So you want to grow beautiful acropora huh? Take a tip, leave a tip.

[Koigula]

I believe this is why we shouldnt chase a specific number, more of a ball park that works for your tank. Alk kept within a certain range rather than a specific number has always been what ive found to work best.

You end up chasing numbers that someone else has but, no two tanks are the same so what works for someone else doesnt mean that you will find success. I try to run my tanks between 7-8 on the alk because that seems to work for me but some people run 8-9 and have great success.

It is so easy to maniuplate and create stability. I never have been a fan of letting chips fall. Once they are dialed in, weekly maintenance to keep correct parameters is easy. You can chose 7-8 or 8-9 alkalinity. It does not matter really.

 

[Dolphins18]

Acclimate them to the light - especially if you have one of these new LED's that auto acclimates them for you, it can't get easier than that. Acclimating with halides was no fun and I lost a lot. I lost a new frag the other day because I got complacent and did not change the lights to acclimation mode, it withered in a matter of hours

 

[ChiCity]

In a tank with high enough flow to be supporting acros, I'm surprised you would have enough detritus settling in your rocks to constantly be blowing them off.

if you actually took a turkey baster to your rocks…
you’d understand what i am saying.

no worries though, to each their own.

 

[Bpb]

I'm curious to know if anyone charts their parameters and compares those parameters to a specific time in your tanks life when your SPS were thriving? Every tank is different and each member seems to have a different set of parameters they keep to and each tank can be amazing.

For example, I've had my parameters at: 8 dkh, 40ppm NO3, .15 PO4, 480 Ca, 1400 Mg, PH 8.05 to 8.31. Growth was great. But then I read that you can increase your growth rate with higher Alk and nutrients, so I raised my Alk to 9 dkh over a month. All other parameters stayed the same, and I started to get burnt tips and STN. Now I'm slowly going back to 8 dkh because what I charted at that level seems to work better.

I am by no means an SPS guru, just looking to learn from them.

The high alk thing has NEVER worked for me. Regardless of lighting and nutrients. How some people manage to keep their alk in the 10-12 range with acros escapes me. It’s never worked for me

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

if you actually took a turkey baster to your rocks…
you’d understand what i am saying.

no worries though, to each their own.

I have done it and full understand what you are saying.

My experience with basting out rock was that after a few weeks of blowing it off religiously, I stopped getting anything off of my rock. Water would be just as clear after.

I haven't done it in months and just tried for S&G. Barely anything. Just because someone has a different experience than you, doesn't mean they don't understand.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

1. What's an important tip for keeping colorful and healthy acros in your tank?
A:Stability...(you're going to wanna find out your daily nutrient consumption and dose a good 3 part dosing regimen. Alk and cal to equal parts normally then mag after... you'll also want to keep a stable temperature and salinity which is often overlooked sometimes.. I like to keep my params at Salinity: 1.025,
Temperature: 78*
Alkalinity: 8.4-8.6
Calcium: 420-440
Magnesium: 1400
I try to not let my alk swing as well this is the number one killer of sps,I try to only let mine shift .1 to .2 up or down as .1 is 1000 for a coral,even though it appears to be minuscule to the human eye that .1 is a rapid influx when it shifts a whole point up or down is a serious problem if it happens overnight if .1 is 1000 than 1 is a change of 100,000 and the acro that was getting x is now getting to much or not enough of x...having a skimmer is also a must no matter what your budget is I believe you can afford one.. having a bare bottom crushed agronite or gravel is also reccomend over sand so you can focus on flow.. if you have low phosphates low nitrates you can dose aminos,double up on roids and put your skimmer on a timer if they are to high you can remove a few fish feed less and add a microbial input to buffer the water of nitrates you can also try running carbon or upgrading skimmer

Always buy from a clean source always test water in bag, drip acclimate for 30 min to 2 hours(if your alk is 8.4 and theres is 11)depending on how different your numbers are)dip and baster,remove from plug if it hasn't encrusted yet if it looks dirty If not I wouldn't worry about it

If you can qt the piece,qt! have a small coral qt setup where you can feed and observe the piece

Feeding 3 times a day sometimes 4
(Frozen mysis,spirulina) target feeding oyster feast and cyclopeze once or twice a week

Reefroids once a weeks

Sucking out detritus daily and doing a 10-25% wc

Have a controlable 52x flow rate(5 to 7x water volume for return(45x turnover rate in movers wavemakers locline

Clean lines on dosing pump daily forsure(we dont want any misfires test to make sure it is dosing meq/ml per min that it is rated for)

Test water in morning and before bed if u wanna be super thorough and record results to compare daily weekly monthly uptake, after every wc test alk

