• Thank you for visiting the R2R Marketplace! Please consider becoming a Supporting Member today! In addition to all the perks of becoming a supporting member, this notice will also be automatically removed! Click here for more details and Happy Reefing!

SPS Fire – Build Your Own Pack – HD Pics & Videos

Item Price
40-600
Selling Terms Of Service
  1. YES I have read the terms and agree to them
Buyer Protection
  1. YES I agree and I understand that as a seller I may not ask for payment through platforms that do not offer buyer’s protection.
Thread Prefix?
  1. YES I have added pre-fixes to my thread title.
Shipping
YES shipping is available

tony rad

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 17, 2016
Messages
25
Reaction score
7
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Love all my corals that I have bought from Graham. Very generous with the portions the stuff I get from him all make it too.
 

Rockhead

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
651
Reaction score
235
Location
Chicago
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So I wanted to give a HUGE shoot out to Graham for an amazing frag pack he sent me. I must say I’ve bought from high end vendors and never received nicer looking pieces like I did from Graham, and not to mention the shipping quality was outstanding. You will be my go to guy when I’m looking to add another piece.

Thanks again
 

Yellowsound

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
456
Reaction score
161
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Another very satisfied customer, here!

I got a small pack from Graham last week... communication was great, packaging was exceptional, and the frags? They were all generously cut & well-healed... one of them was basically a small colony. I couldn’t be happier.

Thanks, Graham- I’ll be back!
 

asav1280

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
26
Reaction score
21
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Great seller, very fair, good communication, and has the best SPS selection in the DMV. Received nice sized frags and looking forward to buying more in the future. Buy with confidence.
 

rmay6850

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 13, 2020
Messages
236
Reaction score
400
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just wanted to take a moment and let anyone interested know that I would highly recommend Graham for coral. I have placed two orders, the 1st was quite a few frags and all came much larger than expected. The second was only a few pieces, but for me some "centerpiece corals for my tank. They were small colonies and didn't come at a small cost, but they once again exceeded my expectation and look better than the pictures supplied (cold and size)
I told Graham that the on line stores could learn a lot from him in regards to customer service, communication, and packing corals. As mentioned, I had a few larger pieces and they came in with absolutely no break off.
Thanks again for a great experience, unbelievable corals, and the effort you put into protecting corals when shipping.
I don't have a reason to buy corals anywhere else and will keep a close eye on this thread for future purchases.
***** 5 stars from me
 
OP
OP
gws3

gws3

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
975
Reaction score
1,552
Location
Balt. Co.
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
WYSIWYG MINI COLONY UPDATE 4/2/21
Pics under T5/Reefbrite/Kessil

Pink Panther Table 2"+ frag on 1.25" plug $200 PENDING
poHiwhx.jpg



TSA Princess Peach 1.5" frag on 1" plug $160 PENDING
kD2AIZS.jpg



RMF Break Out Your Wallet Mille 1.75" frag on 1.25" plug $200 PENDING
bwbX0KJ.jpg



RMF Break Out Your Wallet Mille 1.75" frag on 1.25" plug $200 SOLD
9fbDItI.jpg



Farmer Ty Lava Monster 7/8" frag on 3/4" plug $400 SOLD
7rlN6DP.jpg



TSA Fruity Pebbles 1.25" frag on 1" plug $180 SOLD
tOkVwDh.jpg



TGC Flaming Avenger 2.5" colony on 1.5" plug $500
pjnqXl6.jpg



RR Red Bull 1.5" frag on 1" plug $180
wc8Rdvy.jpg



Grafted RR Red Bull 2" frag on 1.5" plug $400
I did not purchase this coral as grafted, one of my colonies became grafted in my tank and the frags have retained the grafting since then.
GeaBqXB.jpg



RMF Bubbleyum 1" frag on 1" plug $200 SOLD
Bx9kZr4.jpg



GB Fury 1"+ frag on 1" plug $150 SOLD
iRpIt7s.jpg



TSA Bill Murray 1.5" frag on 1.25" plug $200 SOLD
1s4fmji.jpg



TSA Bill Murray 1.75" frag on 1.25" plug $260 SOLD
J8Yn69L.jpg



MCC Prom Queen 3/4" frag on 3/4" plug $360 SOLD
pqQ4hFh.jpg
G]


