Do you consider yourself a successful acropora keeper?

BRS

Are you a successful acropora keeper?

  • YES

    Votes: 105 38.7%

  • NO

    Votes: 84 31.0%

  • Haven't tried yet

    Votes: 65 24.0%

  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 17 6.3%
  • Total voters
    271
Jump to Last
In the 2000's I had a reef tank and got into sps. They grew well for a few months and died. Tried again, same thing again.
Now, that I found this website, things are looking pretty good. I research a lot and learn the things I need to do to keep acros alive.
So on the graph, in 2000's I was a one.
Now I feel I'm a little past 5.

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I voted yes because the corals in the picture that are in the OP are still alive and kicking LOL. I've actually had a great deal of success with SPS and I think the main reason is that I became fixated on them very early in my reefing journey which started in 1991. I really don't even know why but I just LOVE LOVE LOVE SPS. Because of that fixation I did a ton of research and was VERY fortunate to find an incredible mentor in MN named David Grigor (MASNA's 2017 aquarist of the year - although that was well after I started hanging around him :) ) who lived only a few blocks from me and who not only taught me everything he new, but basically became my partner in crime as we experimented with different equipment and ways of doing things. He also inspired me to start my first aquaculture business - North Star Corals. To this day my love of SPS has not waned. I actually Choose a frag each night from my system, bag it up, and sleep with it under my pillow so I can be closer to them... wait did I just type that out loud... Doh! Please disregard that last part :D
 
Deltec
I felt that I had made it, I had corals growing once my tank matured, then I went on vacation...
Never leave your tank in the hands of a relative that has no idea what their consequences or lack thereof can wreak in just one week.

Now I have a bunch of really sweet skeletons.
But not one zoa lost lol
 
Actually, my acropora keeping abilities got much better when I started treating my tanks like brightly lit, high flow, well fed fish tanks. It was only after I stopped looking at nutrients as being bad (but within ratio of phosphate to nitrate) that things looked and grew their best. When I match filtration and maintenance to the amount of food it takes to keep my fish fat and nutrients stable, things always do much better.
 
Other

I have two acro frags. One is purple/greyish/brown base with a vibrant green/white/blue tip and a second on that is bright green with white/blue tips. Both seem to be growing but their color is just blah. I just bottomed out my nutes this past week though. Waiting on another dosing pump to start back on NP-Bacto-Balance.
 
Nutramar Foods
I chose other, I’ve had success that terminated abruptly twice. Meaning everything was growing rapid and looked better than ever and sudden RTN on 50% of my colonies with no explanation. Both times was end of fall/beginning of winter. My current theory is that closing up my house with 5 people and a dog dropped my PH to dismal levels. When I first got my apex I seen that I was dipping to 7.7 in the early summer at night. Now I’m never below 7.9 with kalk and skimmer running on outside air.

**** I just had a sps random RTN in the last two days. Everything is doing AMAZING. So I’m terrified to the reason why.
 
View ReefStash's latest YouTube video!
I started growing sps in 2004 and things have changed a lot lol. Alk targets and nutrient targets were way different back then. Stability is one of the biggest key factors especially with Alk. IMO Sps hate Alk swings and you will see the trauma/effects for a long period of time after an event. I attribute a lot of my success, especially with my current tank, to switching back to T5. Just my preference but I love the blanket of light and how even it is across the entire tank. It also prevents you from "tinkering" with the settings i.e. the stability argument. Raising nutrients has also been key especially for color. I like PO3 around .03-.05 but I like Nitrates between 10-20. I do get more algae growth but consider it totally worth it. For reference, I have a 60g cube with an 8 bulb ati T5 and 2 xho blue led strips. Lots of light is important for SPS and the more flow the better in my opinion. I run 2 mp40 at around 75% most of the day in anti-sync mode. This tank was grown from frags that were added 18 months ago. Sorry not sure why the pic is so blurry. Taken with my phone. Just added some older top downs too.


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Last edited:
Nutramar Foods
I guess, I caveat my no answer with that fact that I have very easy Acros Birds nest, Green Slimmer, and one that looks like the birds nest but blue.
 
Deltec
I have success with acros now. Mind you, I have lost over 50 acro frags in the past from stn. I find it easier to keep them in an all sps tank, rather than a mixed tank.
 
I voted "other" as I've only been keeping acros without major losses for just under two years and that's not a very long time to me. The new tank just made a year and is just now starting to take off. Ask me again next year.
Fingers tightly crossed, knocking on wood... etc,.etc.
 
BRS

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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