what happened to all the acros?

bnord · Jun 3, 2022

90's reefer said:
For me thats part of the fun to see what it may turn into. I just setup an 80g growout system for that reason.
Its just another part of the hobby I enjoy after 30+ years of your standard reef systems.

I would be happy to wait and see what color they turn out to be except for white!

Tonycass12 · Jun 3, 2022

Lavey29 said:
Only basing off what I have been told from vendors such as WWC. A colony that has been in a specific stabil environment for an extended period of time moves to a new environment which may have significantly different parameters such as 7 alk versus now 11 alk let's say. I could see how that would shock the coral. I have not purchased SPS colonies myself though with the exception of one green stylo from a tank break down.

This is exactly why staying close to NSW parameters is so important when you are picking up maricultured colonies so they aren't getting a shock going into your system.

X-37B · Jun 3, 2022

Tonycass12 said:
This is exactly why staying close to NSW parameters is so important when you are picking up maricultured colonies so they aren't getting a shock going into your system.

Yes agree! This is why many dont make it as the lfs thats gets these run 10dkh. I have been their multiple times and helped them with unboxing.
No aclimation, just dip for a few minutes and right into their system.
This may be why so many people have bad experience with them.

jda · Jun 3, 2022

Colonies that move in captivity seem to be higher risk of failure than pieces of colonies or mari stuff that comes from the ocean. We can all wonder why, but it seems to be pretty true. I have some strong thoughts on this that I will spare here... think NSW parameters, good flow and 6500k lighting as a good start, which most shops and hobbyists do not get near, other than the flow.

Most wild "colonies" are really frags... 6 or 8 inches off of a piece that can be a few feet wide.

Roli's Reef Ranch · Sep 14, 2022

jda said:
We have a store that specializes in acropora, among other things. They do well. They are as good as any coastal store that people rave about. They sell frags of named pieces and select wild stuff. They have a good eye, which really helps them. They also know what stuff will sell for and don't have digis for like $75 that waste your time. If you go in there, you will see moderately priced stuff like Blue Tort, Red Dragon and some staples, but they usually also have some nicer things. I got a 30k lokani in there that I have been wanting for a while... so a worthwhile trip. They get in wild stuff too... echinata, spaths, for example - again, a nice eye and they know what is cool.

Most of the rest of the stores around me don't have the knowledge or setups to handle most acropora beyond the super-easy stuff. They will tell you that there is not much of a market, but the market knows not to go and see them.

All of these place should be able to get mari acropora on plugs from their wholesalers. They are still abundant since they just sat there and grew during COVID. They have risks, are not super easy and can have pests. You can get some really wild colored rainbow tenuis if that is still your thing - whole colonies for pretty cheap wholesale. Your normal store with 1st gen AI primes over a frag flat full of mushrooms, duncans and xenia will not be able to do well with mari stuff. These are not super duper hard, but they do kinda need an acropora tank and strong lights.

Wild stuff can also be had, but your store needs to specialize. These need landed and cared for different than other things. There is die off here too that is not free. Most wild stuff is MUCH harder than mari.

In the end, acropora are hard unless the shops happen to be semi-hobbyists too. There are probably only 12-24 people that I know in town that would know or want a JawDropper, for example, and they don't kill stuff and often have other nice things to trade, so they are a limited market - these people are also nothing like the typical cross section that you see on r2r both in husbandry, experience and equipment. Something like fox flame, blue tort and maybe a walt disney are better for these stores since they are all under $50 and have a wider market.

If you want acro colonies, then order some. There are many places online that will ship you a box to your local international airport. Please don't ask me (or anybody else) to lay out who does this - if you want it bad enough, then you can find them and it is kinda necessary as a first step to see if you are serious. There are even places in the US that can handle the ordering for you out of LA and get stuff done for a bit more of a fee. The real issue with this is that you have to get a whole box.

Which LFS? I'm in Denver, and not impressed at all. Have to have any decent acros shipped in.