Pinky the Bear 1.25" frag on 1.5" plug $140 SOLD
05O3q5K.jpg



RRC Rainbow Table 2"+ frag on 1" plug $460 SOLD
kX9wuXg.jpg



JF Serial Killer 1" frag on 3/4" plug $160 SOLD
0WeKxdg.jpg



CC Fuzzy Rainbow 1"+ frag on 1" plug $240
SOLD
ooNPdAy.jpg



RMF Red Halo 1" frag on 3/4" plug $260 SOLD
9wyGCLq.jpg



RMF Snapdragon 1.5" frag on 1" plug $140 SOLD
vkj1Uig.jpg



Greg's TNT 1.75" mini colony on 1.25" plug $460 SOLD
8CH9N2P.jpg



Yellow Cake 2.25" frag on 1" plug $100 pending
Vxbn3kK.jpg



CRT Vendetta 1.25" frag on 3/4" plug $220 SOLD
ZAj7Hbc.jpg



RR Rainbow Loom 1"+ frag on 1" plug $200
EZ4yGck.jpg
]


RC Poison Envy 1.25" frag on 1" plug $80
RQqvFjU.jpg



WWC Budgie Smuggler 7/8" frag on 1" plug $450 SOLD
khbcx5D.jpg



TSA Bill Murray 1.75" frag on 1" plug $140
AI809Xa.jpg



Inland Corals PPD 1.5" frag on 1" plug $120
gBfVnQ4.jpg



CRT Big Kahuna 2" frag on 1.25" plug $400 SOLD
yl0hErL.jpg



Merlin's Staff 1"+ frag on 3/4" plug $200 SOLD
KcI5V6e.jpg



CRT Monstro 1.25" frag on 3/4" plug $240 SOLD
pyRFy2A.jpg



CRT Monstro 7/8" frag on 3/4" plug $160 SOLD
eylr73B.jpg



MattV Mad Hatter 1"+ frag on 1" plug $850 SOLD
vF50gvL.jpg



TSA Spyro the Dragon 1.25" frag on 1.25" plug $260 PENDING
HIJQwXq.jpg



TCK Code Red 1.5" frag on 1" plug $200 SOLD
4ycemxu.jpg



UC Strawberry Shortcake 1.25" frag on 1" plug $80 SOLD
grsx8BI.jpg



WWC Blueberry Fields 1" frag on 1" plug $60
amOnEky.jpg



ARC Fireworks 2"+ frag on 1.5" plug $240
DRQdvF2.jpg



RMF Psychoberry 2.5" frag on 1.25" plug $320 SOLD
Wa4diXb.jpg



Blueberry Nasuta 2.5"+ mini colony on 1.5" plug $180 SOLD
OARd2bh.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
gws3

gws3

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
975
Reaction score
1,552
Location
Balt. Co.
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
WYSIWYG MINI COLONY UPDATE 4/2/21 CONTINUED
Pics under T5/Reefbrite/Kessil


POTO Flamethrower 1" frag on 1.25" plug $450 SOLD
XL4OKre.jpg



POTO Flamethrower 1"+ frag on 1" plug $450 SOLD
3SxBj0S.jpg



POTO Flamethrower 1.5" frag full encrusted over 1" plug $700 SOLD
uWhJIHA.jpg



POTO Flamethrower 1.5" frag on 1.25" plug $900 SOLD
9JvUbd3.jpg



ASD Quantam Theory 1”+ frag on 1” plug $80 PENDING
CTjBTfl.jpg



Nick’s Crown of Glow 2.25 mini colony 1.5” plug $240 pending
MCyrg5k.jpg



POTO Optimus Prime 3/4" frag on 1” plug $140 PENDING
csi9YRy.jpg



BC Aquaticman Table 2.5” mini colony on 1.25” plug $400
CYMgzsj.jpg



BC Aquaticman Table 2.5” frag on 2" tile $200
1dCG76p.jpg



BC Aquaticman Table 1.75” frag on 1" plug $180
gQhsluf.jpg



RMF Phoenix 2” chunky frag on 1.25” plug $320 PENDING
m1QCO2w.jpg



Fox Flame 2.5" mini colony on 2" disc $120 SOLD
yMsT0Gn.jpg



Fox Flame 2.25" mini colony on 1.5" plug $140 SOLD
qScNZYh.jpg



Wwc Pink Passion 2.75” mini colony on 1.5” plug $280 pending
oeWNdKl.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
gws3

gws3

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
975
Reaction score
1,552
Location
Balt. Co.
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
In addition to the WYSIWYG update I just posted I went through the list of coral in the first post for the build-your-own-pack section and cut the majority of prices. My systems are doing great and everything is growing well, so time to knock prices down a bit for my customers.
 
