Any tips on acro collection process?

[Charlie the Reefer]

Hey everyone...

I'm really getting into acros now, and it's pretty overwhelming the amount of awesome corals in this species. There's so many threads with awesome pics!

I was wondering if anyone had any advice to a guy just getting into SPS about collecting them, I.e. what would you want to tell yourself when you first started collecting SPS (avoid these colors, stay away from these types...)

I have two 60" x 24" tanks at this point, and i'm planning on using 75% or so of the space for SPS.

So far, I have the following for roughly a month, and have had no deaths yet:

Orange Passion
Walt Disney
Bill Murray
Oregon Tort
Miyagi Tort
JF Flame
PC Rainbow
Rainbow Loom
Vivid Confetti
Blue Staghorn

AD Phoenix Monti
JF Beach Bum Monti

I also have roughly 12 other "no namers". Some are def growing faster than others (the staghorn is an insanely fast grower). Tort is also taking off.

My favorites by far are the top three (Orange Passion, WD, and Bill Murray)... The colors are awesome. All of the following are on my "wishlist":

TSA Colt 45

TSA Haymaker

TSA Long island

TSA Trainwreck

TGC Orange Creamsicle

Poto flamethrower

Jf Sunday driver

Rr bleeding avenger

Psycho asylum

Jf cheap date

Jf solar flare

Jf ice dragon

Sbb envy orange

Rrc jaw dropper

Bigr candyland

Tgc inner planet

Rainbow striata

Matt v orange envy

BC Bonfire

I know there are some really expensive ones on there, my plan is to not really touch those until 6 months + of success with what I have. Anyways, what would you tell your "younger SPS self" about how to start your acro collection?

Thanks!

 

[Dburr1014]

Nice list.
I am going for the old school names. The classics.
Green slimer, Oregon tort, ect.

Get what you like and can afford. Go for all the colors. What my biggest mistake was is not using the color wheel for the advantage of the colour pop.

Mount frags together opposite the color wheel for that pop.

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

Nice list.
I am going for the old school names. The classics.
Green slimer, Oregon tort, ect.

Get what you like and can afford. Go for all the colors. What my biggest mistake was is not using the color wheel for the advantage of the colour pop.

Mount frags together opposite the color wheel for that pop.

Thanks for this tip! I will keep this in mind

 

[SpSDrew]

I go through weeks or months where I will focus on a vendor or type of acropora. It keeps me interested in the hobby and its more about the search for what I am looking at the time. Currently my search is for RMF acros that catch my eye.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

Tread carefully. That is my advice. I had an acro only frag tank and loaded up on about 50 different frags. I lost all of them but a few due to stn. I believe the frag tank was too small (about 30 gallons) for long term acro stability. I even had an Apex on it, but alk was swinging too much I think from water changes.

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

Tread carefully. That is my advice. I had an acro only frag tank and loaded up on about 50 different frags. I lost all of them but a few due to stn. I believe the frag tank was too small (about 30 gallons) for long term acro stability. I even had an Apex on it, but alk was swinging too much I think from water changes.

Thank you for the tip! It's a lot harder than I expected to "tread carefully" in this hobby, with regards to buying stock too quick........ I will try my best.

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

Here's what I got so far (minus what is actually on the rockwork).

 

[Dburr1014]

Tread carefully. That is my advice. I had an acro only frag tank and loaded up on about 50 different frags. I lost all of them but a few due to stn. I believe the frag tank was too small (about 30 gallons) for long term acro stability. I even had an Apex on it, but alk was swinging too much I think from water changes.

I have found that AWC are really great at keeping things stable.
I measure parameters and then mix my salt batch. If my SG is swinging high or low, I adjust it with the new batch for my AWC.
This makes that adjustment over a coarse of a couple weeks.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

I have found that AWC are really great at keeping things stable.
I measure parameters and then mix my salt batch. If my SG is swinging high or low, I adjust it with the new batch for my AWC.
This makes that adjustment over a coarse of a couple weeks.

That is an excellent idea. I didn't have that, and would swing my alk everytime I changed water it seemed. Changing salt probably would have helped too, because I use Reef Crystals, which mixes between 10-12dkh usually, but I run my tanks at 8.5 dkh.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

There are quite a few Acros with different names that are actually the same or very similar, so be aware that if you buy an ASD Rainbow, for example, then do not get a JF Solar Flare as they are basically the same. MC Prom Queen = CC Pink Highlighter, Rainbow Loom = Banana Hammock = ARC Master Yoda, etc.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Great thread and discussion! Following!

 

[GARRIGA]

If possible. Visit a shop like WWC which has a colony tank. Puts a completely different perspective on that one inch frag. Helps visualize what I’ll be doing as in person completely different than on YouTube or social media. Having that 3D perspective helps.

 

[SPS2020]

Remember to leave room for the Acros to grow out. Placing them too close together intially looks nice, but will be problematic once they take off.

Two 5x2 Acropora tanks is very ambitious; wishing you the best! I have two smaller (100g and 60g) Acro tanks and they consume a lot of my time.

 

[kenchilada]

That is an excellent idea. I didn't have that, and would swing my alk everytime I changed water it seemed. Changing salt probably would have helped too, because I use Reef Crystals, which mixes between 10-12dkh usually, but I run my tanks at 8.5 dkh.

Use a salt with a lower alk and adjust it upwards to match your tank water.

 

[xabo]

That is an excellent idea. I didn't have that, and would swing my alk everytime I changed water it seemed. Changing salt probably would have helped too, because I use Reef Crystals, which mixes between 10-12dkh usually, but I run my tanks at 8.5 dkh.

This may help: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...in-new-salt-water-or-in-display-tanks.362825/

 

[bakbay]

There are quite a few Acros with different names that are actually the same or very similar, so be aware that if you buy an ASD Rainbow, for example, then do not get a JF Solar Flare as they are basically the same. MC Prom Queen = CC Pink Highlighter, Rainbow Loom = Banana Hammock = ARC Master Yoda, etc.

Completely agree. It's extremely difficult for acro noobs (speaking for myself) to differentiate between the same (or similar) species vs vendors' marketing and their setup. Let's not forget about their "enhanced" photo-editing techniques - What You See Is Not What You Get! WYSINWYG -- is that a thing?

Question: is there a comprehensive "master" list out there that will let noobs know?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

There are quite a few Acros with different names that are actually the same or very similar, so be aware that if you buy an ASD Rainbow, for example, then do not get a JF Solar Flare as they are basically the same. MC Prom Queen = CC Pink Highlighter, Rainbow Loom = Banana Hammock = ARC Master Yoda, etc.

Really great advice. I bet there are a lot more examples of this

 

[chrisgross888]

Tread carefully. That is my advice. I had an acro only frag tank and loaded up on about 50 different frags. I lost all of them but a few due to stn. I believe the frag tank was too small (about 30 gallons) for long term acro stability. I even had an Apex on it, but alk was swinging too much I think from water changes.

Calcium reactor would have been your friend

 

[minus9]

Don’t buy 50 1” frags, only to find out you don’t have room for them to grow. The best tanks that I’ve seen or kept are the ones with fewer corals with actual colonies. And no, a colony isn’t the size of your hand, it’s something much bigger that requires two hands to hold. Forget names, unless it’s a true lineage piece, just pick what you like based on color and growth pattern. Imagine a tank with a handful of smoothies and a couple stags. Also check out @therman he has a great collection to choose from.

 

[BirdFish5000]

Therman, BattleCorals, and CoralEuphoria are the absolute best vendors to deal with, imo.