Is this good growth for 8 Months???? Updated!!!

[tony_3a]

Hey guys, Im still new to the whole sps thing, and I dont use ro di water, i know i should but still not there yet. Anyways here they are, tell me what you think. Also i think the colours are really coming in nice. Decided to do some fragging, I noticed a lot of dead branches on the corals where no light was getting too.

Aug 11th.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy246/tony_3a/DSC_0099.jpg
Mar 18th.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy246/tony_3a/IMG_0485.jpg

Aug 11th.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy246/tony_3a/DSC_0079.jpg
Mar 18th.
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy246/tony_3a/IMG_0484.jpg

Tell me what you think!!!
Thanks

[hound96]

imo not too shabby

[tony_3a]

imo not too shabby

Thank you!! This is the first time I have posted any growth pictures, so I am very curious what people think.

[hound96]

yeah sps can be tough the first 2 times i tried it kept dying now i can almost watchsome grow but yet others are real slow growing

[The Grizz]

Man I am jelious, I can't even keep SPS for 8 days :sad: nicely done.

[VFX]

Very nice growth Tony. Colours not too shabby either.

We all may be hassling you for frags pretty soon :mrgreen:

.

[tony_3a]

Thanks for all the nice comments guys!! I forgot to say, it is also under a 6 bulb t5ho tek light. that goes in this order.

I also dont dose anything, all i use is tap water with prime, for some reason i have crazy evaporation so i have to put like, 2 juice jugs of water in a day.

Pure Actinic
Fiji Purple/coral light, whatever they call it.
Midday Bulb
Cool Blue
Fiji Purple/coral light.
Pure Actinic

All Giesemann bulbs.

Also i have been thinking about fragging, i might get a rack and then see how it goes, To be honest i dont even know what the names are for these corals haahah. Or what i would even sell a frag for, if anyone has any info on that, let me know!!!

[VFX]

Thanks for all the nice comments guys!! I forgot to say, it is also under a 6 bulb t5ho tek light. that goes in this order.

Pure Actinic
Fiji Purple/coral light, whatever they call it.
Midday Bulb
Cool Blue
Fiji Purple/coral light.
Pure Actinic

All Giesemann bulbs.

Also i have been thinking about fragging, i might get a rack and then see how it goes, To be honest i dont even know what the names are for these corals haahah. Or what i would even sell a frag for, if anyone has any info on that, let me know!!!

Hey Tony,

I have my SPS under 2 x 250w halides with 2 x 54w T5's.

Wanna try an little experiment? How about trading a coupla frags to try & see how they grow under your T5HO lights compared to my halides?

.

[reefermadness]

thats very good growth.....

[ScubaSteve]

Ya dude, looking good. The second colony is rockin' it. Just you watch, it's going to be the size of a basketball before you know it (I'm not kidding). Good polyp extension too... like that second one is one seriously fluffy SOB.

I'll pass on a little tip that I learned in my foray into SPS. Birdsnest Colonies tend to have a built in self-destruct when they get large. This is because the inner branches don't get light and then die off. Sometimes this will lead to STN and the colonies go off like matches from the inside out. That is, of course... you give them lots of flow so the inner polyps can get some nutrients or keep the areas clean to prevent disease. I lost a canteloupe-sized colony because of this.

Good work dude!

[es355lucille]

I have not got the knack of growing SPS.....I usually just seem to torture the odd frag now and again just "testing the waters" so to speak. It would seem like you have gained some skills with growing SPS quite well. That is pretty good growth IMO. Nice Job!

By the way whats your lighting/dosing/water flow like? just askin!:lol:

[Maverick00]

nicely done! Those pictures are getting me excited, i saved a couple branches from a frag that started to die on me a month ago. It now appears to be growing like a weed. Amazing how fast it happens.

[tony_3a]

I would totally be into this, I still have to learn how to frag!!!, I saw a fragging set for beginners at jl looked pretty cool, i might pick one up. Or any better ideas that that??

Thanks a lot
Tony

Hey Tony,

I have my SPS under 2 x 250w halides with 2 x 54w T5's.

Wanna try an little experiment? How about trading a coupla frags to try & see how they grow under your T5HO lights compared to my halides?

.

[tony_3a]

Im sure everyone will laugh at me for this.