OP
OP
gws3

gws3

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
975
Reaction score
1,552
Location
Balt. Co.
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Pic of RMF Jared's Pinky with polyps only semi-retracted since the frag pics above are fully retracted.

5WpsKOJ.jpg
 

DesertReefBoy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
566
Reaction score
299
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Holy Jesus! Your sticks are insane! Mind sharing your secrets (lighting, flow, params, equipment, ect, ect?) :)
 

Boonz28

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 10, 2019
Messages
136
Reaction score
85
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Just wanted to say I’ve bought a lot of corals from Greg, amazing stuff, generous frags, and great packaging. If you’ve got the cash grab a piece of the POTO Flamethrower, nothing like it in my 200gal tank full of high end Acros. Can’t wait to see what a full grown out colony of that stuff looks like!
Greg, my stuff is growing like a weed right now too and my coloration looks exactly how yours does in your pictures... might be a good time to add some more of your stuff to my tank... ;)
 

DesertReefBoy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
566
Reaction score
299
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just wanted to say I’ve bought a lot of corals from Greg, amazing stuff, generous frags, and great packaging. If you’ve got the cash grab a piece of the POTO Flamethrower, nothing like it in my 200gal tank full of high end Acros. Can’t wait to see what a full grown out colony of that stuff looks like!
Greg, my stuff is growing like a weed right now too and my coloration looks exactly how yours does in your pictures... might be a good time to add some more of your stuff to my
can we see a picture of your POTO Flamethrower? I need to buy this piece!!
 
OP
OP
gws3

gws3

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
975
Reaction score
1,552
Location
Balt. Co.
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Holy Jesus! Your sticks are insane! Mind sharing your secrets (lighting, flow, params, equipment, ect, ect?) :)

Thanks! I don't think I have any real secrets. Just tried and true husbandry. I keep alk around 8 dkh, I monitor all of my systems with alk monitors that test every hour. My dosing practices are established, so as long as I keep my alk stable everything else will be as well.

For my systems on two part I add things like Sr, K, and I to the CaCl mix to keep them at NSW levels based on ICP-OES testing. I'm not convinced these make a big difference, but I add them anyway since I took the time to figure out consumption rates. On my sytsem with a Ca Rx it is not necessary, the media has enough to keep these at NSW.

I try to keep pH on the higher end with heavy skimming and by bringing in outdoor air. I think this helps with growth and stability. I monitor ambient CO2 to know if the air is getting too stagnant. High CO2 will cause pH to drop, which will in turn slow growth, which will then cause alk to start creeping up due to reduced consumption, which then leads to instability. This takes an active effort when temps or humidity are high during certain times of year. It's also my leading theory on why some folks experience seasonal die off.

For nutrients I was letting them get quite high over the years. Something like 0.6-1.0 ppm PO4 and 25 ppm NO3. My worst time in reefing was years ago when GFO and ULNS were heavily marketed, I lost a ton of SPS keeping ULNS. Ever since then I've run higher nutrients with a lot of success. Last year when my one system hit 1.2 ppm PO4 I noticed reduced growth and some browning out. So then I started bringing my PO4 down systematically with LaCl. I've had a lot of bad experiences with GFO, so I avoid it. Bringing down PO4 with LaCl on a doser is very predictable unlike GFO. My PO4 is around 0.10-0.15 ppm now. Growth has improved as a result. I'll maintain it here. Surprisingly NO3 came down on it's own when I brought down PO4. It's around 1.0 ppm now. I'd prefer to keep it higher, and worry that it may hit 0, but no issues yet. Oddly, I have more issues with algae at these lower nutrient levels than I did at my previos higher nutrient levels.

For lighting it varies by tank, but they're all some combo of radion G5 blue, t5s (predominantly t5 blue +) and reefbrite XHO. I'm an old school reefer and was running a lot of radium metal halides until last year. I finally bit the bullet and replaced all my halides with G5 blues. A single XR30 is not sufficient to replace a 250W halide in a large reflector, so each halide got replaced by two XR30s or 4 XR15s. As a result the spread is a lot better, and I am getting a lot better growth and coloration just due to the spread.

