best source for acropora colonies?

[tzabor10]

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.

I understand. It’s normal to want a large piece. I have always considered that to be something more suitable for a doctors office or law firm. My personal experience with sps and especially Acropora tells me to discourage this. It can discolor quickly in a new environment. It can lose all flesh for almost no reason.
Please do what you want. I hope you are successful.
The picture you put up of a plating acro. What size tank is that in?

 

[exnisstech]

 

[Biokabe]

I understand. It’s normal to want a large piece. I have always considered that to be something more suitable for a doctors office or law firm. My personal experience with sps and especially Acropora tells me to discourage this. It can discolor quickly in a new environment. It can lose all flesh for almost no reason.
Please do what you want. I hope you are successful.
The picture you put up of a plating acro. What size tank is that in?

Found the source image: https://reefbuilders.com/2017/05/17/acropora-millepora/

It's in a 352 quintillion gallon aquarium running off of tidal flow and natural sunlight, with an automatic water change set up to change 100% of the water every day.

OP, it's not wrong to prefer the look of colonies. But what you need to remember is that corals - especially acropora - grow to suit their conditions. They don't move, and they don't handle changes in their conditions well.

The reason frags often work better in aquariums is that most of them are small enough that they aren't adapted to their conditions yet, so they can grow to better suit the spot that they find themselves in. They depend on growing into their conditions for prey capture, waste removal and light utilization. The shape of their branches allows them to optimally control their conditions. But once those conditions change, they can't do that anymore. Waste products that once flowed out of the colony are now trapped within the branches. Dense collections of polyps that were optimally placed to capture tiny food particles are now bereft of that nutrient flow, using up energy while not providing enough nutrients to pay for themselves. Branches that were optimally angled to make best use of available light are now... not. And branches that had grown at a certain density to deal with flow conditions are now ill-suited. They might be too dense, they might not be dense enough.

Either way, once the colony is no longer in the conditions it grew in, it's not unusual for mass die-offs to occur, which just makes the whole situation worse.

 

[Troylee]

I understand. It’s normal to want a large piece. I have always considered that to be something more suitable for a doctors office or law firm. My personal experience with sps and especially Acropora tells me to discourage this. It can discolor quickly in a new environment. It can lose all flesh for almost no reason.
Please do what you want. I hope you are successful.
The picture you put up of a plating acro. What size tank is that in?

That would be a 75 trillion gallon ocean in that picture I believe. . To the op good luck.. Sps don’t need feeding they need time.. not sure where you got that photo and info from on a feeding chart.. it took 2 years to grow these out..

 

[tzabor10]

Found the source image: https://reefbuilders.com/2017/05/17/acropora-millepora/

It's in a 352 quintillion gallon aquarium running off of tidal flow and natural sunlight, with an automatic water change set up to change 100% of the water every day.

OP, it's not wrong to prefer the look of colonies. But what you need to remember is that corals - especially acropora - grow to suit their conditions. They don't move, and they don't handle changes in their conditions well.

The reason frags often work better in aquariums is that most of them are small enough that they aren't adapted to their conditions yet, so they can grow to better suit the spot that they find themselves in. They depend on growing into their conditions for prey capture, waste removal and light utilization. The shape of their branches allows them to optimally control their conditions. But once those conditions change, they can't do that anymore. Waste products that once flowed out of the colony are now trapped within the branches. Dense collections of polyps that were optimally placed to capture tiny food particles are now bereft of that nutrient flow, using up energy while not providing enough nutrients to pay for themselves. Branches that were optimally angled to make best use of available light are now... not. And branches that had grown at a certain density to deal with flow conditions are now ill-suited. They might be too dense, they might not be dense enough.

Either way, once the colony is no longer in the conditions it grew in, it's not unusual for mass die-offs to occur, which just makes the whole situation worse.

Pretty much where I was headed with my questions. Thank you.

 

[tzabor10]

I was hoping that powerball would come in so I could start my own trillion gallon build. Was thinking these Azipod thrusters would make good wave makers.

 

[bluemon]

IME, the only reason anyone should want acro colonies (mariculture or otherwise) is if they are importing no name acros to develop into their own strains as big coral aquaculturists. Wild colonies will have some wild and new color morphs from time to time when adjusting to aquarium lighting

 

[fish_collector]

Another thing one must consider, is that SPS tanks do not have an infinite lifespan. A buddy of mine in our club has a 5 year old 325 that has grown so much that his colonies are starting to die off due to flow and light blocking from other colonies positioned around them. It makes no difference what kind of flow setup you have or how many light fixtures you use, when colonies grow they block the flow and light to other colonies, and the ones that get blocked will start their die off. Colonies are not suited for aquascape because they’ve grown into their form out of necessity and not because a hobbyists thinks it looks good in a particular spot. That’s the reason frags do do much better, they can grow to suit their environment. It’s near impossible to have a tank full of large colonies for these reasons. Even Polo Reef is having these issues.