All I use is normal tap water with prime.
I have never dosed anything except garlic when Im so mad at ich and give up :redface: .
For flow, All i have is 2 k4s and a Sedra 9000 return, I have a fair bit of debris in my tank from my diamond goby, so i have spent a lot of time placing the k4s and the return lines where i see the whole tank is getting good flow. The sps also have a 4k pointing pretty much right at them and it works really well.
Also I leave my lights on a long time, the actinic start at around 10, then the growing lights come on at 12, run until 930 at night and then the actinics are off around 1040.

I know thats a long time, but my kid loves the tanks so much and i want them on as long they can be for him to see it. I can say wheres the goby cassius and he runs around the rock the goby has made his home under looking for it.(my son is 16 months)

Anways i know that sounds bad, but im still learning so much more, i dont know where I would be without Paul form oceanic he has helped me since day one.

Thanks again for all the nice comments, its cool to have something work out in the tank.
Tony
I have not got the knack of growing SPS.....I usually just seem to torture the odd frag now and again just "testing the waters" so to speak. It would seem like you have gained some skills with growing SPS quite well. That is pretty good growth IMO. Nice Job!

By the way whats your lighting/dosing/water flow like? just askin!:lol:


Thanks Scubasteve for the tip!!! I will make sure there is good flow right through it.
Ya dude, looking good. The second colony is rockin' it. Just you watch, it's going to be the size of a basketball before you know it (I'm not kidding). Good polyp extension too... like that second one is one seriously fluffy SOB.

I'll pass on a little tip that I learned in my foray into SPS. Birdsnest Colonies tend to have a built in self-destruct when they get large. This is because the inner branches don't get light and then die off. Sometimes this will lead to STN and the colonies go off like matches from the inside out. That is, of course... you give them lots of flow so the inner polyps can get some nutrients or keep the areas clean to prevent disease. I lost a canteloupe-sized colony because of this.

Good work dude!

[Gooly001]

Nice work Tony! You've grown leaps and bounds since we first met last summer. Soon we'll be buying back frags from you.

Next challenge, our signature SPS :wink:

Cheers,

Paul

[staceyd72]

Hi,

I think you're laughing at us for spending hundred of dollars on RODI units :lol:

Your corals are looking great, keep doing what you're doing :wink:


Im sure everyone will laugh at me for this.

All I use is normal tap water with prime.

[Bblinks]

Nice work tony3a, birds nest tend to be a easier sps to keep but that is still some nice growth. :razz: scubasteve is a 100% right, you need to frag it frequently so it doesn;'t self destruct. keep up the good work.

[VFX]

Hey Tony,

I wouldn't worry about the fragging set. Just a good (rust proof!) pair of snips, some decent gel glue & live rock rubble is all you need & much cheaper. Plugs are nice if you want to grow out on a frag rack.

Have you tried growing acros? Millies? Pocci's? Monti's? pm me, I'll see what frags I can spare.

.

I would totally be into this, I still have to learn how to frag!!!, I saw a fragging set for beginners at jl looked pretty cool, i might pick one up. Or any better ideas that that??

Thanks a lot
Tony

[doch]

Excellent growth!! Mine took a long time to start growing, but the'yre doing good now... what bugs me is that you dose nothing, and I dose and test for everything!! GRRR!!

As for the frag kit, find a place in your area that does veterinary supply... pick up a few surgical grade steel snips and tongs... I put my fragging kit together for $10.

[martinmcnally]

That growth is awesome!

On the evaporation. I was the same until I installed a new humidifier in my furnace now its dropped WAY down, before my humidifier was broken so the tank was working as a humidifier for the house :(

I currently have mine set at 30% and the evaporation is less than a 1/4 of what it was before :)

[tony_3a]

I have 2 acros, that the polyps are not that far out, nothing like the birdsnest, and i have a green fuzzy and another thing thats like purple polyps on a green body, I dont know what kind it is, paul might remember, and they are both growing like a weed, I also have a frogspawn that has gotten huge and I can post pics if anyone interested.

Also have some zoas, but most of the frags have been killed by my wonderful koran angel, that i want out of my tank so bad, SOO BAD, but i cant catch him for the life of me, I probably will go with a plan paul told me, sounds like it could work.

One other thing i forgot to mention, i have a really really heavy bioload on my tank, and for a while i had a skimmer that was technically to small:redface:. Ill admit, that is one place i could be better at, keeping my bioload down, i just love the fish, way too much.



Hey Tony,

I wouldn't worry about the fragging set. Just a good (rust proof!) pair of snips, some decent gel glue & live rock rubble is all you need & much cheaper. Plugs are nice if you want to grow out on a frag rack.

Have you tried growing acros? Millies? Pocci's? Monti's? pm me, I'll see what frags I can spare.

.