I've been keeping SPS for ~15 years, and love the look of halides, so I was a bit slow to move to all blue lighting. All my tanks are now absrudly blue compared to back when I started keeping SPS when radiums 20k and phoenix 14k bulbs were considered blue. But from what I've seen the vast majority of SPS grow faster and color up better under modern lights that are much more blue and have better spread.

This is what a Frag of Bill Murray I bought from Graham has grown into

Looks like they are doing great for you! And thank you for the kind words.

Bill Murray is a fast grower and has that exact same growth pattern for me as well.

Flamethrower loves to encrust. Takes a long time to start throwing branches. Since I sell frags and most people want branches I have a trick I use to make it throw branches sooner. I mount a plug on top of a plug. That way when the encrusted base covers the top and side of the plug the only place it can keep encrusting is on the shaded, bottom side of the plug. If it wants to increase the area exposed to light (which is one of a corals prime objectives, except NPS of course) it has to throw branches. This is not really important though for most folks that just want natural growth, I only do this for propagation to get branches earlier since people want to buy frags with branches not just encrusted chunks.
 

Boonz28

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 10, 2019
Messages
136
Reaction score
85
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Man, lots of great info up above.
I’ve come to many of the same conclusions myself especially when it comes to PH. I have a GHL controller on my tank and out of everything I monitor (too many things, it’s overkill), PH is what I look at the most to reference the health of my tank.
Graham, what do you do during the summer or winter when you notice high CO levels in the ambient air? Open doors or windows and pay the bill to re-heat/cool the house?

I’ll definitely try your plug on a plug method. I can see why and how that would achieve its desired result. Also I feel like I should start a backup colony of flamethrower and some of my other pricy pieces.
 
OP
OP
gws3

gws3

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
975
Reaction score
1,552
Location
Balt. Co.
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Man, lots of great info up above.
I’ve come to many of the same conclusions myself especially when it comes to PH. I have a GHL controller on my tank and out of everything I monitor (too many things, it’s overkill), PH is what I look at the most to reference the health of my tank.
Graham, what do you do during the summer or winter when you notice high CO levels in the ambient air? Open doors or windows and pay the bill to re-heat/cool the house?

I’ll definitely try your plug on a plug method. I can see why and how that would achieve its desired result. Also I feel like I should start a backup colony of flamethrower and some of my other pricy pieces.

This is where my method may not work for others as I have a basement full of reef aquariums while most people probably have one or two tanks located in a living area. The first thing to note is I use evaporative cooling and have a few thousand watts of lights. So winter temps are not really a problem for me, when the lights are on I am controlling indoor temperature by intake and exhaust fans coming an automatically.

Also, I run any outdoor air (whether for indoor ambeint air or for skimmer feeds) through large carbon blocks. Fortunately these are readily available and somewhat inexpensive, I think because the pot growing industry has made them mass produced. I live it the country where the air is fresh so this is probably overkill, but do this in case any farmers are spraying pesticides on windy days when they're not supposed to.

The most problematic time of year for me is spring and fall when it rains for a few days in a row and outdoor humidity is very high. I can't bring in as much fresh air because I use evaporative cooling, the basement will get too humid and tanks will get hot when the lights are all on. Now that I am monitoring CO2 I will turn it on manually and selectively during this time if CO2 gets too high. CO2 swings like crazy, just me being in the basement will make it go up noticeably. Outdoor air is basically always 400 ppm from what I understand. Mine swings daily anywhere in the range of 400-1000 ppm typically. It would go well over 1000 ppm if I had a few days without bringing in fresh air, which is what I am trying to avoid.

For summer last year I just turned on my fans from around 2 am to 6 am to keep CO2 levels down. This worked well.

I don't think high or low ph is a huge deal, it's more about keeping it stable. Higher pH helps with growth, but I would favor a consistent lower pH range over a high pH range that you can only achieve on some days or certain times of the year. I think the real culprit of issues from CO2 accumulation is what I mentioned earlier... an increase in CO2 -> lower pH -> less alk demand -> alk swing.
 

DesertReefBoy

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
566
Reaction score
299
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks! I don't think I have any real secrets. Just tried and true husbandry. I keep alk around 8 dkh, I monitor all of my systems with alk monitors that test every hour. My dosing practices are established, so as long as I keep my alk stable everything else will be as well.

