honkit

Acropora hoeksemai update - very slow growth 21 July 2012 Today

Montipora digitata is also a suggested SPS starter coral. The orange ones are the easiest. Here is a pic of my blue one (called german blue).

I find the pointy bird's nest coral @ seriatopora hystrix is not as easy as claimed by many reefers. Too often, the central part of the coral experiences STN as it grows and water flow may be insufficient to reach the inner parts of the colony. Brid's nest coral grow fairly quickly hence if it has good growth and maintain its pink/green/yellow/red colouration, then it's good.

Red and green monti caps are good starter SPS corals as well.

Bali green slimer @ green acropora yongei. Fast grower and holds colour well.

Personally, I would never put any snails or crabs in an SPS dominated tank. They create more problems in knocking corals off their perch than being useful as algae grazers. The best method of algae control is ensuring excellent water quality which is a pre-requisite anyway for a thriving SPS tank. Biological control can be done by tangs and bacterial systems.

Thanks Alex. Come to Iwarna and cheong the next Fiji sps shipment in a few months' time.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada semua reefer di sini!

I will take an angled shot of the abratonoids as it is partially obscured by another coral. Give yours a few months' time. Same for mine.

Will take a pic of my two hoeksemai frags this upcoming weekend and post them here. Regarding the abratonoids, I think ensuring good water quality is even more paramount for it vis-a-vis other acropora species in order to maintain its red colouration. Of course, if it is placed less than 12 inches away from a 400W halide bulb with a lumenarc reflector, one can possibly get away with slightly less pristine water quality - that's the advantage of high powered lighting. The interesting thing about abratonoids is that depsite its fussy requirements, it is an aggressive acropora and in my tank has burnt two of its neighbours i.e. a.prostata and a.sameonsis - its polyps can extend considerably when lights are off. Hence, I had to relocate its closest neighbours away by another inch or two.

Hello Bel, Such a pretty SPS dominated tank! With your permission, I think I need to pay you a visit at your home and see your wonderful tank in person

Lawrence, With regards to the kitkat coral, it's a maricultured piece and after I stuck it on the rockwork, it was never moved. I believed this contributed to it maintaining its red colouration.

Thanks for the compliments everyone

Leopard blennies are obligate polyp eaters so no coral is safe with this little buggers around in a reef tank. In reality, there aren't too many truly reef safe fishes available for a captive system.

Ensure your SOS corals are securely attached to the rock work as these crabs can knock them around

Full tank shot

One of my old favourites - Fiji acropora tricolour valida

Fiji acropora macrostoma

Another blue stag

Green slimer stag

Acropora abratonoids "kitkat" update

Blue stags - amongst my fastest growers

German blue montipora digitata - had to frag this twice as it's one of my fastest growing corals.

My favourite SPS from Cedric Ang - montipora setosa since Dec 2011.

Has this baby since Dec 2011 and it's come along quite nicely