Where Have The SPS Gone??

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Is it a Rommel Acro? I have a colony of Rommel Acro with yellow tip

One of my new additions

 

[TopNotchCorals]

Is it a Rommel Acro? I have a colony of Rommel Acro with yellow tip

Nah it was a real big colony that had just came in.

 

[ryanjiang]

u need a manicure...

LOL, the color of nail looks funny under blue light.

 

[ryanjiang]

Great stuff redstag, what is name of last red one?

Ming lost his Rommel's watermelon, but I got one before that :wink: the frag he cut from his DT, must be smallest one he ever cut for me, I think it barelly 1/2 inch.

Now it grow quite a bit after allmost 1 year and start to have some color, sorry for the bad pic -

 

[TopNotchCorals]

Great stuff redstag, what is name of last red one?

Ming lost his Rommel's watermelon, but I got one before that :wink: the frag he cut from his DT, must be smallest one he ever cut for me, I think it barelly 1/2 inch.

Now it grow quite a bit after allmost 1 year and start to have some color, sorry for the bad pic -

I saw the piece he had left of that WM Acro and it was a very intense red with green groth base.It wasnt in the best shape though as it appeared to be nothing but white skeleton on the bottom half that wasnt getting any light

 

[cwegescheide]

yah..you dont want your tank to look flat !. there is no landscape without SPS .:bigsmile:

Keeping an SPS tank is like flying an airplane , if you are not careful, you crash and everyone dies. :snicker:
Thats why all us SPS keepers are Daredevils and have a death wish. :hell_boy:

I like SPS because of the challenge. There is a LOT to beware of with these things. I've had tanks for 20yrs. Started with Cyclids and then salt.. Had FO for several years then saw corals. Softies got boring pretty quick. Its the challenge and the patience required to allow a little frag to grow for a few years that really keeps my interest. If you can grow a little frag into a nice colorful colony then I'd say you accomplished something. I like Zoas and some softies too but never really got in to the Chalice and Favia thing for some reason. Probably beause I don't know much about them.

 

[Reef Goddess]

I think maybe a lot of people don't carry as much sps nowadays because maybe they're not as profitable as other corals? Wild collected colonies usually have a pretty high mortality rate either coming from the Pacific or shipping them to the customer. And maricultured acros tend to come with a lot of pests and require more quarantine time. The recent Australian sps are really gorgeous, but wow, what a price tag! Sps are expensive for retailers to buy compared to other corals and they are harder to maintain. A lot of my local lfs don't carry much sps and what they do is generally browned out and in bad shape. Most fish stores don't use good enough lighting or have good enough water quality to keep them.

Even growing a lot of sps frags as an aquaculture facility can be tough because you always have to worry about not contaminating your mother colony tank with pests and keep a close eye on everything. Having big enough colonies so that you have a constant supply of frags is challenging also. I guess that's why I see many retailers nowadays that are just chopping up corals and calling them aqua-cultured. It can be tough to compete with stores that do this if you're trying to produce frags that are actually 100% aqua-cultured. But I have noticed the corals that really are aqua-cultured and have been growing out for 1-2+ months have a much better survival rate than the chopped corals.

Sps will always be an important part of the hobby and like all corals they go through an ebb and flow of popularity. I have a big love for all types of corals and find it amusing how there are never ending fads in this hobby. Oh well, those fads pay our bills. ;p



Since you guys posted pics, I'll add just a few of mine. I love my acros, but I have a pretty serious montipora addiction. Around 35 different types and counting. ;]

 

[TopNotchCorals]

I think maybe a lot of people don't carry as much sps nowadays because maybe they're not as profitable as other corals? Wild collected colonies usually have a pretty high mortality rate either coming from the Pacific or shipping them to the customer. And maricultured acros tend to come with a lot of pests and require more quarantine time. The recent Australian sps are really gorgeous, but wow, what a price tag! Sps are expensive for retailers to buy compared to other corals and they are harder to maintain. A lot of my local lfs don't carry much sps and what they do is generally browned out and in bad shape. Most fish stores don't use good enough lighting or have good enough water quality to keep them.

Even growing a lot of sps frags as an aquaculture facility can be tough because you always have to worry about not contaminating your mother colony tank with pests and keep a close eye on everything. Having big enough colonies so that you have a constant supply of frags is challenging also. I guess that's why I see many retailers nowadays that are just chopping up corals and calling them aqua-cultured. It can be tough to compete with stores that do this if you're trying to produce frags that are actually 100% aqua-cultured. But I have noticed the corals that really are aqua-cultured and have been growing out for 1-2+ months have a much better survival rate than the chopped corals.

Sps will always be an important part of the hobby and like all corals they go through an ebb and flow of popularity. I have a big love for all types of corals and find it amusing how there are never ending fads in this hobby. Oh well, those fads pay our bills. ;p

Yeah as a vendor sure its about profit thats why your a vendor but there are vendors out there that are in it for the love of the hobby and I just wish there was more of them.I can tell right off the bat when I purchase from you what your all about,I have only dealt with 3 different vendors/sponsors here on R2R and all 3 of them are what I call "true to the hobby" IMO.On a side note since we are talkin bout sps,is that a formosa in your pic Reef Goddess,and where can I get a frag??

 

[Reef Goddess]

Which picture? The last picture is misleading as it is an up close shot of my PL colony that has encrusted tons on the base. I think its really cool, so I took a picture of it. ;]

If you saw my tanks then you'd know I'm totally into it for the hobby. I have a bunch of corals that I grow out not because they're popular, but just because I really like them. Like 8 different kinds of clove polyps. lol Most all the money I make goes to buy more corals that I can grow out. As an aquaculturist I'm not satisfied unless I have it all! Diversity is my middle name. hehe I really do enjoy growing corals and seeing what works and what doesn't. I also really like culturing corals that very few people have taken the time to try and grow. Or things that are difficult to grow. Selling frags just feeds my passion, but one day if I hit it big, I would be just as happy to give stuff away. One thing good that has come out of the poor economy, is a lot more people are interested in frags than they ever were before and its nice to know that we're doing our part to preserve the reefs. ;]

 

[TopNotchCorals]

Which picture? The last picture is misleading as it is an up close shot of my PL colony that has encrusted tons on the base. I think its really cool, so I took a picture of it. ;]

If you saw my tanks then you'd know I'm totally into it for the hobby. I have a bunch of corals that I grow out not because they're popular, but just because I really like them. Like 8 different kinds of clove polyps. lol Most all the money I make goes to buy more corals that I can grow out. As an aquaculturist I'm not satisfied unless I have it all! Diversity is my middle name. hehe I really do enjoy growing corals and seeing what works and what doesn't. I also really like culturing corals that very few people have taken the time to try and grow. Or things that are difficult to grow. Selling frags just feeds my passion, but one day if I hit it big, I would be just as happy to give stuff away. One thing good that has come out of the poor economy, is a lot more people are interested in frags than they ever were before and its nice to know that we're doing our part to preserve the reefs. ;]

I agree with you RG and the pic I was referring to was your avatar pic

 

[Reef Goddess]

Alas that was a really gorgeous amethyst mille that I no longer have. RIP

 

[SDguy]

Lovely montis, RG!! I wish I had the space for even 1/4 that many!

 

[Reef Goddess]

Thx! I guess I should get around to doing a "my monti collection" thread. I also don't have as many acros because of the space issue. One day of these days when I have a bigger house, I might setup a display tank again. My husband is always bugging me to setup up a display tank, even though we have 5 large prop tanks in one room. Reefing guys!!! LOL