Coolest Acros and other SPS?

[Istrom]

Hey everyone,

A couple weeks ago I picked up a millepora, and the acro bug successfully infected me! I'm addicted now. I want some opinions and suggestions for the coolest Acros and other SPS.

What I have now:
Gold Millepora
Green slimer
Brown monti
Scrolling green monti
Orange setosa
Green pocillipora

What I know I want:
Red Planet Acro
Tri color valida
Hawkins blue echinata
Borealis acro
Purple montipora capricornis

What else should I look into?
(my lighting is two 170 Watt LED fixtures over a 90 gallon tank)

[likeaboss2645]

What's your price range?


90 gal reef

[mr_X]

ORA Pearlberry. It's nice and affordable.

[Sniperhank]

It all depends, really. How big is the tank and how much room do you have for this?

In terms of the brown monti, with strong lighting and as low as you can go phosphates it should color up. I have a yellow marshall island latana that is brown right now because of my phosphate levels.

I'm a big fan of the oregon tort, but you already have a blue on your list. What colors are you looking for? Have you looked at ORA's site for any ideas?

[likeaboss2645]

Superman monti
Green planet
If your ok with spending a little more BC rainbows over Spain


90 gal reef

[Rutrag]

Garf bonsai, sunset montipora, reverse superman montipora, nectar of the gods digitata, forest fire digitata, purple pocillipora are all some that are pretty hardy withut breaing the bank. I also like almost all the seriatapora (birdsnest) corals. Some are pretty colorful and have neat structure to their branches.

[HgrReefs]

Originally Posted by mr_X

ORA Pearlberry. It's nice and affordable.

By far, one of the very best out there.


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[Reefer James]

Lol SPS keepers want names and legacy behind their corals for some reason. Go after corals that you enjoy the way they look.

If you see an Acropora Sp. that is red with blue tips and polyps it probably has been named by a dozen stores and several people like Tyree and Jason Fox.

I've met Tyree. He was naming corals from a random shipment from Australia as if they were special. Once you throw a name in front of it it begins to cost more.

But the corals with potential, as SPS will pretty much change in your tank anyway.

In mine they color up to potential hah.

Red sea color program is great.

[HgrReefs]

Originally Posted by Reefer James

Lol SPS keepers want names and legacy behind their corals for some reason. Go after corals that you enjoy the way they look.

If you see an Acropora Sp. that is red with blue tips and polyps it probably has been named by a dozen stores and several people like Tyree and Jason Fox.

I've met Tyree. He was naming corals from a random shipment from Australia as if they were special. Once you throw a name in front of it it begins to cost more.

But the corals with potential, as SPS will pretty much change in your tank anyway.

In mine they color up to potential hah.

Red sea color program is great.

Very true, on all accounts. However named pieces with lineage also denotes aquaculture these days, does it not? I'm not talking about chop shops here, but a true Steve Tyree piece that has been spread around, has a much better chance at survival then a similar wild or mari piece IME. I think that plays a big role in why acro folks, such as myself, go after these pieces. Are they pretty? Sure. Do they have a fun name? Sure. But the real question is, will they live...

Buying an acro that has been grown in captivity and propagated for a few years will always increase your chances for success with sensitive species such as acropora. This process makes this species much more forgiving, even ORA touts this when you speak with them, and from my experience, this has been one case of truth in advertising.

All this said, I just started a tank thread as I am brand new to this awesome group. There are pictures of Acros in there, but I didn't put names with them. Do I know the names? Definitely. When the time comes that the tank will need to be fragged, then the names come out. Mainly because I want folks to know what they are getting, and that it stands a good chance of survival. In there, I have wild pieces too, mainly because I like watching them change over time into what they will finally become. Sometimes they turn out great! Sometimes they just turn brown or RTN. But that's the fun part!


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[Sniperhank]

With acros this is true but is very far from the truth with things like zoas.

[Reefer James]

Very true very true! That captive lineage is something worth top dollar. Check our some of the photos I posted this morning of our captive corals in the Photo section.

For me part of the fun, now that I've seen so much (and still crazy stuff I've never seen like that hammer spawn I posted a picture of), is finding the hidden gems at the wholesale and being able to spot colors that are going to be brought out under my system's conditions.

Not every aquarist has the ability to see acros before they arrive to the stores, where store owners will name them. It's also very true many stores don't even touch SPS let alone have acro frags growing. We grow our frags under 3 x 400watt MH and 3 x 250watt MH with DIY halo rings around them.

Most of the wild stuff are pieces were sitting on waiting to encrust and color up. If we were to sell them before this point they wouldn't be top dollar like the Jason Fox jack-lanterns leaptos (We have 36 frags of them. I don't know many stores with that type of inventory) We have the only mother colony of Tyree R66 Megachrome Montipora. Check out the article on Tyree's website. Suggested retail is $145.. It's the same exact thing as a mystic monti.. I've been staring at it since I got it from Route 66 Marine after they went out of business of July 3rd. It is supposedly the most sought after montipora cap right now by some people.

I'm telling you it's no different than mystic sunset montipora.. There's no major twists hahaha

It is a HUGE colony though.

[Reefer James]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

With acros this is true but is very far from the truth with things like zoas.

Zoanthids will completely change color pigments based off the 31 minor and trace elements in the tank. Even lighting will change Zoas and palys.

[Reefing Madness]

Originally Posted by Reefer James

Zoanthids will completely change color pigments based off the 31 minor and trace elements in the tank. Even lighting will change Zoas and palys.

[bribo12]

Purple stylophora is a looker. I have a pretty nice green blue Mille in my tank that I'm in love with. The ones you listed you want are all very nice looking. Red planet is my favorite coral in my tank. But like said earlier buy what you like, not just for the crazy name tagged onto it


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