Why are acropora “hard?”

[ReefGeezer]

SPS corals are a little easier now because most are tank raised. However, all have the tendency to go south quickly... usually just about the time you think you've figured it out! You stated earlier that fluctuations in "hardness" is an issue for you. If by hardness you mean alkalinity, that could be an issue you want to fix. Stability of alkalinity is up there with light & flow when it comes to SPS.

 

[Indytraveler83]

SPS corals are a little easier now because most are tank raised. However, all have the tendency to go south quickly... usually just about the time you think you've figured it out! You stated earlier that fluctuations in "hardness" is an issue for you. If by hardness you mean alkalinity, that could be an issue you want to fix. Stability of alkalinity is up there with light & flow when it comes to SPS.

Very helpful piece of advice. It’s this type of stuff that I’m trying to figure out!

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Bump this is a great discussion and I have seen a few Noobs wanting to try sps lately so hopefully this helps them

 

[jeffww]

My opinion is that dosing automation has made most coral easy to keep but the difficult reputation has stuck around. I would not be able to keep acros in my 7g cube without a dosing pump to control Ca and Alk.

 

[Victor_C3]

Personally, I’m be never had issues with SPS. I never lost a frag or a colony that I’ve put in my tank and I’ve always been kind of lacking on my tank maintenance at points. I hope I’m not jinxing myself here, but I’m confident that I won’t have any problems with the system I’m 4 months into starting up.

I only ever had one major catastrophe, but I blame more as an act of god that due to my poor husbandry. I was gone on vacation for 2 weeks and at some point my lights failed to turn on. The guy watching my tank didn’t realize that the lights were important so my tank went 10 days without lighting. Needless to say, I lost everything.

The only parameters I kept track of were temperature, salinity, and calcium. I only dosed a one-part product by Tropic Marin and I averaged 1-2x 20% water changes per month. My skimmer often overflowed and dumped skimmate back into the sump and my filtersocks not used or replaced 2-3x a month, but never before they were clogged and overflowing water.

Minimum effort was given and my SPS loved me for it.

 

[nano reef]

Recently been dabbling in what considered easier sps. The funny thing Is every one of them I have bought say easy sps to keep! So is acro the only difficult one?

I definitely dont run a low nutrient tank! Po4 yes, but nitrates a definite no! I really have no way to keep them down being I have a super easy setup being a woman and dont understand all the high tech stuff! lol.

I dose by hand and have no fuge because of a very small sump! No reactors or anything. My gfo is in a sock with my carbon..

Is their something I am missing that can keep nitrates down? I use gfo for po4 and works great!

I thought of using nopox but last time i overdid it and got dinos! My nitrates are around 20.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Theyre not hard as long as they are provided a stable environment and not subject to changes in light-chemistry and flow. There are some that are just easy and others which can challenge the most experienced hobbyist

 

[Cichlid Dad]

If you stick with the old school acro- easy acro that have been around for a long time you stand a better chance. Keep stable parameters and they are not really all that difficult. If you are inexperienced and don't test everything regularly your chances are slim at being successful. Already having an understanding on how to keep calcium, mag and alk stable is a requirement. IMO regular water changes for a new acro keeper will increase your chances. Being able to match the new water to the parameters and temperature of your tank is important prior to water change. Doing everything thing in your power to keep your reef very stable was key for me. I'm still very new to all of this, but the above was what I did.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

If you stick with the old school acro- easy acro that have been around for a long time you stand a better chance. Keep stable parameters and they are not really all that difficult. If you are inexperienced and don't test everything regularly your chances are slim at being successful. Already having an understanding on how to keep calcium, mag and alk stable is a requirement. IMO regular water changes for a new acro keeper will increase your chances. Being able to match the new water to the parameters and temperature of your tank is important prior to water change. Doing everything thing in your power to keep your reef very stable was key for me. I'm still very new to all of this, but the above was what I did.

