best source for acropora colonies?
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If you are searching for colonies... I guess I'd check places like Pacific East, Corals.com, a few others sell colonies. For frags... @Battlecorals !!
Thanks. Those places are a little out of my price range and the photos look pretty heavily processed. Are there any places that do more old school or even non-WYSIWYG acro colonies? I'm not looking for the craziest hype pieces, just some nicely developed colonies for my tank.
I’ve got a few up. If there’s something you see and like on my site, shoot me a PM and we can make a deal
Try pieces of the ocean. Top end Acros. Auctions generally start on Wednesdays close Friday night. https://www.piecesoftheocean.com/
Their auctions are held on
Never been disappointed and you can score outstanding corals for cheap.
Their auctions are held on
Never been disappointed and you can score outstanding corals for cheap.
386reeftrader
Active Member
Aquasd has some nice stuff from time to time. If you can find a LFS that can order them in and make sure they are semi stable before you buy them that’s a better route. Colonies don’t always ship the best
As long as we are throwing in R2R sponsors into the mix, @uniquecorals also seem to carry some nice mini colonies as well
Lavey29
10K Club member
You really don't want to buy SPS colonies because they typically don't ship well nor do they adapt to new environments well. Colonies have usually been in their primary tank for years so moving them to a new environment is going to leave you with some pristine white ornaments.
Frags ship and adapt much easier and you can grow them into mini colonies in 6 months or so if you know what you're doing. If it dies you're not out big cash. You should always start with a few easy test frags first.
Frags ship and adapt much easier and you can grow them into mini colonies in 6 months or so if you know what you're doing. If it dies you're not out big cash. You should always start with a few easy test frags first.
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Actually I am not convinced that is the case. I have a few SPS frags, but feeding them seems to be a challenge as they are unable to capture food on their own. A small colony should be much better at capturing food and therefore easier to acclimate into captivity. My system is otherwise setup for SPS with blanket-coverage lighting and laminar wave-like flow.
386reeftrader
Active Member
I can tell you with 100% certainty that is not the case. Acropora do not ned to be fed, and will not benefit from feedings. They need an established biome, stable params, quality lighting and flow. Frags will adapt much better to a new system than a colony. If you don't already have healthy and actively growing Acropora in your tank then it'd be best to stray away from buying colonies
Lavey29
10K Club member
Then you lack experience with SPS. Even all the coral vendors will tell you to start with frags.
Lavey29
10K Club member
Exactly
fish_collector
Valuable Member
You ought to to do some more research into SPS corals, your notions are not accurate. SPS colonies do not transfer well tank to tank, especially after shipping. And as much as maricultured colonies sound like a good way to go, they don’t adapt well and almost always come in with pests that you just don’t want to have to deal with. I can take a 1” frag of something and grow it out before a maricultured colony does anything. Wild colonies are a better way to go but truth be told a very high number of them dont make it either.
An instant reef does indeed sound like a good idea, but 2 years from now the hobbyists who started with frags will have a much better reef, both in size and color.
And SPS corals don’t need to be fed, not directly anyways.
SPS frags do grow at a good pace when you provide them with what they want. 99% of them dont continue to grow from the frag itself, but rather from tissue that has encrusted onto the substrate. I suggest you read up on them as I believe you have formed the wrong understanding of them. Frags are the way to go.
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Why do you want colonies? Most of my enjoyment comes from growing and manicuring. How big is this tank?
Good luck
Why do you want colonies? Most of my enjoyment comes from growing and manicuring. How big is this tank?
Good luck
I don't like the fruit-stand tank look with a bunch of little nubs. Colonies are much more natural and impressive, even in "bland" colors.
SudzFD
Valuable Member
Edit: I edit this because I think I misunderstood you are looking for colonies. The sources below are great for frags. Sbb sells small colonies on occasion. Maybe check out a frag swap or reefapalooza or similar event. They often are a good source for colonies.
I have really enjoyed shopping at @SBB Corals . You can get amazing deals there especially when he does like a big thanksgiving sale or something like that. He also gives out tons of gift cards from participating in the sale forums. His stuff is clean, truly wysiwyg, and arrives professionally shipped.
@WWC also has amazing corals the few I bought from them have grown very well in my tank. I have their Solomon splits and their man of steal which is one if my favorite corals in my tank. Again also perfectly wysiwyg and professionally packaged. They also run sales on this forum you should keep your eye out for.
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