1. Roses are prettier and see below..........
2. Because your wife or girl friend would kick your #*&@ if you bough them cubic zirconia or sent petunias at Valentines...........
What's the big deal with SPS?
- Thread starter scubagirl12
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1. Roses are prettier and see below..........
2. Because your wife or girl friend would kick your #*&@ if you bough them cubic zirconia or sent petunias at Valentines...........
Since I've never been able to keep xenia I really don't know. I would ask Brandon though............
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I like the fish more too. I like the colors of the coral, the movement and look. It makes it look authentic, like it would in the wild. I enjoy the SPS but can't afford most of it. So I live vicariously through other SPS tanks. :lol2:
Maybe one day.
I am about to delve int sps & lps mysef. The colors are so vivid and really give the tank a realistic look. Getting another t-5 tomorrow. (Thanks Sal). Also gonna get my water tested at SWC to get started on the right track. BTW those tanks on RC are incredible. One Day.
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Being relitvly new to the hobby my tank is prodominently softie, although I do have some hardy sps like green and orange digita and monti caps. My favorite by far is zoanthids and palythoas. I do like sps but not nearly as much as my zoas! I think part of my reasoning is I don't have a job (pet sitting doesn't count ) And I won't have a job for the next 3 or 4 years so I don't have alot of money to spend on the LE frags and such. To me its like why would I spend $90 on a 1/2" sunset monti frag and only add two colors to my tank when I could add a polyp of tubs blues, a polyp of lunar ecleips, a polyp of lord of the rings, a polyp of pucker pinks, a polyp or two of bam bams and others for the same $90 but introduce much more color. Also right now I'm not experienced enough to take care of harder sps. Mabey when I get older I will start keeping it but for now this is my view on things.
Diane
) And I won't have a job for the next 3 or 4 years so I don't have alot of money to spend on the LE frags and such. To me its like why would I spend $90 on a 1/2" sunset monti frag and only add two colors to my tank when I could add a polyp of tubs blues, a polyp of lunar ecleips, a polyp of lord of the rings, a polyp of pucker pinks, a polyp or two of bam bams and others for the same $90 but introduce much more color. Also right now I'm not experienced enough to take care of harder sps. Mabey when I get older I will start keeping it but for now this is my view on things.Diane
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then</em> what will be the "holy grail" of corals?!
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Scubagirl12;254881 wrote: then</em> what will be the "holy grail" of corals?!
We'll just start building glass houses under water :tongue: ....
Scubagirl12;254881 wrote: then</em> what will be the "holy grail" of corals?!
Probably non-photosynthetic or coldwater tanks.........
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I think it's the challenge, beauty, and a deep appreciation for an authentic reef. That's not to say softies aren't in a reef, however, all REEFS are made from stony corals. It's also, the time & nurturing that you put in to it. It's that slow meticulous process that continues day to day, 24-7. But to each his/her own. It's whatever you like, that is important.
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I will admit... there is something to say about a frag that you get that is 1" long and then to look back at it and see it as a 3" colony. Granted you get the same effect with zoas or any lps, but I don't know how many times my zoas or lps has gotten knocked off and it bounced back in a matter of days. I have moved my hand in my tank and bumped my sps and broke a tip and it takes weeks for it to grow back. But like Ralph said its that time factor. I appreciate SPS and if I could afford it I would have more of it, especially the nicer stuff but I also like the movement and ease of care for the softies and lps. A full SPS tank is a sight. But then again softie tanks have that factor too. Just a different kind of wow.
I do SPS because it's easy! Maybe I'm so new I just don't know any better but every SPS I've purchased has retained its color and grown like crazy. Plus I dont have to worry about very long sweeping tentacles that sting other corals. All I do is weekly water changes and these things thrive. All i have is a 70W halide in a 29g Biocube too
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What types of sps are you keeping?echinatl;255214 wrote: I do SPS because it's easy! Maybe I'm so new I just don't know any better but every SPS I've purchased has retained its color and grown like crazy. Plus I dont have to worry about very long sweeping tentacles that sting other corals. All I do is weekly water changes and these things thrive. All i have is a 70W halide in a 29g Biocube too
I'm terrible with the names and worse with the slang you guys throw out..... But here is my best try:
Orange Monit Digi
Oregon Blue Tort
Ora Red Planet
Ora Borealis
Ora Purple Plasma
Green encrusting montipora (generic I guess)
I think I am forgetting one and I'm sure I messed up on some of those names. :sad:
Edit: Got the last one Phil's Granulosa
A few of those are tough SPS to keep. How long have you had them? I've always like the Phil's Granulosa. Never seen the Borealis.....
I left another one off that list. The first SPS I purchased was a tri color valida. That was begining of August, and then I bought 1 or 2 each week after that and took a break about 1.5 months ago. So they are all 1.5 to 4.5 months old.
The Phil's is the slowest grower out of the other SPS I have in there. The Tri Color and Red Planet are the fastest. The Borealis and Purple Plasma are my favorite.
When it comes to the SPS I purchase I just drill a whole in a rock and drop them in and they do their thing. Tim from Keen Reef just tells me what portion of the tank to place it and I follow his advice.
I've been lucky to find a good LFS and find this forum early in the hobby. I've avoided a lot of mistakes and learned a lot.
At first yes I was pulling live rock out to drill. But I had to do a quick salt run and just went to PetCo one day and they have these little bags that have 6 pounds of palm size (if you look for a bag with small peices) or dead rock. I started drilling those peices and then incorporating them into my established rock. Then I started drilling holes in a few peices before I even bought anything and dropped them in so they would start to become live before I even bought a coral. Since the rock is so porous it's not too hard to drill but it can be a pain if your drill sucks... and my drill sucked when I first started. Also, it seems easier to drill the rock after it's been in water for a bit. I take 2 disposable paper plates and then a few layers of paper towels and just start drilling right on the kitchen counter. Oh also you have to make sure you have a good grip because a few times the piece has gone spinning and cut me a bit.
....and sorry for the novel!
1/2 inch wood bit. Just a regular cheap bit. I even have to dry it off when I'm done because it will start to rust. I want to find a large rone, 3/4 inch would be perfect. Even though the ora plug is 1/2 inch it tapers at the top so until the frag completely covers the plug and sinks over the side it wont appear to sit completely snug on the rock. The way I got around that was to roll the bit around after it went straight through the rock to widen the top of the hole. The stuff that comes out while you are drilling is thick kinda like cement and the wood bit works perfectly because this stuff will get pushed out of the hole the same way wood strips fly out when drilling wood. A bit made to drill through stone would most likely work better though. When I'm done I rinse it in either waste water after a water change or some clean rodi water. The drilled rock is so fine if you don't give it a quick rinse it'll look like a dust bomb went off in your tank the second you put it back in. I did that twice before I learned better but it didn't hurt anything.