A
Anonymous
Guest
alright I hope this doesn't get too long but I've got a lot of thoughts running right now and would appreciate some comments from some who have noticed the same thing. I'm new to MH (first bulb may of this year) and I have a single 14K bulb running in my 35. I bought a maricultured acro frag beginning of aug. and it is the largest one I own. Now this week I noticed that one side of the coral seems to have finally acclimated to my tank and is starting to put down tissue one one side but the other side is starting to receed. Careful observation shows that the orientation of the coral is slightly leaning foward so the front side is shaded by itself - hence the pattern I noticed. Looking at the rest of my frags I see that all but 1 of the small ones are doing great - encrusting on the base and growing at the tips. Three noticable exceptions : a green hobbiest acro frag has grown a full inch on the upside yet hasn't grown at all on the down side - it has encrusted though and is already attached to the rock and looks great in general. A monti cap I have is growing like crazy at the edge but I notice one area of the underside has receeded a little - the light there is being blocked by the rock. And 3, one very small acro frag hasn't grown at all.
conclusions:
1) small frags are far better - I know we all hate to wait for growth but the smaller ones acclimate more quickly and orientate their growth to the light source. exp - A small purple tiped monti dig I have has encrusted like crazy and doubled in size in 2 months.
2) halides create very strong shadow zones. I built my pendent so I could add PC sup to it but have been waiting because I couldn't decide on the color of bulbs to buy and I really didn't have the cash either. Out comes the credit card - they should be here on wed.
3) Once acclimated do not move your corals. A small green acro frag that I have been having trouble deciding exactly where I wanted it so it has been moved several times - it is showing no growth after two months.
4) Maricultured (and therfore probably wild caught as well) take a very long time to acclimate which of course makes sense. They come from real sunlight and not only have to acclimate to your water but artificial light as well. Two of my three maricultured corals, the one I mentioned earlier, and another are still in transition more then two months after introduction. The third - a monti confusa - did acclimate rather quickly - colored up and encrusted ??? maybe the dealer had it for a while before I bought it???
Anyway sorry for the book but I thought this may be useful info and maybe some others could add thoughts on the matter
conclusions:
1) small frags are far better - I know we all hate to wait for growth but the smaller ones acclimate more quickly and orientate their growth to the light source. exp - A small purple tiped monti dig I have has encrusted like crazy and doubled in size in 2 months.
2) halides create very strong shadow zones. I built my pendent so I could add PC sup to it but have been waiting because I couldn't decide on the color of bulbs to buy and I really didn't have the cash either. Out comes the credit card - they should be here on wed.
3) Once acclimated do not move your corals. A small green acro frag that I have been having trouble deciding exactly where I wanted it so it has been moved several times - it is showing no growth after two months.
4) Maricultured (and therfore probably wild caught as well) take a very long time to acclimate which of course makes sense. They come from real sunlight and not only have to acclimate to your water but artificial light as well. Two of my three maricultured corals, the one I mentioned earlier, and another are still in transition more then two months after introduction. The third - a monti confusa - did acclimate rather quickly - colored up and encrusted ??? maybe the dealer had it for a while before I bought it???
Anyway sorry for the book but I thought this may be useful info and maybe some others could add thoughts on the matter