stylaster

Since sps corals seem to come in with a host of pests more so then other types of corals. I always quarantine in a separate system. Dip the corals in your favorite pest dip (ie revive, bayer, etc) and put the coral into the quarantine system. I will place new frags off to the side or edge of the aquarium away from direct light for a week. I make sure they get adequate water flow and check them daily for any pests. After a week has passed i will move the frag closer to the light so its getting about double the light it originally was for another week. I will keep doing that for a months time. If the coral looks good and has adapted well to the system ill then move it out into the main display tank. If you dont have the option of a separate system or even a frag tank attached to the main tank i would start the frag out in the lowest area of your tank near the front so you can easily observe it. Move the frag every week up closer to the spot you want to put it. Do this over a months time so in theory you should move the frag 4 times until you reach the desired spot on your reef

Good question and so many different ways to approach this. Here is what i do. For my light schedule i went for a 10 hour day, why's that? I copied the average day of sunlight in the tropics. That 10 hours a day is not full intensity but figures in the slow ramping up to a peak intensity and then ramping back down through the 10 hours. I use radion leds over my main tank for that feature. If you run t-5s, halides, or other leds that dont increase and decrease their intensity you can setup timer to turn on or turn off certain bulbs in a sequence to mimic sunrise and sunset. As for spectrum you will need to understand light penetration into the oceans water. Here is a good article that covers that http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/underwater-photography-lighting-fundamentals I personally like what is called a 20k look a blueish white light that the majority of corals flourish under. In the wild that would roughly equate to about 40 to 50' in depth. In regards to intensity this is where a par meter comes in handy. There has been lots of research into what par certain sps corals do best under. On average since most sps are light loving corals a rating of around 350 to 400 seems to provide the right amount of intensity to keep most sps happy. There are of course exceptions to this rule, such as a lot of the fine branch sps (ie red dragon) will do just fine under a lot less intensity. A lot of it ends up being trial and error. What i like to do is take several frags off of a colony and place them in different areas in the tank to see how they do. After a couple months look for the one that exhibits the best growth and color, get a par reading of that area so you know what that coral likes the best

Looks like starting today all coral and anemones from Indonesia are no longer being exported. I hope they open this back up again, its where 80% of our corals come from. Im guessing they closed it due to a lot of exporters taking wild corals mounting them on concrete disks and calling it maricultured instead of growing them out like they are suppose to

ill bring some stuff

Hey I recognize that first mate!

Hi Guys! We are having our very own frag show this year on October 27th at the boys and girls club in Vancouver WA. Right now im putting out the message to our great vendors and hobbyists that want to be a part and get a table. You can save yourself some cash if you register early. Right now till the end of April registration is only 100.00 plus a 50.00 donation. At the end of April the cost goes up to 150.00 plus 50.00 donation. Now's a good time to register and plan ahead for this great frag swap! This is our second year and I know its going to be even bigger and better then last year. Go check out www.nwfragfest.com for more info and to register!

I have it Brandon, i can get a small frag of it

payment sent

payment sent

looks like a radion it is everyone wants lights!

put me down for 3 cleaner shrimp and 20 trochus please

put me in brad

haha i knew what i meant and i meant what i knew

I like the idea of high end group touchy will die if you look at it wrong group and a much hardier wont die right away group

i would go option 2 I do this from my sump to frag tank, to refugium and back to sump. You will get better water flow with less t's and 90s etc on your return line from sump to top tank.

so are they selling raffle tickets then?

Nice stuff, are you up for trades too?

Got these guys at reefworx in Tukwila last weekend. My favorites out of my purchases are Jason Fox TNT anacropora Jason Fox burning banana stylocollenia and sexy corals orange passion

nice ones brandon, i picked up a few goodies. The ones i was most excited about was jf TNT anacropora, sc orange passion, jf burning banana stylo

If you want the old south pacific feel (circa 1960's) with great coral reefs check out Tonga. I had a blast there and i can give you the name of the guide i went out with. Here are some pics from that trip https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-tonga-trip.272187/ I also recommend Bali, but you will need to go to some of the national parks or travel a ways by boat to see nice reefs Fiji is also great ive been a couple times. Coral coast, Yasawa Islands and Bequ Island. I recommend Beqa Island great reefs and the coral starts in about a foot of water pretty amazing

I like to keep mine between 9 - 10 dkh

For those of you interested in SPS or are into SPS this is a great guide to check out. https://reefhacks.com/the-ultimate-guide-how-to-successfully-grow-beautiful-sps-corals/

did you ever fire up the mp 40 after you got it? or can you test it. If it works fine ill take it

still got plenty left, thank you to the members who came up and got some!

Thank you for stopping by and chatting always great to see ya!