Their branches are thin, which aids speedy growth, but also means they are fragile. If their branches do fall off, Steriatopora are good at quickly regrowing any breakage, so do not worry if you accidentally knock a part off. They require an indirect, medium to high water flow and strong lighting to maintain their bright colors.
Acropora corals are quintessential reef-building corals commonly known to have thick branches that spread out. In the wild, you will see an entire reef covered in staghorn corals due to them being one of the fastest-growing SPS corals. They will need lots of space and regular haircuts! Their thick branches also make great hiding places for reef fish.
One of the most well-known, fast-growing staghorn acros is Green Bali Slimer Acropora yongei. Placement is key: when placed higher up in the tank, their branches will be short and more compact. If lower down, expect them to branch out a lot more. Acros do best with a moderate to strong water movement that is random, and with moderate to high lighting , metal halides are recommended for optimal growth. Montipora Montis are very interesting SPS corals.
They come in a variety of colors and shape formations. Plating Montipora, scientifically known as Montipora capricornis is well-known for being one of the fastest-growing SPS corals out there. Common Monti colors include purple, green, and red. Some Plating Montiporas can grow in a spiraling pattern, stacking on top of each other creating unique structures inside your reef tank. A medium to high water movement is recommended, accompanied by intense lighting.
Plating Montis are great if it is your first time owning an SPS coral because they are fast-growing, fragments are not too expensive, and there is a Monti out there for every coral lover. We recommend buying an SPS frag pack , as it will give you a variety of colorful corals for your reef aquarium.
Branching Montis like Montipora stellata often referred to as Velvet Branch , is an SPS coral that will spread quickly but are easy to trim back. Current Tank Info: 55 gallon reef sps. Find More Posts by Texas Reef. LOL i want whatever your putting in your tank. You might get an inch a month if you lucky. About inches in months.
Thread Tools. David A. Crandall, M. Fatherree, M. Ken Feldman Jon E. Shimek, Ph. All times are GMT The time now is AM. TapaTalk Enabled. Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement. Everyone wants additives to work. It would be wonderful to pour an additive in that would optimize coral color and grow SPS corals fast. There are many beautiful tanks that use additives from one manufacturer or another.
It is perhaps possible that these additives are the reason for the beautiful success. Or perhaps they are inconsequential. It is difficult to assess objectively if an additive is significant in improving coral color or growth. Most reefers will at some point try some additives in their tank in the hopes of significant color and growth improvement. Each of these systems is popular. Some find these systems complicated and others describe them as streamlined and easy.
Your coral require nutrients, nitrates and phosphates. The excess nitrates and phosphates ultimately need to be exported or removed or consumed. Bacteria and algae are large consumers of nitrates and phosphates.
Encouraging algae growth can be done in either a refugium, algae turf scrubber or an algae reactor and they are each powerful methods of nutrient export. Bacteria live on all the surfaces of the tank as well as in the water column. Rockwork in the tank provides a very large surface area for bacteria and some people therefore adds lots of rock to their tank. Sand beds, particularly deep sand beds can be an area of high density nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria.
Bacteria in the water column and on surfaces can be fed a carbon source to promote increasing bacteria numbers.
The carbon source can be added directly to the water such as vodka, vinegar or sugar. The carbon source can also be in a reactor via pellets. There are bacterial products to add biodiversity to the tank that can be added. And there are proprietary products that are designed to reduce nitrates and phosphate specifically. Additionally, there are ceramic medias that provide huge surface areas in their pore structure to allow for large populations of bacteria that significantly help reduce nitrates.
Protein skimmers remove some uneaten food, and some amount of nitrates and phosphates as well as bacteria in the skim mate.
Skimmers also add oxygenation to the water, and also remove some organics. Excess phosphates can be removed through binding agents, such as GFO or lanthanum chloride.
If nitrates are aggressively removed by any of the methods previously mentioned, then nitrate supplementation can help drive phosphates lower as well. If nutrients are too high, coral calcification, growth, and color are all adversely effected and unwanted algae blooms are encouraged. If nutrients are too low, corals are likely to be overly pale and starving.
If nutrients are out of balance, the tank is vulnerable to a cyanobacteria bloom or other plagues. I manage nutrients with a Bubble King Mini Protein Skimmer, several liters of Siporax, a refugium lit by a Kessil H deep purple with fast growing Chaeto, a seven by sixteen inch filter sock changed out twice weekly, and ten to fifteen percent water changes weekly. Adequate flow is an absolute necessity for coral health and ultimately color. There are no objective criteria that really well describe the necessary flow required.
Adequate water movement around SPS coral significantly impacts their nutrient absorption and excretion. In terms of how much flow is enough, perhaps the best metaphor is that everyone loves a nice breeze but no one enjoys overly forceful winds. Basically gentle polyp movement indicates minimally required flow. Exactly how much flow and polyp movement around SPS is not really known. More flow and more polyp movement are usually considered better but too much direct flow will strip tissue off the coral.
There are a great deal of wonderful power heads with all kinds of innovative designs available as well as wave machines.
Ideally random flow with gyre movement of the water is ideal because it will help your SPS with both absorption and excretion of nutrients as well as keep detritus from settling. Curiously, unilateral flow as opposed to random flow often results in SPS colonies that grow similarly to a wind swept tree instead of in a more uniform, concentric shape. I previously used two Tunze power heads for added flow within the display.
SPS require lots of light. Fortunately, there are many choices to select from. Metal halides, t5s and LEDS, all can grow corals with beautiful colors. Metal halides have been the gold standard. Often described as the best light for growing and coloring SPS.
But metal halide bulbs require replacement, roughly annually and they give off lots of heat which usually requires a chiller to keep the tank from getting to warm. Many choose to use t5 fixtures solely. T5 fixtures consistently produce good results and you can grow SPS with t5.
LEDS have made an incredible impact on the hobby and are presumably the most popular choice for new reefers. An advantage to LEDS is that different lighting spectrums can be dialed in. Not all SPS will fluoresce dramatically but some corals will display vivid colors not seen under typical metal halide or t5 bulb light spectrums.
Of course to get the pop, LEDs create somewhat of a Windex effect to the water, a very blue look. The newer LED units have less and less of Windex effect but still provides dramatic pop or fluorescence. Given the various advantages and disadvantages of each light system, there are many reefers who choose some combination of metal halides, t5s or LEDS. There will likely be arguments for some time to come about the best light system. Given the flexibility of dialing in light spectrums, the dramatic fluorescence visualized, and the absence of bulb replacement needs, it seems LEDS will simply continue to gain market share over their already market dominance.
I have a Giesemann fixture over my tank with three metal halides, Radium watt 20 k bulbs, and four ATI T5 blue plus 80 watt bulbs. The metal halide Radiums are on from to , five hours. The quality of the artificial saltwater ultimately determines the success of a tank and thereby the colors that can be achieved in your SPS. Not only do nitrates and phosphates need to be removed from city or well water but also chlorine and chloramines.
Additionally, further contaminants and organic compounds will be removed. There are many salt manufacturers. Each seemingly has set a goal or criteria for their parameters and those are typically listed on the box.
There always seems to be ongoing debates about which is the best salt. I suggest that you review the parameters the various salt manufacturers list and determine what you would like to target.
For many people, alkalinity is the most important parameter. I am not sure that it should be though. None of the manufacturers produce a salt with less than around 7. Some produce a product with alkalinity closer to 11 dKh.
There are relatively easy ways to reduce newly made saltwater alkalinity, if desired.
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