For my systems on two part I add things like Sr, K, and I to the CaCl mix to keep them at NSW levels based on ICP-OES testing. I'm not convinced these make a big difference, but I add them anyway since I took the time to figure out consumption rates. On my sytsem with a Ca Rx it is not necessary, the media has enough to keep these at NSW.

I try to keep pH on the higher end with heavy skimming and by bringing in outdoor air. I think this helps with growth and stability. I monitor ambient CO2 to know if the air is getting too stagnant. High CO2 will cause pH to drop, which will in turn slow growth, which will then cause alk to start creeping up due to reduced consumption, which then leads to instability. This takes an active effort when temps or humidity are high during certain times of year. It's also my leading theory on why some folks experience seasonal die off.

For nutrients I was letting them get quite high over the years. Something like 0.6-1.0 ppm PO4 and 25 ppm NO3. My worst time in reefing was years ago when GFO and ULNS were heavily marketed, I lost a ton of SPS keeping ULNS. Ever since then I've run higher nutrients with a lot of success. Last year when my one system hit 1.2 ppm PO4 I noticed reduced growth and some browning out. So then I started bringing my PO4 down systematically with LaCl. I've had a lot of bad experiences with GFO, so I avoid it. Bringing down PO4 with LaCl on a doser is very predictable unlike GFO. My PO4 is around 0.10-0.15 ppm now. Growth has improved as a result. I'll maintain it here. Surprisingly NO3 came down on it's own when I brought down PO4. It's around 1.0 ppm now. I'd prefer to keep it higher, and worry that it may hit 0, but no issues yet. Oddly, I have more issues with algae at these lower nutrient levels than I did at my previos higher nutrient levels.

For lighting it varies by tank, but they're all some combo of radion G5 blue, t5s (predominantly t5 blue +) and reefbrite XHO. I'm an old school reefer and was running a lot of radium metal halides until last year. I finally bit the bullet and replaced all my halides with G5 blues. A single XR30 is not sufficient to replace a 250W halide in a large reflector, so each halide got replaced by two XR30s or 4 XR15s. As a result the spread is a lot better, and I am getting a lot better growth and coloration just due to the spread.

I've been keeping SPS for ~15 years, and love the look of halides, so I was a bit slow to move to all blue lighting. All my tanks are now absrudly blue compared to back when I started keeping SPS when radiums 20k and phoenix 14k bulbs were considered blue. But from what I've seen the vast majority of SPS grow faster and color up better under modern lights that are much more blue and have better spread.



Looks like they are doing great for you! And thank you for the kind words.

Bill Murray is a fast grower and has that exact same growth pattern for me as well.

Flamethrower loves to encrust. Takes a long time to start throwing branches. Since I sell frags and most people want branches I have a trick I use to make it throw branches sooner. I mount a plug on top of a plug. That way when the encrusted base covers the top and side of the plug the only place it can keep encrusting is on the shaded, bottom side of the plug. If it wants to increase the area exposed to light (which is one of a corals prime objectives, except NPS of course) it has to throw branches. This is not really important though for most folks that just want natural growth, I only do this for propagation to get branches earlier since people want to buy frags with branches not just encrusted chunks.
This is awesome information! I love asking the REAL established stick guys how they achieve such great success! I am definitely newer to keeping (alive and THRIVING) SPS so hearing your tactics really help. I live in the desert with my wife, 4 kids, dog and cat. I try to keep the windows open as much as possible but when it isn't possible I notice my pH dropping to as low as 7.6 and doesn't get higher then 7.9. I've noticed turning on the whole house fan helps but doesn't do the trick like fresh air does. I've tried CO2 scrubbers (with so so success), kalk in ATO, I run a refugium with a kessil H380 12 hrs a day opposite of my DT which I like to think helps but who knows. I think the next thing I need to do is run a one inch line up the wall into the attic to draw in fresh air.

It is interesting to me your NO3 is so low. I LOVE fish in my tank so my NO has been floating around 25 ppm for some time now. PO4 I control with LaCl and try to keep under 0.15. If it gets any higher a few of my zoas start to hate life.

What are your Par levels? I run radion xr30 G4 Pros AB+ with blue plus T5 at 100%. I need to check my par levels but all the sticks don't seem to mind.

Do you have a youtube or instagram?
 
Back
Top