Agreed. Old-school proven varieties are as easy to keep as most other stony corals. There are some Acropora that are much more sensitive to fluctuations of parameters. There is a pretty wide tolerance range between different species and varieties.
Also, as Acropora grow, they absorb what they require from the water very quickly. Sometimes, they seem to be victims of their own success in a closed system and starve themselves of minerals and essential elements quickly. Adapting to their needs as they grow is important for long term success.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Agreed. Old-school proven varieties are as easy to keep as most other stony corals. There are some Acropora that are much more sensitive to fluctuations of parameters. There is a pretty wide tolerance range between different species and varieties.
Also, as Acropora grow, they absorb what they require from the water very quickly. Sometimes, they seem to be victims of their own success in a closed system and starve themselves of minerals and essential elements quickly. Adapting to their needs as they grow is important for long term success.

Nice reef you have! Looks amazing

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Recently been dabbling in what considered easier sps. The funny thing Is every one of them I have bought say easy sps to keep! So is acro the only difficult one?

I definitely dont run a low nutrient tank! Po4 yes, but nitrates a definite no! I really have no way to keep them down being I have a super easy setup being a woman and dont understand all the high tech stuff! lol.

I dose by hand and have no fuge because of a very small sump! No reactors or anything. My gfo is in a sock with my carbon..

Is their something I am missing that can keep nitrates down? I use gfo for po4 and works great!

I thought of using nopox but last time i overdid it and got dinos! My nitrates are around 20.

Many people that keep SPS have nitrates around 20ppm. I wouldn't fight it too much if the corals look healthy and you have plenty of herbivores to eat algae.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Nice reef you have! Looks amazing

Thank you. I solo operate a service company and that is the largest reef I maintain. I don't own it, but no one touches the tank ( besides feeding) other than me. So it is my baby. On call 24/7 for it.

 

[dennis romano]

Agreed. Old-school proven varieties are as easy to keep as most other stony corals. There are some Acropora that are much more sensitive to fluctuations of parameters. There is a pretty wide tolerance range between different species and varieties.
Also, as Acropora grow, they absorb what they require from the water very quickly. Sometimes, they seem to be victims of their own success in a closed system and starve themselves of minerals and essential elements quickly. Adapting to their needs as they grow is important for long term success.

What would you consider Old-school varieties? Green Slimer?

 

[Reeferbadness]

If more people just did research,did frequent testing before hand and made sure things were stable,params were within the numbers they needed to be in for say 2-3 months before getting sps this stigma and label would probably be lifted off of this types of coral.

Don't get me wrong,most Montipora,Birdsnests corals are a little more forgiving than say a Home Wrecker or something of that nature.

If SPS were as easy as Acan's,everyone would keep them and maybe the prices would come down lol.

That's funny because my acros (and other sps, hammers, torches, duncan's all do really well but for i've never had any success with acans. Several have just withered and eventually died.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

What would you consider Old-school varieties? Green Slimer?

Green slimer, fuzzy Green staghorn, Miyagi or Cali Tort, Paletta Tri-color, Hairy Green monster, teal blue stag or the purplish blue stag( not sure of their names)
Inquire with your local reefing club, Facebook reefing group etc, and ask if someone has old school Acros. They grow so fast, many people basically give them away

 

[rtparty]

I’ve never found SPS hard or difficult to keep. Zoas on the other hand? They die if I just look at them. I’m okay with that though as I’d rather keep SPS and zoas never go into my tanks now.

 

[PocketGoose]

I think the strides made in aquarium control have helped tremendously too. Automated dosing has never been easier IMO and with that comes facilitated stability. Even I can do it now.... Like a few other posts have mentioned, I have a harder time keeping zoas than anything at this point.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

I think the strides made in aquarium control have helped tremendously too. Automated dosing has never been easier IMO and with that comes facilitated stability. Even I can do it now.... Like a few other posts have mentioned, I have a harder time keeping zoas than anything at this point.

That's a good point. Setting up 2 part on dosers coupled with some regular mineral testing goes a long way for keeping many SPS. I love dosers for control and stability.