Acropora- What Does It Really Take To Succeed?

[Rmckoy]

You can - those are pods. I initially add them when starting a new tank but then through feeding phyto you can establish an ongoing population. You also are likely to have some hitchhike in on a frag or macro algae so its not necessary to add them directly in most cases. But if you want to kick start microfauna (which I do) you can seed them.

Every frag added is dipped which kills every pod .
But I do dose zooplankton every other week

 

[X-37B]

Are the qt and dt completely different setups ?
If for any weird reason one isn’t exactly the same as the other I always slowly drip acclimate acro frags .
As silly as it sounds , if I drop them is from one system to mine , they brown and die in weeks.
Drip acclimating and they don’t die .

my dt I maintain 7 dkh
Cal is 425

I have similar issues as the lfs's here run 10ish alk and I run 7 like you.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Well I'll give you a warning about Carib Sea Rock.

Simply don't expect it to perform even close to live rock.

Just to give you an example, I had maybe 100lbs of Live rock. Decades old.
I added a couple of Carib Sea rock Arches since the shapes were perfect.

At the start it was misery. The Carib Sea went thru a terrible ugly stage.
So bad I removed it and aged it after in a bucket for a few weeks, then put it back.
The slightly bucket aged rock, started a 2nd ugly stage, but not as bad.

Of course it went away after a few months.


This old photo may give you an idea of what to expect. You see see the difference between the CaribSea Arch and the Rest of the Live Rock.

However even a year later the carib sea rock always seems to be the location of problem. Cyano, etc.
It's not as porous as live rock (from my experience).

I actually tossed a Carib sea shape rock for the same reason. Absolutely loaded with algae, it’s like it attracts it.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Every frag added is dipped which kills every pod .
But I do dose zooplankton every other week.

My personal approach to reefIng is like building a house. I feel it’s important to have all parts of the ecosystem covered. We talk a lot about bacteria for nitrification, but I know that SPS use bacteria as a means of obtaining phosphates. They can’t directly absorb it very well so thats why carbon dosing is effective. Then phyto provides a ton of benefits besides just feeding plankton populations, and plankton creates food for some coral, and for fish, while also removing additional waste. Finally, having a lot of fish seems to be important to SPS if you don’t intend to directly feed stuff like reef roids.

Any way it’s just my opinion and everyone has their own thoughts.

 

[X-37B]

Every frag added is dipped which kills every pod .
But I do dose zooplankton every other week

I actually tossed a Carib sea shape rock for the same reason. Absolutely loaded with algae, it’s like it attracts it.

Yea it is an algae magnet because its dead. My 50/50 live/caribsea only had algae on the caribsea.
Went away in a couple months though and you cant tell it from the original live now.

 

[WallyB]

Yea it is an algae magnet because its dead. My 50/50 live/caribsea only had algae on the caribsea.
Went away in a couple months though and you cant tell it from the original live now.

True. Like I said it the ulgy surface on the Carib sea went away after becoming somewhat live (on the surface)

However Caribsea is not as porous as live rock. Ever try and cut one. The arch and tonga piece I tried to cut burned out my steel reciporcating blade. Inside the rock core it was Solid..
The rock piececs are solid concrete like material. Nothing close on inner surface area, like a porous rock.

Cutting a real live rock from the ocean is easy-peasy, since it is very porous.

Sure you can add a couple of pieces, but loading up a scape with just CaribSea will not give you the same bio-surface.
So you may think you have pounds of live rock, but you never will have the same efficiency as other more porous lighter rock materials.

A dead previously-live real rock is way better than a CaribSea Rock, and will become more of a real live rock over time.

 

[X-37B]

I

True. Like I said the ulgy surface on the Caribsea went away after becoming somewhat live (on the surface)

However Caribsea is not as porous as live rock. Ever try and cut one. The arch and tonga piece I tried to cut burned out my steel reciporcating blade. Inside the rock core it was Solid..
The rock piececs are solid concrete like material. Nothing close on inner surface area, like a porous rock.

Cutting a real live rock from the ocean is easy-peasy, since it is very porous.

Sure you can add a couple of pieces, but loading up a scape with just CaribSea will not give you the same bio-surface.
So you may think you have pounds of live rock, but you never will have the same efficiency as other more porous lighter rock materials.

A dead previously-live real rock is way better than a CaribSea Rock, and will become more of a real live rock over time.

I agree. However I only have 35lbs of true liverock in my system.
I personally do not think you need large amonuts of live rock to be successfull.
Some is better than none, imo.
On my upgrade i am planning to get a large tubb soon and set it up with dead mined rock and live rock, 50/50.
I will add light, circulation, skimmer and dose.
I will run it just like a tank with a few damsels and within a years time most of the dead will be coralline encrusted and have the bacterial, sponge, and other diversity too.
A few lfs do this minus the light and live rock and the dead rock usually just grows diatoms and various algae.
Lfs should incorporate this method, I have talked to a few but none are interested. Most dont even believe in live rock anymore, lol.