If u frag, frag in water I see so many people frag out of water!and it makes my skin crawl!(its okay if u do this to zoas or mushies as they're from shallow reefs)(please dont frag your stick colony that has 1k in frags outta water... have 1 gal of tank water with 1ml lugols dip after cutting have another gal of tank water dip the frag in fresh tank water after dipping

Also dont overglue this should be self explanatory.. but you'd be suprised even wholesalers go heavy with the glue sometimes..many people say it helps it encrust..no...their is a fine lime between too much and not enough; my method is my method I'm not saying its rite.i cut the frag in bowl of water with bonecutters have plugs ready glue the plug then put io mold fast ontop of the glue, many people dont realize this is a chemical reaction the glue gets hot(I've bought so many acro even from wholesalers with glue burn) heat= expansion so I dip the plug with the glue and the small ball of mold fast it gets hot and expands in water I put my frag that I cut on this after expansion is 3/4 of the way done(20 to 30secs) all then sit for min I then dip in lugols then in tank water then put in frag tank for observation


2. Was there a "breakthrough" or an "ah ha" moment that took you to the next level in your acropora success?

A:when I went bare bottom started pulling out my rock once a month letting sit in sun,started doing 35% wc daily and using aquaforest over esv bionic 3 part, I believe aquaforest is better for acro as it is a probiotic based formula has amino acids and essential trace minerals not just the big 3 alk,cal and mag(and this is coming from a guy that started with making his own 2 part soda and lime in a tote with a float valve in 06) also when I threw out my radions(burned out diodes app locked me out)and went back to t5(mh is even more superior if you can vent it and run chiller if needed)

Dont do what other people do that is the number #1 reason people fail at sps they try to mirror what other people do

No 2 systems start with the same quality base water,no two systems mix their same the same,no two systems have the same substrate amount of rocks(which contributes to water volume mineral depletion nutrient sinks etc)no two system have the same amount coral(#1 factor how many animals that are eating food and nutrients = How much should I feed both) it will he an uphill battle for any beginner until you figure out your daily nutrient consumption, your daily nutrient output(no3 po4) and how to adjust accordingly


My 2 cents hope this helps anyone struggling wit sticks! Happy reefing

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Also @revhtree Karen's be like

 

[TopShelfAquatics]

We definitely enjoy growing a stick or two!

Some tips from us here at TSA:

1- Stable mineral levels
2 - Good flow
3 - High Ph
4 - A lot of feeding foods of the proper particulate size (ie. Benepets, Rotifers, Oyster Eggs and Phytoplankton)

Of course everyone knows proper PAR levels. We find that a lot of our customers who are just starting with acros are dead set on chasing numbers. It is definitely much more important to have stability over hitting these exact numbers. The levels that work for us may not work exactly for you.

 

[Treefer32]

It's strange, I purchased a few different acropora just to try them not expecting any success. I placed them when I didn't realize how high my phosphates were. They didn't do much when my phosphates were around .5592 ppm per ICP test and I had no trace elements. Was using regular IO.

I have since switched to Reef Crystals, dosing Red Sea A, B, C, D trace elements, and have reduced my phosphates down to .1 ppm Since doing that, my acropora have all grown tripled in size, and are doing great! I've fragged a couple of them and even the frags are doing great!

I can't get my LPS Acans to grow, but my acropora is colorful and growing like weeds. I have one that didn't do as well with the high phosphates. It's a fuzzy acro. It grows a think calcerous tips and the tips are fuzzy, but won't grow any further. Just seems to grow thicker if anything. Don't know, my other Acropora are going to start running into each other. So, I'm really happy with their growth and color.

I run 4 T5 HO bulbs I change out every 10-11 months. I run AI Hydra 52 LEDS (3 fixtures over a 6foot by 3 foot tank 31" tall.

The acros have really gained some nice deep colors after I raised my trace elements.

As far as everyone's comments about alk and stuff calcium and religious testing. Nope. I test alk every 3-7 days. It's usually between 8.0 and 8.7 dkh. PH runs between 8.2 and 8.4. Calcium, I test once every 3-6 months, it's usually around 525 and magnesium is usually 1500-1540. (Yes, they're high). Salinity is stable at 1.025.

Heck, when I do a 130 gallon water change, my tank temp drops down to room temp. around 69-70 degrees just for a an hour or so, then back up to 77 with my heaters. The Acro's don't seem to care. They care more about phosphates than they do about all the numbers.

The key, for me, is keeping phosphates below .1 ppm and above .04 ppm. Seems to be when my acros have the most color and growth. Of course, flow, and everything else everyone said.

