well the other day i was at premium and my mom had to have a nice piece of green acro. i wanted to buy the big bunch they had for 90 but knew i didnt have the equipment or experence. so this week they had a green acro and i figured id give stones a try. its sitting at the top of my aquarium about 2 in. from the top of the water with a power head blasting on it constantly. what do they eat?? good enough for it or will it die we will see. sweeper tenticals??? any info on acros will be very helpful. thanks
I to bought my first acro from there on saturday. They don’t have sweeper tenticals like LPS do. They are filter feeders with their polyps though. The biggest thing with SPS is PERFECT water quality, high flow and additives such as calcium etc. They are very sensitive to the water quality, if your mag, alk, pH etc dips or goes up to much, they may get stressed out and bleach. That is one big reason why I never got into SPS, but I liked the acro crab that was with mine, but he’s gone now :-(" I liked the softies, LPS since they need less flow, dirtier water (therefor you can have a higher bioload and not perfect husbandry skills) plus I love the movement they provide.
I don’t think PC lights will cut it, I am hoping my tek 6 bulb light will be enough and my water quality is up to par. Keep an update on how it goes, post a pic if you can, I will update mine later on. Good luck, hope some of that helped, and it wasn’t me just babbling haha. Also do some searches on reefcentral, they also have a specific SPS forum.
i can see it bleaching :-(" well it was an attempt and it failed too bad. it may heal??? what ever happens i dont think i am going to get another for this aquarium.
I doubt it would bleach that fast from low lights. Probably something else
not the whole thing. a few tips and a very small section that may have been shadowed
Al’s right. Its probably not from the lighting, thats a much slower process. Also, its probably not bleaching its more than likely RTNing and will probably be 100% white and dead with in a day or two. As others have mentioned, your water has to be pristine before attempting to keep acros. Phosphates and nitrates will kill acros very quickly.
Probably the biggest difference between keeping softies and SPS that people are not used to is having Ca, Mg, and Alk all correct. Unfortunately most other problems in the aquarium can be corrected with water changes, but very few salt mixes are designed with the correct amount of Ca and Mg for natural reef parameters. I think it is possible you might be able to keep it alive if you keep it near the top and if you’re water chemistry is dead on, but I wouldn’t have advised trying it or doing it for too long. As mentioned before it is more likely stress of being moved or being placed in different water chemistry or disease then it is from low light. Most of the time when corals die from lighting being too low it is a very slow process.
I haven’t researched heavy into SPS diets, but I know a lot of people use golden pearls. I also heard the PERFECT diet for one particular species of acro was bristle worm poop…, but I suppose that also depends on what the bristle worm eats.(that and the fact that there isn’t an easy way for us to grow out an army of them and harvest their fecies, suppose it’s more of an interesting fact then a helpfull tip)
Just my two cents. Also if it seems to be completely dead, leave it in the tank. Never throw it away as it is possible it will come back months after you have seen any polyps or color to it. My first sps(also an acro) came back after seeing no polyps for 5 months of seeing no polyps and I swore it was covered in algae to. Besides a dead sps even if massive will do no harm to your other corals.
Jon
Well, for numero uno, no coral likes a powerhead blasting straight at it. That would keep their polyps seeking shelter like a kansas farm girl hiding from a tornado!.(Wizzard of Oz!?)
With hat kind of high, concentrated flow, they won’t open and extend polyps to feed or absorb light. and it is just harsh and destructive on their tissue. smooth, flow is what they like. enough to make their poyps wave gently in the breeze, but not look like a torn banner in a hurricane wind.
PC lighting is marginal for growing SPS but can be done. Needs good Actinics. And also Depends on other important conditions such as water chemistry, Bio-filtration and slight feeding. In the least you need near zero nitrates and phosphates to keep acros. High levels of either or both mess up their metabolism and grow bad algaes that can smother them.
Can you do that for your tank?
It’s possible.
today i found a little piece lying on the sand bed in the almost dark. not bleached. still looks fine. what’s up.
Like previously said it takes a long time to die from low light. The problems you had earlier were probably just the stress of travel and being moved from place to place. I would get it out of the sand and mount it high as possible if you plan on trying to keep it alive. Keep us updated. And again, if it apears to die I would still leave it in the tank as long as possible there is always a chance for a come back.
Jon