Tester sps in newer tank

[Falc!]

What would be a good canary. I want to get an sps frag to test out my tank and lighting before i start spending real money on coral.

Water params are stable for sps but fairly new tank

 

[Falc!]

Was thinking birdsnest or a pocci

 

[bnord]

Good response is usually with SPS, and new tanks is don't buy anything you can't afford to loose.

Recall that STABILITY is the key for most SPS, and you have not had the time to show stability yet.

However, some frags will help bring diversity and so if you want to try, I would suggest a nice piece of Pavona, or even two cultivars to add some diversity

One thing I would guard against is Pocillipora, will send a photo of how it has spread around my DT, as it shed polyps during my start up phase...


from the display, there are easily 12 colonies, including the back glass - efforts to scrape it off makes it worse -

So please reconsider Pocillipora

 

[Fishfreak2009]

This was my tester SPS. Went in 3 days after filling with water, all dry rock. It's grown dramatically and has encrusted it's plug entirely since December 26th. It has also since developed nice fluorescent aqua highlights around the base and on the tips.

 

[Falc!]

Nice

 

[dedragon]

go to the lfs and get whatever acropora is growing well in the lowest price section (usually $10-20), just make sure to dip i use both bayers inscecticide and coralrx dips for acropora, h2o2 is a third dip i use with pretty much all other corals. dont dip an acro in h2o2

 

[Ghost25]

I recommend Montipora. You can get some very cheap, and they look nice. They are hardier then Acros but more sensitive then zoas or other soft corals. Stylophora or birdsnest are other good options.

 

[nereefpat]

Birdsnest are reportedly finnicky, apparently. I wouldn't do pocci for reasons above.

Montipora digi
Monti cap
Green Slimer for an Acro

 

[dedragon]

I honestly find that montipora prefer medium rather than really high lighting, so acro tester might help better for high up testing, montipora mid tank

 

[LRT]

Green slimer is a good one. Super hardy, cheap and usually the first thing that pops out to me in most tanks I see it in. Mine is doing great in a mixture of leds and T5 at 200par lol. Stability across all params including nutrients, salt, temp, ph, alk, cal and mag is key.

 

[jfoahs04]

Birdsnest are reportedly finnicky, apparently. I wouldn't do pocci for reasons above.

Montipora digi
Monti cap
Green Slimer for an Acro

Basically this. My first was a teal digi. They look great and are relatively hardy. Ditto for Monti Caps. Green Slimers are ubiquitous for "hardy" acros and tend to be fairly bullet proof. My first ever acro was a Red Planet and I've found them to be tough to kill too.

I've never had a finnicky birdsnest, but I've heard people have trouble with them.

 

[mdb_talon]

I would choose a tester that is the same type as what you plan on spending "real money" on. I mean the other suggestions may be good because they are cheap and generally hardy, but its not really testing what you want. Some tanks can do fine with montis, digis, and birdsnest but cant grow an acro. Those "easier" sps generally also have less light requirements than a lot of acros so again I think it is a misleading test if acros are your goal. If your goal is acros then choose a cheap acro as your tester. If your goal is montis then choose a cheap monti. If both then pick one and go from there.

 

[gbroadbridge]

What would be a good canary. I want to get an sps frag to test out my tank and lighting before i start spending real money on coral.

Water params are stable for sps but fairly new tank

Honestly, unless you are really lucky if the tank is less than 6 months old you're wasting money.

It's not just the parameters you can measure that are imporatant, but the microscopic biological diversity and biome that can only establish itself given time.

12 months is pretty safe

 

[LRT]

Honestly, unless you are really lucky if the tank is less than 6 months old you're wasting money.

It's not just the parameters you can measure that are imporatant, but the microscopic biological diversity and biome that can only establish itself given time.

12 months is pretty safe

Depends on how a reef is built and maintained. There's plenty of young tanks full of acros on the boards.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Depends on how a reef is built and maintained. There's plenty of young tanks full of acros on the boards.

And six months later the tanks look different because all the dead coral has been replaced with new coral.

If you have money to waste go for it ...

 

[LRT]

And six months later the tanks look different because all the dead coral has been replaced with new coral.

If you have money to waste go for it ...

Totally disagree heres my instastocked tank week 1 to Month 8. You can check my link to build thread under my handle as well. My point was. If done right it can be done. Never did like the one size fits all safety rules especially when its being done with great success across the boards.

 

[Falc!]

Thank u all for ur input. I know there are always things that work for some and not for others and thats why i just wanted 1 coral to test her out. Dont plan on fully stocking with expensive acros just yet

Just a decent sps that i wont hurt too much if it doesnt make it and if it does well then one that i wont regret putting in due to being invasive or bad later on

 

[Falc!]

My LFS gave me a small frag of setosa montipora to try out...hopefully it does does well