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Hi At, I have another epoxy that is much better and hardens very fast which reduces the period of trying to hold the coral while the putty hardens. The brand is from Selleys " Knead It Polymer Repair system". IT hardens so fast that this afternoon I was kneading it for two minutes and then got my frag from the tank and paatted it dry for a minute and sheez the thing hardened already that I had to make a new batch. I fastened the frag from LCk and it was big but the epoxy held on in less than two minutes after I fixed it which is normally not the case with ordinary uw epoxy that crumbles and exudes a milky substance.

yup, sometimes it just adapt itself to the environment. If they are shallow water acros your best bet is full spectrum light. Sometimes some wavelength may be missing from high kelvin lights. Sometimes its the high nutrient level in the tank. That's why in Germany they starve the tank of nutrients to be able to get that vibrant colors. In the US they overskim by using the largest skimmers they can afford and very little fishes. My acros (all wild colonies)at first turned brown but eventually the color returned once it has adapted. There is one though that just refused to color up again.

JUst got one today. Under full MH lighting the color is transparent blue with hints of violets. So far the polyps are peeping but not quite exposed yet. For such large axial corallites the polyps are very small. The polyps are violet in color. For those who can sustain them get them from LCK before they are gone as they don't always come in. These are staghorn, thick branching species and require extreme lighting. Their shape tends to suggest they come from a high surge area. That means shallow water. I'm not sure if I can keep their coloration with my lighting, might require 400 watters.

Sold! Wait for another time as I'm deciding which one is next. Probably in a week's time.

Pic of frag

I have blue acro frags for sale PM me if interested.

If you want to see growth in your acros better put an Iwasaki otherwise buy 250w 10KK but pay more than double for it. In a test done in the States the highest PAR was put out by an AB10KK and the Iwasaki. Balance the Iwasakis by putting in Radium 20KK bulb. Your corals also glow under Radiums lke actinic. If you put the bulbs closer they tend to merge the color together an comes out a nice white with a hint of blue. Between an Ushio 10KK I prefer the Radium Iwasaki combination. YOu still need a bit of actinic supplementation with 10KK bulbs to make it really white. All radium is also too blue and not showing a good color tone but it depends on your preference. If you want a look closer to reef at 3 meter depth then the Iwasaki and Radium is the choice. IF you prefer a bluer look similar to deeper waters then the Radium is okay. For 10000K bulbs go for AB instead of Ushio. AB bulbs are whiter while Ushio are a bit yellowish too. Iwasakis aare greenish.

I guess everybody has a point that with no demand there will be no acros but without a sustained demand nobody will bring it again in the future or if they do they will charge an arm for it. We don't create a demand just by letting everybody buy it without giving advice as in the long run those who tried and failed will give up and tell others as well not to give it a try. In the end demand will dry up, The few of us cannot sustain buying everytime a shipment comes in as well. So the best way is to do a knowledge transfer and help those who wannabes source for cheaper equipment and accessories through suppliers of lights, chillers or DIY skimmers and reactors. Create a legion of knowledgeable reefers and you slowly create a demand so that in time SPS corals are as easy to keep as LPS or softies.

Guys, The acros they have are blue violet not purple. Under strong lighting conditions I suspect they will turn even bluer with a whitish tint. Purple is closer to red in color like your salted egg shell.

You do not need schedule 80 piping actually. Normal schedule 40 pvc pipe will do for your tank application. Schedule 80 is meant for working pressure of up to several hundred psi. There are two types of normal pvc piping one is thin walled. Try to get the thicker wall about 2 mm thick. You are better off with the schedule 40 as it offers a bigger internal diameter thus less flow resistance. It is lighter as well. How many of you actually climb or use your piping as foothold? For ball valves and pipe fittings , the Taiwan brand is more than enough to cater for your tank requirements.

The 1 inch threaded output of the IWaki uses standard PS pipe thread. You can use the standard PVC pipe fittings (JIS) for it. YOu can install a union couple at the output and input so that you can take your pump out easily for maintenance or replacement. By the way I think Soon Heng at Bukit Merak View sells an Iwaki clone for around 200+ not sure though if it is still around as I saw it two months back. Must be the Resun mag pump that they mentioned. Soon HEng is a fresh water aqua shop.

For all those contemplating having SPS, (PART 1) If you want to keep SPS get some experience first by keeping hardier corals like soft and LPS. IF you can keep them and grow them then you have gained enough experience to try SPS. I only kept SPS after two years when tank conditions and equipment enabled me to keep them alive. You will require the following to keep SPS: 1) Deep pocket - this is a committment and its not cheap, expect $100+ a month for your electrical bill and this is just for a 4 footer, that excludes your additives, investment in good equipment like skimmer, MH lighting, chiller, pumps, calcium reactor and depending on your area an RO system for top-up (old estates with cast iron or steel pipes) 2) Passion, patience and interest to learn- money is not enough you need to have passion to keep you going throgh failures, patience to keep you from overloading your tank on the first month keeping SPS is measured in months not days or weeks, your reward in having a growing and thriving SPS tank is only after spending time that is measured in months to years. interst to study and learn even when your tank is successful but of course learn before you even take the plunge. 3) Equipment requirements: Skimmers - big and high throughput skimmers required 3-5 tank turnover per hour (thats measured through the actual water coming out of your skimmer, not you pump. Tunze, Red Sea, Sanders, Macro, those that has foam riser tubes less than 3 inches in diameter are not up to the job. You need big H&S, Euroreef, ETSS, MTC, BIg Turboflotors and other high capacity skimmers. Lighting - most important equipment w/out which you can forget keeping SPS especially acroporas. Minimum required is at least 150 watts but only if you want them brown and barely growing or unless your tank is only 18 inches deep. For SPS like acroporas, 250 w every 2 feet of tank lenght is recommended (yup 750 watts for a 6 foot). For best growth and some color use 6500K( cheapest), color and growth but may not be as rapid 10000K (most expensive), for coloring up certain acros but little growth (20,000K moderately expensive). For ballast normal magnetic ballast will do the job, spend your money for the other equipment . Electronic ballast only if you're pocket is very deep. Last but not the least change bulbs at least once a year. Lifespan 20000K shortest 8-10 months, 10000K (8-12 months depending on brand), 6500K Iwasakis ( 12 months at least) Pumps - a yes another expensive piece of equipment. IF your pocket is deep go for Iwaki otherwise settle with the China made pumps but one important requirement for your SPS tank is flow, lots of it. If your coral polyps does not wave then you don't have enough current flow in your tank. For those with really deep pockets then go for the Tunze wavemaker pumps whether it's the older version or the new propeller pumps.

Watch out for the elephant ear it can eat little fishes...

green star polyps are aggressive. My montipora has a bald patch underneath caused by the polyps touching the area. They also will encrust ur SPS if left alone.

Hi Tanzy, The purple acro is slowly encrusting over the blue acro. This variety is a slow grower and wil take a long time to recover from an RTN even. This frag is already 7 months old.

Coralife has reliability and lifespan issues based on bad comments by a lot of reefers in the US. Go for German bulbs, the quality and assurance is there.

deep purple w/ yellow gren polyps a. cerealis encrusting into a blue acro

close-up of lavender acro

Hi Tanzy, the two frags u gave me are encrusting and forming new branches

two more a. soli frags and a lavender acro

forgot the pic...

a. solitaryensis frag

Original acropora solitaryensis July 2002 before fragging

center of tank Feb 2003

Center of tank w/ frags in July 2002