General Acro Question (ORA Green Planet)

Gk5321

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I am finally back in the hobby and starting off hard with a nano sps tank. The tank is doing great so far. I had two test corals in it (green digi an acan) both have grown very well over the last 8 months or so. I bought a few new sps frags from wwc that are all on the easier spectrum, birdsnest, montis etc… they have been in the tank about a week and seem to be doing great. I was a bit bored so I went to a local store and bought a somewhat colorless frag of ORA green planet. It seemed healthy enough and was cheap. I dipped it and transferred to a new frag. I put it in my tank and to be honest it’s been doing great so far. The polyps are very extended and it looks super happy with the spot I put it. How long will it take though to get it to color back up? The top seem to be pretty green so far. I don’t think I have any issues yet and I think I have it in a good spot for light (3” below water level) with an XR15 on it. It is more of a brown color below the tips so I don’t think it has enough light in the store. I’m pretty sure I have more than enough. Light for it this high up. My XR15 is at about 35% on a 9 gallon nano tank, I could boost the light but everything else seems happy and they are probably another 2 inches below the acro. The acro is in a frag holder mounted to the side of the tank but again it’s a really small tank. The walls of the tank are probably an extra 3 inches wider than the XR15 so I think I can put coral wherever I want in it and have enough light.

sorry for such a long post I haven’t been in the hobby for a long time so I’m excited to jump back in and already have pretty good success. Fingers crossed I can keep it up. I’m testing like a mad man and really wish I could fit a Neptune on this nano lol.
 
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The first picture is just after adding. The second is a few hours later after opening up. It’s been 5 days so far and it looks roughly the same but has great polyp extension from what I can tell and I’m giving it a ton of flow.
 

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X-37B

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The first picture is just after adding. The second is a few hours later after opening up. It’s been 5 days so far and it looks roughly the same but has great polyp extension from what I can tell and I’m giving it a ton of flow.
Nice! Keep you parameters stable and it should do fine.
 
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Gk5321

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I’ll add my parameters becuase I’m sure it’ll be asked
Salinity: 1.025 tested daily
pH: 8.2 tested by-weekly
PO4: 0 tested weekly - running carbon and do weekly water changes of 20-30%. Has not moved since the tank started.
ammonia: 0 ppm tested weekly
Nitrite: 0 ppm tested weekly
Nitrate: 0.2 ppm tested weekly typically doesn’t raise above 1 ppm by the time I change water. Calcium: 470 ppm I run this high to match the salt I use measured daily
Alkalinity: 11.5 dkh again I keep this high becuase of the salt and it’s where it started off so I never let it change measured daily
Magnesium: 1370 ppm I don’t dose this becuase it doesn’t seem to deplete in time before a water change tested bi weekly
 

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I’ll add my parameters becuase I’m sure it’ll be asked
Salinity: 1.025 tested daily
pH: 8.2 tested by-weekly
PO4: 0 tested weekly - running carbon and do weekly water changes of 20-30%. Has not moved since the tank started.
ammonia: 0 ppm tested weekly
Nitrite: 0 ppm tested weekly
Nitrate: 0.2 ppm tested weekly typically doesn’t raise above 1 ppm by the time I change water. Calcium: 470 ppm I run this high to match the salt I use measured daily
Alkalinity: 11.5 dkh again I keep this high becuase of the salt and it’s where it started off so I never let it change measured daily
Magnesium: 1370 ppm I don’t dose this becuase it doesn’t seem to deplete in time before a water change tested bi weekly
Nice! How big is the system?
 
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Gk5321

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Nice! Keep you parameters stable and it should do fine.
Thanks! I went with ORA over WWC or anything super crazy becuase I know there stuff does well in tanks. It seems like a really healthy piece I just wasn’t sure what to expect for coloration. It definitely seems happier than it was in the store. They also had XR30’s but they were mounted probably 20 inches off the top of the water if not more and definitely not on high.
 

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I often find that my sps color up over the course of a week. The question is, which week? (Often at around 3 months)
 
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Nice! How big is the system?
9 gallons. It’s a pain to keep everything in checked becuase the dosing amounts are so small. I went with a really nice doser so it’s accurate to 0.1 mL. I plan on calibrating it every other month to be extra careful.
 
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Gk5321

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Also is the xr15 a pro/blue?
I wanted a pro but they only had blue. Honestly I kind of like the blue more. I just maxed it out and turn down the intensity. Super easy and it looks great. The digi I have grew super fast and is bright green.
 
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Here is the tank before all my latest additions.
 

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If you maintain that alkalinity, you’re going to need higher phosphate or you will eventually get tip burn/STN.

Also, Green Planets grow quite quickly, so you’ll probably end up with a single coral tank that is nothing but Green Planet. Which sounds kind of awesome, actually.
 
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If you maintain that alkalinity, you’re going to need higher phosphate or you will eventually get tip burn/STN.

Also, Green Planets grow quite quickly, so you’ll probably end up with a single coral tank that is nothing but Green Planet. Which sounds kind of awesome, actually.
That would be awesome. How should I lower my alk? Maybe 0.1 mL a week?
 

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That would be awesome. How should I lower my alk? Maybe 0.1 mL a week?
Just stop dosing alk and it will come down on its own over time.
I am not a fan of alk over 8 but thats me. You just need to decide what level you want and keep it their. Most salts run higher alk and I adjust it before use using sodium bisulfate.
Agree that unless you get your po4 and no3 up you will run into issues.
 
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Just stop dosing alk and it will come down on its own over time.
I am not a fan of alk over 8 but thats me. You just need to decide what level you want and keep it their. Most salts run higher alk and I adjust it before use using sodium bisulfate.
Agree that unless you get your po4 and no3 up you will run into issues.
How do you deal with the pH dip from the sodium bisulfate. I have to do a water change today I was thinking of making a batch with lower alk.
 

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You just put an airstone in you salt makeup container and wait until the ph comes up. It can take 24hrs to rebound if you add it all at once. I add a small amount at a time and monitor the ph with my meter.
 
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You just put an airstone in you salt makeup container and wait until the ph comes up. It can take 24hrs to rebound if you add it all at once. I add a small amount at a time and monitor the ph with my meter.
Great thanks! I’ll try that today.
 
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You just put an airstone in you salt makeup container and wait until the ph comes up. It can take 24hrs to rebound if you add it all at once. I add a small amount at a time and monitor the ph with my meter.
I don’t want to drop anything too quick so I halved my alk dose instead of cut it off completely.
 

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