diabolical_clownfish
Active Member
I'm looking to venture into SPS and specifically looking at Staghorn Acropora due to its shape and how it fits in my aquascape.
A few things that I'm not clear about:
- Are staghorns hardy? I'm reading conflicting accounts online where some say it's a nice beginner SPS, but it's also an Acropora, which is known to be difficult. Are stags the single subcategory of acros that are somehow easy?
- Do they do well in a mix reef? I have a mostly LPS dominated tank with nitrate at 5-10 ppm, phosphate at 0.1 ppm, alk at 9 dKH and calcium at 420. I'd like my SPS pieces to do well in this environment. The elevated nitrate and phosphate in particular worry me.
- Do different varieties of staghorns all have roughly the same requirements, or are the "designer" ones more finicky? My experience with LPS (hammers / torches) for example, is that the indo varieties tend to be easier than the assusies. Do these kind of distinctions exist for stags?
Would definitely appreciate suggestions of what staghorns to get, as well as alternative SPS (specifically looking for pieces that can grow tall towards the water surface to fill out some empty space in the tank and stags seem to fit this description but I'm open to alternatives).
Thanks!
A few things that I'm not clear about:
- Are staghorns hardy? I'm reading conflicting accounts online where some say it's a nice beginner SPS, but it's also an Acropora, which is known to be difficult. Are stags the single subcategory of acros that are somehow easy?
- Do they do well in a mix reef? I have a mostly LPS dominated tank with nitrate at 5-10 ppm, phosphate at 0.1 ppm, alk at 9 dKH and calcium at 420. I'd like my SPS pieces to do well in this environment. The elevated nitrate and phosphate in particular worry me.
- Do different varieties of staghorns all have roughly the same requirements, or are the "designer" ones more finicky? My experience with LPS (hammers / torches) for example, is that the indo varieties tend to be easier than the assusies. Do these kind of distinctions exist for stags?
Would definitely appreciate suggestions of what staghorns to get, as well as alternative SPS (specifically looking for pieces that can grow tall towards the water surface to fill out some empty space in the tank and stags seem to fit this description but I'm open to alternatives).
Thanks!
