How hardy are Tyree red dragon?

[DrewBrees713]

I bought a frag online about 2 wks ago and so far it’s ... not dead yet Pretty much most oif my sps frags ive kept either Stn or brown out except this one. Color is still nice. So how hardy are they? Where do you place yours?

 

[Guttersnipe]

This is one of those corals I was never able to keep alive.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I bought a frag online about 2 wks ago and so far it’s ... not dead yet Pretty much most oif my sps frags ive kept either Stn or brown out except this one. Color is still nice. So how hardy are they? Where do you place yours?

My first frag I killed because I was not aware of its sensitivity to coral dips like Revive. My second remained stagnant as a pitiful little lumpy stick for 4 mos. I almost sumped it to make room on my rack but thought better and stuck it in the corner of the tank on a second rack out of site.

Out of nowhere one day it just woke up and has never stopped growing. I have it in moderate flow low in the tank. Gets about 180-200 PAR.

One year ago when received (The Lump):

Eight months ago (The Lump - still):

One month later (The Awakening):

Now, in all its Red Dragon glory:

 

[Rakie]

The problem with red dragons is most people I know have reported they just randomly die one day. Could be stable for a year and one morning for no reason gone.

 

[Hemmdog]

They like lower flow and less light than most. Figured that out a little to late.

The boneyard-

 

[DrewBrees713]

The problem with red dragons is most people I know have reported they just randomly die one day. Could be stable for a year and one morning for no reason gone.

That’s pretty much applies to every sps

Right now mine is in a 20g cube at the bottom and i hand dose alk every other day. Looks like it grew a little bit. For flow, I have the smallest jebao wave maker. My led light is set at 40% B ,20% W for 6-7 hrs. Is that too much/little?

 

[DesertReefT4r]

From every thread and post on Red Dragon I have read over the years I gather its a fairly sensitive acropora. Success with it has improved over the years, my guess is it has better adapted to life in the aquarium since all we see is aquacultured frags of this coral. I agree with the lower light and lower flow for this coral. I bet this was originally collected from deeper water but I have no way to back that up. I also have never kept this coral so I have no first hand experience with it. I am waiting for one of my LFS to frag up a colony they obtained recently.

 

[MarinaP]

It is fairly sensitive. I always have 2-3 backup frags in different locations/tanks for this very reason.

 

[DrewBrees713]

Cool. I will frag it once it gets to about 2-3”. Some peeps say they grow like weeds and others said theyre not that hardy. Mine is getting more red/pink by the day.

 

[DrewBrees713]

My first frag I killed because I was not aware of its sensitivity to coral dips like Revive. My second remained stagnant as a pitiful little lumpy stick for 4 mos. I almost sumped it to make room on my rack but thought better and stuck it in the corner of the tank on a second rack out of site.

Out of nowhere one day it just woke up and has never stopped growing. I have it in moderate flow low in the tank. Gets about 180-200 PAR.

One year ago when received (The Lump):

Eight months ago (The Lump - still):

One month later (The Awakening):

Now, in all its Red Dragon glory:

Can you name all the corals in the pix? Me think theyre hawt!!!

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Can you name all the corals in the pix? Me think theyre hawt!!!

We can give it a shot:

Top to bottom, left to right:

• "Ebay special" ripoff frag. Supposed to blue.
• Red Dragon
• Gig 'em Purple Orchid
• Tiny little shard of a Red Planet
• Sniper's Blue Something or Other from Battlecorals

Top to bottom, left to right:

• Unnamed A. speciosa I bought at my LFS
• ORA Pearlberry
• RR The Vinh
• Hawkin's echinata
• Red Dragon

 

[Foothill Corals]

I have kept the same piece of this coral for about 6 years now.

RDs are an interesting coral. They are more sensitive than a typical acro but they are also grow like a weed. It is a "canary in the coal mine" coral for me. Problems will always show up on this coral first.

IME dipping in bayer is not that harsh to them and I do not agree with the low light and flow recommendations.

This coral likes medium flow and light not low. In fact when I made cuttings and put them in lower flow they would die overnight sometimes.

Here is a pic of the one in my last tank it was aprox 20" across when I removed it. I still have a frag of it in my new tank. If you look close you can see it is rite in front of a MP40 less than 10" away and the coral is growing towards it.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I have kept the same piece of this coral for about 6 years now.

RDs are an interesting coral. They are more sensitive than a typical acro but they are also grow like a weed. It is a "canary in the coal mine" coral for me. Problems will always show up on this coral first.

IME dipping in bayer is not that harsh to them and I do not agree with the low light and flow recommendations.

This coral likes medium flow and light not low. In fact when I made cuttings and put them in lower flow they would die overnight sometimes.

Here is a pic of the one in my last tank it was aprox 20" across when I removed it. I still have a frag of it in my new tank. If you look close you can see it is rite in front of a MP40 less than 10" away and the coral is growing towards it.

Looks a little scrawny - have you considered using Reef Roids?

Now THAT's an impressive Red Dragon.

 

[DrewBrees713]

Me dig the oRchid, Sniper blue , Enchinata. How hardy are they? This calls for a FTS and i wont take no for an answer

@Foothill that thing is massive. Nice colors howd you do it?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

The sniper and the purple orchid are bulletproof. Both have been through an alk overdose, lost flesh, and come back. The snipers also bleached on me as a frag from putting it in too much light. I don't have a current pic of the Hawkins, but I'd say it's in the same class hardiness-wise as the Red Dragon. A lot of people have trouble with it.

Here's the others:

 

[Foothill Corals]

Me dig the oRchid, Sniper blue , Enchinata. How hardy are they? This calls for a FTS and i wont take no for an answer

@Foothill that thing is massive. Nice colors howd you do it?

Thanks

Just kept things stable, lots of flow and tried to avoid shadowing.

 

[Kyl]

Of all acros my red dragon the first time around died instantly, like go to bed and the next morning not a trace of tissue left. Second frag a number of months later from the same colony is thriving into an approx 5" round ball now. The first I put through my normal revive dip, the second I did at half strength. Hawkins just melts in my tank, though that was from the first time around and I haven't tried since. It's currently being blasted by two SW-4's relatively close by (~5"), and is thriving under LED / T5.

 

[Aaron-A2]

@Sierra_Bravo

We can give it a shot:

Top to bottom, left to right:

• "Ebay special" ripoff frag. Supposed to blue.
• Red Dragon
• Gig 'em Purple Orchid
• Tiny little shard of a Red Planet
• Sniper's Blue Something or Other from Battlecorals

Top to bottom, left to right:

• Unnamed A. speciosa I bought at my LFS
• ORA Pearlberry
• RR The Vinh
• Hawkin's echinata
• Red Dragon

In your first picture, is that center large piece with a yellow/green body and purple tips the "gig'em purple orchid" ? If so, where did you get it? I really like it!

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

@Sierra_Bravo


In your first picture, is that center large piece with a yellow/green body and purple tips the "gig'em purple orchid" ? If so, where did you get it? I really like it!

One of our forum members, @gig 'em , is also in my local form Austin Reef Club. I bought a humongous chunky brown frag from him at a meeting for a lot less than it was worth. It's turned out to be one of my favorites. I'm not sure that he has it any longer. Interestingly enough, he pulled entirely different colors from it than I do. I dug around and found a picture of one of the frags he had at one time:

 

[DrewBrees713]

Austin as in atx?