Unknown SPS on tall live rock

I've got to sell or trade this tall live rock with an unknown SPS on top. I've already got a piece of it growing elsewhere and I'd like to make room for other corals. I'm not sure what type of SPS it is and the coral's color might be better under another type of lighting (and other tank chemistry) other than what I'm providing.

A top-down shot:

Top-down shots

I was doing some maintenance on the lighting hood. It looked like BBQ ashes were collecting in the LED cooling fans and heat sink fins, so I had to blow them out with a can of air.

Anyhow, since the top was off, I turned off the pumps and tried to take some top-down pictures of the corals. It's difficult without an acrylic box to minimize surface water interference. I had to crop out the flask and camera's reflection.

Red Planet (oooh, ya, my favorite SPS)

Meteor Shower Cyphastrea.
The polyps aren't as wide open as I see on others' pictures.

There's a whole mess of these yellow zoanthids. There might be a little zoa pox going on, but I wouldn't mind if there was something to control their growth.

Leather corals and Montipora

The red Montipora sp. coral has grown to a nice size. I placed two different colored leather corals near its base to create a color complement. The tank is still "re-cycling" and re-adjusting since I repositioned a lot of the live rock a few weeks ago. I've had to siphon out bluegreen algae (BGA) here and there during the water changes. Over time, I've noticed that the BGA's growth has slowed down. But, now, there's an increase in green hair algae. I'll manage that by manually removing it over time and the tank should be back to being well-balanced in a few more weeks.

Oh, and since the introduction of a dozen peppermint shrimp, I noticed that all my Aiptasia have been eradicated. It took a few weeks before the shrimp actually managed to wipe out all of the pests.

Corals, Amphipod and Sea Spider

Who says you can't grow SPS corals under LED lighting? In the background is a flourescent green "acorn stag" Acropora sp. and in the foreground is an A. valida coral. I originally had the green stag mounted alone on a rock, but a portion of my wildly growing A. valida grew onto the same rock and declared war at the base where they met. Several months ago, I moved the rock to a higher location in the tank and broke the connecting coral. Today, I dislodged the rock and turned it around in order to show more of the A. valida. And, because it is positioned closer to the LED lights than the mother colony, the polyps are more colorful.

This variability in color quality as a consequence of lighting intensity is a similar property in reef tanks using metal halide, T5 or PC lighting. So, one must figure out the optimal placement for each coral before committing it to its permanent location.

This amphipod was found in between the glass and the Subcurrent filter in the Nano tank. I wanted to get a clear picture of it because of the fore claws. I can see how it can easily be confused for a baby Mantis shrimp. Although, I should do some research to see what a baby Mantis really looks like!

At the base of a Devil's hand leather coral, I found this sea spider. They have a bad reputation for feasting on soft corals and prized collections of zoanthids. I really wouldn't mind if it mowed down the uncontrolled yellow zoanthids in my tank. I shouldn't take the chance and find that a mate is ready to do some serious multiplying. So, I'll have to extract it soon.

New SPS frags

Originally, I was only going to buy a $10 frag of "Scripp's Acro". But after seeing all the beautiful colonies growing in this user's Zeovit-type tank, I couldn't help but inquire about what else was up for sale. I got two more. Then, another piece came from trading in some equipment.

This frag came from a large mother colony.

This one is a Yellow Bird's Nest, Seriatopora sp.

Finally, here is the Scripp's Green-tip Staghorn, Acropora sp.

I traded an ATO switch that I didn't need for a frag of this Miami Orchid Staghorn, Acropora sp. The close-up picture show tissue damage from being handled. I'll have to give all the corals some time to recover in the refugium before I find a place for them in the main reef tank.

3 Month SPS Coral Growth

Today, I took pictures of these SPS coral frags and compared them to pictures taken 3 months ago. Now that I've gotten a better feel on maintaining the proper seawater chemistry, it's about time to show how various corals respond under my conditions.

The tank uses Aquaillumination LED lighting and Scripps seawater (Natural Seawater) with the chemistry levels maintained as follows:

Alkalinity: 8 - 9 dKH
Calcium: 420 - 480 ppm
Magnesium: 1300 - 1350 ppm
pH: 7.99 - 8.20
Salinity: 35 ppt

These pictures were taken mainly to document growth. There are other methods to bring out the colors such as using a tripod, turn off flash and increase exposure which I haven't looked into, yet.

ORA Green Birdsnest

ORA Green Birdsnest, 3 months

Acropora sp.

Acropora sp., 3 months

Acropora sp.

This is a large piece that I tried to carefully glue into my live rock. I wanted to go for the natural look rather than glue it to a plug. I was worried that I put too much super glue at the base of the frag. Also, I worried that it ended up glued a little sideways (notice the coral growth facing to the left!). But, this piece grew relatively fast, encrusted over the glue and grew upwards toward the light!

Acropora sp., 3 months

Montipora digitata

This is one of my favorite pieces because, under moonlight (low intensity blue LED), the orange polyps fluoresce brilliantly. One of these days, I'll learn how to capture that on digital!

Montipora digitata, 3 months

Acropora formosa

I was told that this "bubble gum" piece would grow slowly. You can see the encrusting growth at the base of this frag after 3 months.

Acropora formosa, 3 months

As far as the Red Bug infestation goes, I still haven't gotten my hands on Dragon Face Pipefish. I still wonder how these corals would look without the bugs. I would expect more polyp extension and an upgrade in some colors. Though, with that Flame Angel sampling going on, I doubt it!

I've lost a few corals, but it's hard to say what the cause would be: red bug? a little dip in alkalinity? that time I had to replace my lights? a visit from a certain vibrio bug? the gosh-darn Flame Angel?!

At the rate some of these corals are growing, I might be able to create a nice piece of reef with no problem. I'll try out a few other species of coral to see which fare best and which display better colors.