Question to SPSers

[gjuarez]

Would you place these corals on top, middle or bottom:

A. Nobilis 4"

A. Robusta 4"

A. Aspera 6"

I received a shipment from Reefermadness and right now they are at the bottom, I am slowly acclimating them to my lights. I should also mention my tank is a 29g tank and its being lit by 250w mh and 2 x 75w vho actinics. I have a samoensis colony and a cali tort that are placed very high on tank and they have amazing color. I am not really worried about bleaching but I want to make sure that they are placed right in regards to lighting. I also take into consideration placement when it comes to flow, but that doesnt worry me right now since that could easily be adjusted. Sps experts, I am calling you out. LOL

[gjuarez]

Ace, Todd, Clint, Brian, where are you guys when I need you? ANyone else? ALl suggestions are welcome

[akm]

Well I'm no expert but no one else is chiming in.

I don't know what the specific needs of those corals are but I know they are all "stags" and usually fairly open in the branch stucture so water can flow through them pretty easily. They don't need a whole lot of flow but keep them in enough and then to be happy with good PE.

[hobogato]

not real sure about height on these jerry, i would put them fairly high, but make sure they have room to grow upward. sorry i couldnt be more help.

[fishypets]

Jerry- I have a blue tiped Aspera I got from Todd and it is lower in my tank and growth/color is fantastic.

[gjuarez]

Thanks Brian, I didnt know that. I do know that they use 20k though. These are all stags and today I will mount them. Taking into consideration Clint's experience and Brian's explanation they will go up high. I just wanted to make sure not to bleach them. Thanks for the input guys, but dont let it die here. Keep it going.

How fast do these grow? The aspera that I received was 7", it was huge but it broke into two pieces. Two perfect pieces of the same size, it actually worked out better for me. I dont want colonies though, I want frags so that I can watch them grow. These will be the last coloneis I get, well maybe except a decent size Turaki that I have been eyeballing.

[Richard]

I don't think you can go just by species as to where you should place the acros. I've had acros that I thought should be very high light but then had them show better color and pe when placed in lower light. Maybe it has to do with where the were collected from, your particular lighting, flow, water quality, the combination of all of those, or who knows.

I would place them where you think they will look best in your tank based on growth form and how your tank is arranged and then move them around if they don't show the color, growth, pe, whatever, that you are wanting from them.

[fishypets]

My Aspera is growing like a weed.

[gjuarez]

Cool. Thanks richard, and that is exactly what I did. I figured it would be tough to figure out where exactly each coral should be placed, so I am going to use the trial and error method. I wanted to get you all's input as far as if you knew how much light demanding these corals were. Clint, the aspera that broke into two pieces was placed in two different sections. ONe at mid level and one a little higher, I will let you know which one looks better after some time passes. I have more than enough flow in all parts of my tank so placement as far as flow doesnt worry me.

Richard, the samoensis I bought from you is doing amazing. It colored up very nicely and is growing pretty fast too.

[TexasTodd]

A. Nobilis 4" High

A. Robusta 4" Med/High

A. Aspera 6" Medium

:)

Todd

[gjuarez]

Todd, thanks. You are not going to believe it but thats exactly what I did. The nobilis is looking a little lighter, but I am sure its stressed from the shipping. The robusta is amazing.

[Jeff]

just put them in the water, they grow better in it.

[GaryP]

I know that my robusta is on a shaded side of a rock and doesn't get much light. It has grown well and has amazing polyp extension, more then a mille. Its perhaps making up for a lack of light by feeding on zooplankton and that may explain the poly pextension. Its color is a chocolate brown. I gave a frag of it to Todd and it has turned into a beautiful blue coral under his lights.

[TexasTodd]

Yes, watch the Nobilis Jerry. Some look better under medium light. But I'd give it 6 weeks first.

Todd

[GaryP]

Is aspera the same thing as the purple bonzai? I have never been able to come up with the scientific name for it.

[TexasTodd]

Nope. I don't know if they've ever said exactly what the Bonsai is.

The Bonsai looks like A. Cerelis or A. Vilada.

Todd