Joedubyk
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2019
- Messages
- 795
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I have been in the hobby for a few yrs. I KNOW there are guys who know way more than me about taxonomy, have way more experience with growing sticks + all the different lighting equipment, and better at every other aspect.. In the past few years, (2015) I went from a relatively newbie, to I believe an intermediate. I can keep a tank stable. I can keep corals properfly fed. I can grow nubs to colonies. My color , PE and growth are good.
Still. There is SO much bad info that gets parroted. The only way to know for real is to DO yourself. Here's what I think I KNOW to be true
1. Water changes. Unless you have a tank that has been up for a very long time, you really need to do weekly or bi weekly WC. Acros LOVE WC. I don't know why, they just do. Change your filters often(ish) and your membrane often (ish). Sorry, outside, of stability, WC is the best and easiest way for healthy and happy acros.
2. Nutrients - the low nutrient thing is MOSTLY BS. Granted, I try as much as possible to export nutrients in a variety of fashions, acros love IMPORTING lots of nutrients as well. Dosing nitrates is a game changer. Phosphates is trickky. I've had high and really low. The only thing I can say is too low will pale your corals , and even wipe out all your acros. Probably .1 or a little less is ideal. Regardless, anyone that says "aim for ULNS" you're asking for paler corals w/ less growth. WAY more peoplw will crash their tanks with too low nutrients than far too high. its probably not close. make sure to have enough fish. Fish poop = good
3. Lighting. Higher par is DEFINITELY better for growth. But, too high par comes at a price. Too high par will kill color, stunt growth, and at worst kill your acros. You'll have to find with trial and error what color/growth distribution works for you. I like LEDs. they just make the corals better looking. The spectrum of LEDs have made great strides. Oh and get a par meter. Or rent.
4. Mount your sticks on an angle. More surface area. They grow faster.
5. Keep your sticks on the frag plug. Ugly at first, but, almost guaranteed you may have to move your stick to another spot for better growth /happiness. Its just easier to move it on a plug than gluing the bottom of a coral. oh, fragging definitely increases growth where you frag.
6. Still on the fence about aminos. I have noticed that brightwell aminos help out with color and health with stressed acros for SURE. Can't say I notice a difference with growth or color in any other product.
7. ALWAYS test. People will say "oh i just look at my corals to know if something is wrong." Thats cool, except when acros start looking bad that means something has been off for weeks, perhaps even a few months. By the time you see them "off" it may be too late and your tank could go into a tail spin. It's so much easier to just test and catch the problem earlier
8. Phytoplankton helps out PE. Is it beneficial to the acro? No idea. But the PE is anecdotally better.
9. Speaking of PE, some folks will say "PE doesnt matter to health." IME, the healthiest corals have the best PE. When PE goes away, something is wrong. Maybe there are instnaces where bad pe doesnt matter, but in my limited exp more pe = healthier , better growing acro.
10. higher pH = WAY better. some people say "dont chase pH"... BS... HUGE difference when your tank has higher pH vs under 8 in terms of growth. even a .1 difference is note worthy. I know bc i can see the difference in consumption.
Still. There is SO much bad info that gets parroted. The only way to know for real is to DO yourself. Here's what I think I KNOW to be true
1. Water changes. Unless you have a tank that has been up for a very long time, you really need to do weekly or bi weekly WC. Acros LOVE WC. I don't know why, they just do. Change your filters often(ish) and your membrane often (ish). Sorry, outside, of stability, WC is the best and easiest way for healthy and happy acros.
2. Nutrients - the low nutrient thing is MOSTLY BS. Granted, I try as much as possible to export nutrients in a variety of fashions, acros love IMPORTING lots of nutrients as well. Dosing nitrates is a game changer. Phosphates is trickky. I've had high and really low. The only thing I can say is too low will pale your corals , and even wipe out all your acros. Probably .1 or a little less is ideal. Regardless, anyone that says "aim for ULNS" you're asking for paler corals w/ less growth. WAY more peoplw will crash their tanks with too low nutrients than far too high. its probably not close. make sure to have enough fish. Fish poop = good
3. Lighting. Higher par is DEFINITELY better for growth. But, too high par comes at a price. Too high par will kill color, stunt growth, and at worst kill your acros. You'll have to find with trial and error what color/growth distribution works for you. I like LEDs. they just make the corals better looking. The spectrum of LEDs have made great strides. Oh and get a par meter. Or rent.
4. Mount your sticks on an angle. More surface area. They grow faster.
5. Keep your sticks on the frag plug. Ugly at first, but, almost guaranteed you may have to move your stick to another spot for better growth /happiness. Its just easier to move it on a plug than gluing the bottom of a coral. oh, fragging definitely increases growth where you frag.
6. Still on the fence about aminos. I have noticed that brightwell aminos help out with color and health with stressed acros for SURE. Can't say I notice a difference with growth or color in any other product.
7. ALWAYS test. People will say "oh i just look at my corals to know if something is wrong." Thats cool, except when acros start looking bad that means something has been off for weeks, perhaps even a few months. By the time you see them "off" it may be too late and your tank could go into a tail spin. It's so much easier to just test and catch the problem earlier
8. Phytoplankton helps out PE. Is it beneficial to the acro? No idea. But the PE is anecdotally better.
9. Speaking of PE, some folks will say "PE doesnt matter to health." IME, the healthiest corals have the best PE. When PE goes away, something is wrong. Maybe there are instnaces where bad pe doesnt matter, but in my limited exp more pe = healthier , better growing acro.
10. higher pH = WAY better. some people say "dont chase pH"... BS... HUGE difference when your tank has higher pH vs under 8 in terms of growth. even a .1 difference is note worthy. I know bc i can see the difference in consumption.