 

[zukihara]

I am still eagerly awaiting more advice and discussion. I set up a new QT today.

I would post a pic, but it's ***** right now as it was a small functional tank and I am working hard to save the inhabitants in this cold weather.

 

[FishTruck]

OK... here is the best advice I ever got...

Find a tank method that appeals to you and follow it completely. Don't mix and match different methods. If you follow a single reefer, make sure he is posting pictures and getting the results that you want to achieve some day.

If you watch the BRS videos, there are some good examples of different ways to run a reef, pros and cons and pitfalls.

Also, the best reads are often failure stories and what went wrong... what was corrected... and how did that reefer recover.

 

[Rick Ginn]

Take your time, the 1st year is what is needed to get your tank established. Remember, what you do in the 1st year won't yield your results for at least another year or two. Coral placement & the mixed reef were probably my biggest regrets in year one. It's very difficult to keep SPS happy & LPS, it's a lighting & flow issue. Enjoy your journey,
i'm in year two now, i was clueless in year one for the record.

 

[Rmckoy]

Take your time, the 1st year is what is needed to get your tank established. Remember, what you do in the 1st year won't yield your results for at least another year or two. Coral placement & the mixed reef were probably my biggest regrets in year one. It's very difficult to keep SPS happy & LPS, it's a lighting & flow issue. Enjoy your journey,
i'm in year two now, i was clueless in year one for the record.

I’ve read a few times in this post about mixed reefs being the hardest .
Is it just flow and lighting requirements ?

ive always had mixed ...
this is why I ask

 

[Mellotang]

I find it to be mostly a flow issue

 

[LegendaryCG]

I’ve read a few times in this post about mixed reefs being the hardest .
Is it just flow and lighting requirements ?

ive always had mixed ...
this is why I ask

Nutrition demands are the hardest part of mixed reefs IMO. Your LPS and soft corals like higher numbers while SPS favor lower. Flow isnt much of a problem if you have your wave makers high and SPS high.

 

[X-37B]

I’ve read a few times in this post about mixed reefs being the hardest .
Is it just flow and lighting requirements ?

ive always had mixed ...
this is why I ask

Sps and lps require the same levels, imo.
They live together in the ocean, right?
Biggest issue is coral warfare, imo.
In my 120 mushooms move, sting/kill coral.
Encroaching corals kill.
The strongest one wins.
This in my opinion is why mixed reefs can be difficult to run.
Current example of encroachment.
Top pic is from a wandering green shroom. It happened 4 days ago and the stn has stopped for now.
The green shrooms are right below it.
The more I remove the more they grow. After removing 6-8 I always get 1 or 2 that release, some land on corals or get stuck to a powerhead or just relocate.
Bottom pic is encroachment.

 

[Mellotang]

Agreed

mushrooms
GSP
Xenia

Can present problems when they take off

 

[Rmckoy]

Nutrition demands are the hardest part of mixed reefs IMO. Your LPS and soft corals like higher numbers while SPS favor lower. Flow isnt much of a problem if you have your wave makers high and SPS high.

I posted awhile ago with no response .....

If you don’t mind rather than hijacking to this post . I’ll send a message to you later

 

[Scuba Mike]

You need TIME. You may not know what equipment you may need until you need it. Like dose Calc or top off with Kalkwasse, or calcium reactor. gfo reactor, NoPox or other reactors. Fuge, algae turf scrubber or cheato reactor. UV light, monitoring system, and on and on. If you want to buy everything you 'might' need break out the credit card...... Then post what you don't use for sale at half price.

 

[Rmckoy]

You need TIME. You may not know what equipment you may need until you need it. Like dose Calc or top off with Kalkwasse, or calcium reactor. gfo reactor, NoPox or other reactors. Fuge, algae turf scrubber or cheato reactor. UV light, monitoring system, and on and on. If you want to buy everything you 'might' need break out the credit card...... Then post what you don't use for sale at half price.

Half price deals are nice

 

[craigbuss]

First, salt mix doesn’t matter. Start with RO, good lighting, water movement, skimmer a must, nutrient export and patience. Takes tank about a year to settle in. Live rock provides biological diversity. Stability in alk, ca and mag. Start with an easy sps like montipora, towards bottom of tank. Once we can get montipora to grow we can try acro’s. Or at least that’s my experience.

If montipora can grow at the bottom of the tank is this a indication that there is sufficient lighting for acros higher up?

 

[LegendaryCG]

If montipora can grow at the bottom of the tank is this a indication that there is sufficient lighting for acros higher up?

Probably- might not get ideal growth or color but it probably wouldn’t die.