Musings from an intermediate Acro junkie and what i KNOW to be true about growing acros

[rkpetersen]

This purple/lavender horrida is my canary in the coal mine.
It always has great PE, day and night. If it doesn't I know something is wrong.
It started as a 2" stick, broken off a colony in my other tank 2 years ago.

 

[Perry]

No sir
That’s a Matt v rainbow envy.

You’d think something with the name “rainbow” in it would have more colors than just green.

Sorry my friend, and yeah, I totally agree It looks similar to what I see with my wd under full spectrum.

 

[Perry]

This purple/lavender horrida is my canary in the coal mine.
It always has great PE, day and night. If it doesn't I know something is wrong.
It started as a 2" stick, broken off a colony in my other tank 2 years ago.

I suspect I have a pink version, which I have only seen a Horrida like yours, which is freaking outstanding!!!

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Sorry my friend, and yeah, I totally agree It looks similar to what I see with my wd under full spectrum.

That’s a bad pic. It looks better but it’s hard to get a clear pic zoomed in. I acquired this one in a trade back in August. It’s been a great grower but I honestly never saw the big deal about it. But @bubbaque said I was missing out bc it’s probably his favorite coral.

 

[Perry]

That’s a bad pic. It looks better but it’s hard to get a clear pic zoomed in. I acquired this one in a trade back in August. It’s been a great grower but I honestly never saw the big deal about it. But @bubbaque said I was missing out bc it’s probably his favorite coral.

I honor and respect you, more than you know, but you have so many more tenuis that put this one to shame, just saying No offense @bubbaque

 

[ryshark]

On the topic of PE and tenuis, this is from my old tank before tenuis was popular and before we had blue LEDs, I wonder what color it would have been.

 

[Perry]

On the topic of PE and tenuis, this is from my old tank before tenuis was popular and before we had blue LEDs, I wonder what color it would have been.

To the liking of one of my favorites, ORA Roscoes Blue

 

[ryshark]

To the liking of one of my favorites, ORA Roscoes Blue

I don't think it was Roscoes, but it does look similar. Here it is when I first got it. Old school frag size.

 

[Perry]

I don't think it was Roscoes, but it does look similar. Here it is when I first got it. Old school frag size.

Not ORA plug, you would have known, those dang plugs, ughh.. Could be 2nd gen, and looking that way from one tank to the next, based on lighting/ nutrients. Your mother pic, very much resembles what I would 100% pay, to get my hands on, that and German Blue Acro. Cheers!

 

[ryshark]

Not ORA plug, you would have known, those dang plugs, ughh.. Could be 2nd gen, and looking that way from one tank to the next, based on lighting/ nutrients. Your mother pic, very much resembles what I would 100% pay, to get my hands on, that and German Blue Acro. Cheers!

I remember those plugs well, can't cut them. I had ORA's Pearlberry, Red Planet, Tri-Color Valida and a huge Hawkins colony; it was fun when they had new releases about once a month.
I never had the german blue, but it was one I had wanted too.

 

[Perry]

I remember those plugs well, can't cut them. I had ORA's Pearlberry, Red Planet, Tri-Color Valida and a huge Hawkins colony; it was fun when they had new releases about once a month.
I never had the german blue, but it was one I had wanted too.

Here was my chips acro

 

[Joedubyk]

To me there are SO many acros like WD out there that just dont even come close to some of the cooler pieces... WD is cool because it was one of the first rainbow tenuis.. Everything really sweet 3-5 years ago isnt close to some of these wild indo/malaysian pieces imo...

 

[Joedubyk]

Here's a piece. Looks pretty awesome in daylights, too. Wd or even hw doesn't hold a candle to it imo

 

[Perry]

Hi,
I remember picking this one up from aci, back in the day, a pic under full spectrum, for the tenuis lovers this piece was not even on my radar back in the day, lol

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Here's a piece. Looks pretty awesome in daylights, too. Wd or even hw doesn't hold a candle to it imo

This wild one is my new favorite

 

[Reefahholic]

I've had the best luck with acros with NO3 between 5-10. PO4 between .05 and 2.0. Can't really pinpoint exact numbers that the tank grew it's best, but I assume when the ratio was right it grew the fastest.

After running a Calcium Reactor I saw marked differences in the first 2 months. I'll always run a reactor on my systems now if I can afford it. Nothing wrong with 2-part I just feel it takes a little longer to achieve the same results.

I believe in water changes because they either flush out unwanted buildup of potentially toxic elements or they add back desirable depleted elements. My guess is both. If you could keep unwanted elements from entering the tank and keep all other elements from depleting....then I'm totally on board with Triton's "no water changes." I just think for most of us it's difficult to accomplish that. Something always seems to find it's way into the system and cause an issue down the road.

I've had very good luck with T5's and would run a Metal Halide/T5 system in a heartbeat, but the heat and color of the MH light kills it for me. I ran 2x 6500 lamps in my T5 fixture and it was so yellow it was killing me. I'm not a Windex blue tank guy either, but even with 4 blue+ running.... the 6500's were easily overpowering the 4 B+ lamps.

Big fan of CO2 scrubbers too. I saw a marked increase in pH. Do they affect the oxygen in the water long-term? I don't know, but they definitely worked for my system. I had 3 lab grade pH probes running too so it was easy to see the difference across the board. I'm a pH freak I guess.

One thing I hated about the Calcium Reactor is that it really affected my pH. Maybe because the system was young. I don't know.

 

[Reefahholic]

Here was my chips acro

That is a beauty. How much PAR was it under?

 

[Perry]

That is a beauty. How much PAR was it under?

Didn't measure back then, 8 bulb ati fixture, but I would guess 350 to 400 range. I grew acros on sandbed, with unit 8" over water surface, 24" deep tank

 

[Big E]

This purple/lavender horrida is my canary in the coal mine.
It always has great PE, day and night. If it doesn't I know something is wrong.
It started as a 2" stick, broken off a colony in my other tank 2 years ago.

That Horrida is awesome! Kudos for being able to keep one long term...........very few people can boast that type of success.

 

[Reefahholic]

Didn't measure back then, 8 bulb ati fixture, but I would guess 350 to 400 range. I grew acros on sandbed, with unit 8" over water surface, 24" deep tank

Yep, you can’t beat those ATI T5 fixtures.

At that height on a 24” deep tank, you we’re definitely in the 300-400 range.