Flatland's SPS Progression Thread

[Flatlandreefer]

I am a big fan of threads that document the growth of individual SPS by posting regular updates. I finally got my first Acro frags so I figured I should start a thread for my own use but also for anyone else that likes this type of thing.

Story of the Tank:

I started out with an Innovative Marine Fusion Lagoon 25 a couple years ago. I ran this AIO system with some success but also with several challenges. My LPS did fairly well but I could not seem to keep any SPS happy. I battled cyano covering the sand bed and some rockwork, as well as some stability issues in regards to dosing.

This past summer we bought a new house so this gave me a reason to alter my setup. Initially I wanted to upgrade to a larger system, but with a new baby on the way I couldn't justify that expense and I couldn't really decide what I wanted. I also viewed my current nuvo as an unfinished project and wanted to develop it into a fully stocked successful tank before I move onto something different.

My current setup is in the basement of my new house. I ended up drilling the back of my nuvo tank and plumbing it into a 100 gallon stock tank that I use as a sump. I thought it was necessary to have a large sump for long term stability and success of this nano tank. I use the large sump to house most of my LPS that I kept in the prior setup as well as my clownfish and a tang to keep algae at bay. I set up this tank with 100% dry rock that I cured in a trash can for 4 months before setting up my sump. The rock then went into my sump and was in there with my LPS and fish for another two months before I got my nuvo converted over to a drilled tank with new lighting. The nuvo sat empty with lights on for about a month before I added acro frags for the first time.


Equipment:

Skimmer: Reef Octopus 150
Lighting(display): Kessil A360w with Aquatic Life T5 Hybrid
Flow: Random flow generator and MP10

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Cool, what kind of acros?

 

[Flatlandreefer]

I added my first three acro frags on 1/27/19. These frags are about an inch long. I did not have any cleanup crew in the display prior to adding the frags so there is hair algae and diatoms, I picked up 20 astreas to help mow all of the algae down. I don't know if any of these corals have specific names, all I know is that the small blue one is an echinata. The blue with yellow polyps seems to be similar to a Secale. I currently have them on a frag rack on the front glass slowly moving them up to light acclimate.

Pictures 1/29/19

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

How long has your tank been running?

 

[Flatlandreefer]

How long has your tank been running?

I touched on this a little bit in my first post. The display has had water in it for about a month or a little bit more. I have been curing the dry rock since July I believe, so about 6-7 months. I have had my sump set up for 3-4 months with LPS and fish in it.

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Oh yes I missed the one month. The third frag looks like a Bonsai almost.

 

[Flatlandreefer]

Oh yes I missed the one month. The third frag looks like a Bonsai almost.

It does look very similar to a bonsai, maybe it is. That frag in particular has browned out a bit since I put it in my tank.

 

[Flatlandreefer]

Small update.

The echinata started to STN today. I cut off the very tip and glued it to another frag plug in a last ditch effort to save it but it doesn't seem like it will work. There is another bit of tissue loss on the part I tried to save. In a very last ditch effort I super glued over the effected area and put it in my sump with my LPS right in front of a power-head. I am very doubtful that the piece will survive but I was curious if the lower light might help since they are deep water acros from what I understand. Meanwhile the bonsai is starting to encrust and the green acro seems to be encrusting as well, both are still on frag plugs in the frag rack.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Is your name based on the Edwin Abbott book? One of my favorites.

 

[Flatlandreefer]

March 1, 2019

Here are the 1 month pics. The echinata RTN'd so it is a gonner. I'm not entirely sure what happened here but I have heard multiple people having trouble with this species. The bonsai is doing well, it is placed high up in the tank and is starting to encrust. The green un named sps is also doing well with great polyp extension. It is mid tank but directly under the led fixture and receives lots of flow. Both corals were slowly light acclimated for about 3 weeks moving the frag rack up every couple of days. Photo skills need some work, working with Nikon D3400 so any tips are appreciated, probably need a tripod.

Bonsai

"Other Coral"

 

[Flatlandreefer]

Here are the 2 month updates: Photos taken on 3/29/2019

 

[Flatlandreefer]

4/27/19 3 month Update

The Bonsai seems to be doing well, it is working on fully encrusting the frag plug and it seems like there are some longer coralites that might translate into new branches. The green coral has also been working on encrusting but it has recently lost all polyp extension which is unusual because it used to be very shaggy. I don't know what to think about the loss of PE, there is no obvious cause and the coral looks ok otherwise.