 

[Koigula]

1. What's an important tip for keeping colorful and healthy acros in your tank?

I buy SPS that have been heavily aquaculured AND the frag must absolutely be over 2" in total stick length and preferably 3". If you follow all the basic well known parameters, these will grow. Extra special Tenius that is 1/2" long will take a year to double in size while these will encrust and look natural in a year as a small colony.

2. Was there a "breakthrough" or an "ah ha" moment that took you to the next level in your acropora success?

I went back to T5 bulbs and Kalk reactors. I hate the term but chasing a higher pH is critical to long term growth. I am always 8.15 to 8.35 and test alkalinity daily, I record average weekly and increase supply weekly if only a little. You need to keep pushing alkalinity supply atleast weekly and stability. I also quit on Mariculture and mariculture like supplies using sea water wells. 100% aquaculture only for now on.I quit looking at supply companies selling things that are hobby grade and go very basic with near commerical equipment.. It just should not be as difficult as it is with huge failures by newcomers.

Oh yeah and make your fish poop ALOT

 

[ScottB]

Stability, light, flow, and this special ingredient:
FLYING TANG TURDS

 

[ZoWhat]

Stability, patience, waterflow, lighting, nutrient export, testing,

.... AND LEAVE ALL ACROs AT THE LFS

 

[Ruben Sacramento]

1. What's an important tip for keeping colorful and healthy acros in your tank?
Detectable nutrient levels, healthy biome and proper spectrum

2. Was there a "breakthrough" or an "ah ha" moment that took you to the next level in your acropora success?
the moment I found the actual reef spectrum study and designed my lights accordingly.
alkalinity consumption more than doubled since then

 

[Appoloreefer]

Been successful for last 2 months. Acros are encrusting and have a ton of new corallite growth. Start with live rock from the gulf and dose live phyto daily.

Do you have to have a license to get live rock for the Gulf? I live in Florida and was going to take a piece of rock and was told it is illegal.

 

[Marc2952]

if you actually took a turkey baster to your rocks…
you’d understand what i am saying.

no worries though, to each their own.

I definitely understand lol its amazing how much detritus accumulates in the rocks.

 

[bigjgmac]

Today let's discuss tips for keeping SPS Acropora (acros) healthy, growing, colorful and beautiful! We would love for those of you who have been able to successfully grow colorful acros in their reef tanks, long term, to chime in and leave us a tip! Let's talk about it!

1. What's an important tip for keeping colorful and healthy acros in your tank?

2. Was there a "breakthrough" or an "ah ha" moment that took you to the next level in your acropora success?

I would really like to hear only productive comments for the benefit of the readers please!

@Aqua Pet Garden's reef tank

I’m pretty new to acropora keeping. I tried (too early in my tank’s life) and killed a few. At this point I’ve got 10 in my tank and all seem to be doing well. They range in age from 6 months to 2 days. While the jury is out on the newly added ones, the older ones are colorful and seem to be taking hold.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Don't look straight at those sticks, or approach the tank wearing the wrong color shirt!

 

[Acros]

Do you have to have a license to get live rock for the Gulf? I live in Florida and was going to take a piece of rock and was told it is illegal.

Nope. I got mine from gulfliverock.com

There are a few other vendors as well. KP aquatics is a famous one.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to acros. Heck, right now I seem to be killing two toadstools which apparently takes special talent.

So I have two acros in my tank. The first was one I got for free back in February and arrived in a cold leaking bag. I fragged a couple of tiny branches that looked alive and let me tell you, it struggled. Battled algae growing where polyps should be and it turned a really drab color. The thing is, it was sad but alive! I'm now thrilled to report that recently it's actually starting to not just open but grow! And it's getting some actual color! I don't know what kind of acro it is but Grow little guy, Grow!

And yet I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything wrong with my water parameters. Nutrients off the charts and pH in the basement. My tank makes me nuts most days.

But nevertheless my little mystery acro gave me confidence to add a Green Slimer two weeks ago. I've got my fingers crossed for this new guy because it's beautiful!

Edit: Forgot to add my "tip". I credit getting the sad acro off the frag rack as the biggest part of my success. I figured it needed the CUC to get over the uglies and that they'd do a better job cleaning it up than I'd ever do. So I picked a spot on the rocks and went for it. Seems to have worked!

 

[AJ192]

1. What's an important tip for keeping colorful and healthy acros in your tank?
Detectable nutrient levels, healthy biome and proper spectrum

Detectable nutrients?!?! What’s that? I’m honestly considering running ulns cause I can’t keep it.

I swear to god I can’t keep any level of phosphates and nitrates. Saying I don’t have a lot of fish yet (qt takes forever especially when a disease wipes it out near the end) but I overfeed to oblivion and nothing changes.