I don’t care what Google says regarding acropora, we as hobbyists have first hand experience growing them and that’s what matters here.

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I think your best bet is to find a local seller and have them order some for you. They may even let you pick from the place they are buying from. But they will be mariculture and h need to acclimate them yourself. Good luck!

 

[Strad12]

I think your best bet is to find a local seller and have them order some for you. They may even let you pick from the place they are buying from. But they will be mariculture and h need to acclimate them yourself. Good luck!

Thanks!

 

[mook1178]

I get what you all are saying about colonies not shipping well, but not completely. I am not arguing just coming of a place of wanting to learn.

A frag is just a fragment of a colony.Why is it that the frag will do better than the colony? It comes from the same stable tank as the colony and goes through the same shipping aspects of a colony. So I do not necessarily buy the stability argument, since everything is the same. What is different about the frag? It is genetically identical. Why is the frag from a colony better at instability than the colony?

 

[tzabor10]

I get what you all are saying about colonies not shipping well, but not completely. I am not arguing just coming of a place of wanting to learn.

A frag is just a fragment of a colony.Why is it that the frag will do better than the colony? It comes from the same stable tank as the colony and goes through the same shipping aspects of a colony. So I do not necessarily buy the stability argument, since everything is the same. What is different about the frag? It is genetically identical. Why is the frag from a colony better at instability than the colony?

I respectfully disagree. I have moved large colonies in my own tank with sometimes disastrous results. These parcel workers throw things. The trucks hit potholes. Airplanes hit turbulence. A small fragment of a coral on a ceramic plug is reasonably stable. A large colony is difficult to insulate from physical shock.

 

[eggie]

Search for Rebel Reef he had a post in IG about having not colonies but big frags some OGs as well

 

[JonoH]

I put some large colonies in my tank, but none were shipped, they were from local reefers who were shutting down tanks.

All have taken and grown really well.

Have also put in wild colonies with great results (lost none, but they do take at least 6 months to colour up fully).

 

[Red_Beard]

We call this phase of the learning curve " I want a reef and I want it NOW". The wallet is destined for some major pain during this phase.

Some lessons are best learned through the school of hard knocks! LOL

"""Which way do you learn best, visual, repetition, verbal?""" Me: "The hard way".

 

[CBonito]

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.

I know that's right. They might seem to be doing fine for a while, then they turn to calcium reactor media.

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

Better to buy frags and grow them yourself

 

[Troylee]

I get what you all are saying about colonies not shipping well, but not completely. I am not arguing just coming of a place of wanting to learn.

A frag is just a fragment of a colony.Why is it that the frag will do better than the colony? It comes from the same stable tank as the colony and goes through the same shipping aspects of a colony. So I do not necessarily buy the stability argument, since everything is the same. What is different about the frag? It is genetically identical. Why is the frag from a colony better at instability than the colony?

They adapt to their surroundings.. I had a huge red dragon that grew from a frag and it got so big it broke off the rock I had it mounted to and I moved it down a few Inches and let it just rest a rock.. about a week later it peeled from the center and I no longer have a colony much less a piece of it. Flow plays a huge roll in sps and we all know they don’t like change…

 

[RSNJReef]

To add my two cents into this, something people need to consider is the age and size of the tank for the size of Acro you are moving the piece into. I am fairly certain a decently sized acuacultured Acro colony would do just fine in an established 300+ gallon reef that has had sps for over 5 years, versus a 40 gallon tank that’s been up for 2.

It also comes down to the health of the coral you’re bringing in as well. Just because it’s a colony doesn’t mean it’s healthy, and there is a higher probability of a colony not getting enough light or flow in the tank it came from, so it’s already a little stressed to begin with. If it came from a large tank running very high flow and high light, there’s probably a good chance of colony survival in a new tank as long as the colony is acclimated correctly.

One thing I would say though is I wouldn’t bother feeding an SPS that’s less than 3 months old in a tank. The first couple of months for it is about survival, so proper lighting and flow is a better focal point. Once it’s started encrusting, then think about a little food at a time.