pump that puts out around 600GPH I think. I currently do not have a phosban reactor. I have three canisters on my sump that I can run water through so I think I am going to get some of the phosban media and put it in one of the canisters when I go to the fish store on Saturday.
How and what will the phosban reactor help. I know that it removes the primary food source of algae, but that is all that I have heard about them.
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
well, they need some phosphates, but too many will cause them to grow slow or brown out
i wouldnt run GFO in a canister filter. theyre best used with the phosphate reactors where you can control the flow and watch how the media is moving. if you do try out GFO, start out with 25%. if you add the full dosage youll end up having SPS that become bleached with no colors. two little fishies sells the phosphate reactor for 37 dollars, but you also need to buy the pump and tubing for it
but if right now your acro has color and is growing and encrusting then i wouldnt worry too much about the reactor, but it wouldnt hurt to have one going
 
matt2364

matt2364

Member
Hmmm...I can see the media through the canister filters on my sump and can also adjust the flow through ball valves. Do you still think that I would need a phosban reactor. The canister filters were made to use for things like this.
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...4/IMG_0185.jpg is it that one
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...4/CIMG3468.jpg
the first seems to be too big, but if you cut some filters out and have them propped up like the phosban reactors, then i dont see y not; as long as the media has flow going through it evenly and slowly
the ones in the second pic look more like a better size to use, but again, youll also have to cut some sponges out and some plastic and have the media in between so it doesnt come out and end up in your tank
 
matt2364

matt2364

Member
Yeah I am talking about the second one. It came with some sponges and stuff so that the media will stay inside the canisters.
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
im not sure if the way the flow enters the chamber will effect the media or not, but in a phosphate reactor the water will flow from the top, down a tube, and then go up through sponges then media, then through sponges at the top and back out
 
matt2364

matt2364

Member
hmm...I am not sure exactly how it will work either. I will probably just buy the media to try and if it does not work buy a phosban reactor.
I actually am starting to get some hair algae so I do need some algae control.
 
matt2364

matt2364

Member
Another question. I just bought a few small sps frags that are glued onto small plugs. Is it alright to take them off the plugs and just glue them onto rock or something? Is it bad for the bottom of the frag to be stuck in a small whole in the rock (aka does the base need to see light?)?
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
are they already encrusting or were they just cut and put on the plug recently? you could either take it off the disk and glue it onto live rock rubble and place it somewhere in a crevice-- itll eventually start to encrust over the rubble and onto the liverock you have. i havent tried just sticking them in holes, but i would worry they might end up on the sand without you realizing and dying
 
matt2364

matt2364

Member
I was going to try to put some glue on the bottom and then put in a small whole/crevice so that you cannot see the glue. I am not a huge fan of seeing a big glob of white glue attached to the rock.
Here is a picture of the SPS I have been referring to throughout this thread.

Here are 5 of the six new SPS frags that I bought this morning. These are the ones that I am thinking about taking off the plugs and gluing to the rocks. How fragile is Montipora? I want to try to get them off the plugs to glue onto a rock but I am worried that I will just break them.



 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
think about how the coral grows and where youd like it, because the caps will end up covering up other corals, competing for room and light. i would put it somewhere towards the middle of your rockwork
fragile as in sensitive or how they break? i think SPS are pretty good; people have taken them out and accidentally dropped on the floor making frags. if youve ever seen videos on how to frag some of them, youll end up realizing that theyre tough. people have dremeled the crap out of some acroporas without problem
you shouldnt have too much of a problem as long as all your parameters are where they should be and stable. you might end up with a finicky frag that just doesnt like anything you do,like moving it around, being in a new tank, etc.
 
matt2364

matt2364

Member
hmm..thank you very much Nietzsche for dominating my thread. I think I know enough to keep acroporas successfully for now. Just one more question though, do you feed yours anything, like cyclop-eeze? If so, do you soak it in water and then target feed it?
THanks again!
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
i dont feed anything. if you go to -- and ask in the SPS forum what to feed youll get a mixed results. If you feed your fish in the aquarium then youll indirectly feed SPS. Detritus or fish poop end up becoming food for your corals. Some people buy frozen DT's Oyster Eggs and feed that to them
i dont know about cyclop-eeze; i think it may be too big for SPS, same thing with phytoplankton
 
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