Sps and Flow questions

henryhahn · Feb 24, 2017

Hello! My sweet wife ordered a few frags for me from Unique Corals as an anniversary present. They are BEAUTIFUL, but they also lead me to some questions:
1 - One of the corals did not fair well in transit. The box did look as though it was packed really well, but the coral broke. Will these broken pieces be okay, or is it a loss?

2 - This coral specifically, was mostly colored, but had some pale tips when I put it in the tank. Is this inherent to the "red dragon" coral, or is this a sign of damage from shipping and/or some type of other problem?

3- Flow....and placement....Now here's the kicker....
My current layout has:
PH #1 in the back left going past my birdsnest, hits the glass, and on past my other corals
PH #2 is middle on the right and headed upward
The return is in the center on an angle to hit the front glass

The PH#1 is probably going to stay since it keeps so many corals happy, and the return has to stay in that location though the angle could change. I am looking to see if ph#2 needs to be adjusted in order to keep any of these new sps happy? Also, any guidance on placement would also be appreciated. I was thinking of doing at least one on a magnetic mount to the back glass in between the first rock work and the purple rock in the middle. (Excuse my little floating fuge that decided to take to the front of the glass for the picture. It is usually tucked in better on that left side.)

View attachment anniversarytome.jpg

Salty1962 · Feb 24, 2017

Give the Dragon some time, it should come back with no problems. As far as flow is concerned, I don't believe you have enough circulation pumps for SPS. I don't know what your budget is but I would add a XF230, or similar pump, to your tank for better flow in a tank as long as yours, looks like a 55G? Then place your current pumps on the back glass. If the sand isn't slightly moving, then you don't have enough. I have coarse sand in the front of my tank and it slowly moves around, not a sand storm but does move around some.

JMO

sbash · Feb 24, 2017

Very nice!

First, to address the broken frags question. My philosophy is to put them all in the tank and hope for the best. I have had 25mm pieces die off, while 2mm pieces lived and thrived. The odds are the small pieces will die off, but there is no harm in trying!

The general rule for flow and SPS is 30x the water volume, so if your tank is 75 gallon, you would want around 2250 gph. For example; in my 220, I have 7200 gph (ish) of flow.

White tips could simply mean new growth, or it could be die back. It could also be mild bleaching. Until you can either a) take a really good close up or b) learn how to spot the difference, you are going to have to wait and see what happes.

For placement, I find some of my SPS are pretty picky, so even when I have acclimated them to my lights, they grow better at the same height on the other side of the tank. Which is usually not where I want them, lol... Others just love living and as long as they have light and flow they are good to go... (Yes, that rhymes)...

henryhahn · Feb 24, 2017

Salty1962 said:
Give the Dragon some time, it should come back with no problems. As far as flow is concerned, I don't believe you have enough circulation pumps for SPS. I don't know what your budget is but I would add a XF230, or similar pump, to your tank for better flow in a tank as long as yours, looks like a 55G? Then place your current pumps on the back glass. If the sand isn't slightly moving, then you don't have enough. I have coarse sand in the front of my tank and it slowly moves around, not a sand storm but does move around some. JMO

Wow, I couldn't imagine the sand in constant movement (I have fine sand). Would you mind shooting a short video?
I do have 2 Hydor Koralia Nano 425 Aquarium Circulation Pump in my 55gallon. They have been keeping everything nice and happy. The one sps that I do have has taken off and is doing well. Visible improvement in size (maybe double) in ~40 days.

henryhahn · Feb 24, 2017

sbash said:
Very nice!

First, to address the broken frags question. My philosophy is to put them all in the tank and hope for the best. I have had 25mm pieces die off, while 2mm pieces lived and thrived. The odds are the small pieces will die off, but there is no harm in trying!

That was what I was thinking as well. I had a rogue shrimp dine on my pulsing xenia before I realized what was going on. It went from a little flesh on the rock to happy, healthy, and mesmerizing once more! I hope the same goes for this. I have a few friends that would love some.

sbash said:
The general rule for flow and SPS is 30x the water volume, so if your tank is 75 gallon, you would want around 2250 gph. For example; in my 220, I have 7200 gph (ish) of flow.

Ouch! I'm about half that. Possible that positioning of the heads can help these thrive like the birds nest I currently have?

sbash said:
White tips could simply mean new growth, or it could be die back. It could also be mild bleaching. Until you can either a) take a really good close up or b) learn how to spot the difference, you are going to have to wait and see what happes.

I took a few more pics, hoping they may be better. Do they help?

sbash said:
For placement, I find some of my SPS are pretty picky, so even when I have acclimated them to my lights, they grow better at the same height on the other side of the tank. Which is usually not where I want them, lol... Others just love living and as long as they have light and flow they are good to go... (Yes, that rhymes)...

Lord knows I understand this! You might notice the dendro on that rack.... Well, that one has me at a loss. When I picked it up, I was under the impression that they like low light levels and low to moderate flow. I thought...AWESOME! I could put that in a "cavey" type area and have a beautiful pop of color in a dark spot. It arrived closed tight and pale. I put it in about 8-10 different spots and saw no inclination of opening. Disappointed, figuring it was going to die or was DOA and I didn't know, I moved it to my frag rack that is high flow and pretty strong light. (I use the rack to keep an eye on new corals, or a spot to let newly fragged ones heal.) Well, this was the spot! It opened and ate. It opens each day a few hours after the daylights come on and enjoys the high flow. I still haven't figured out where to put it now seeing as it was intended for somewhere else, but it eats every day, and is beautiful.

henryhahn · Mar 28, 2017

So here are the broken off pieces as of yesterday.... Dead? Coming back? I wouldn't want to yank them out if they have a possibility of coming back, but I also am not looking to cause other problems by having them linger in there dead.