What are these....?

[UH_OH_5_OH]

I posted this in the New To The Hobby Forum and I was directed here.....


I heard someone refer to some corals as a Acan Lord and blastos.


What are the full names for these corals...?


I was very impressed with them but not enough to get one without doing the research first.....just my policy !


I have several mushrooms in my 135, green hairy, ricordia, Tonga, green discoma, Pulsing Xenia, Colt Coral, Sinularia, Yellow Leather, Green Star Polyps........Are these compatible with the Acan Lord and blastos......?

[Justin74]

Acanthastrea lordhowensis

And you probably overheard a discussion about Blastomussa wellsi or there smaller cousins Blasto merletti, check this sight out, a wealth of information:
http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/coralid_search.php
Cheers :)

-Justin

[Bcollins111900]

yes they are compatable. As with any coral give it some room so the sweeper tenicles (short on acans and blastos) don't hit surrounding corals.

[UH_OH_5_OH]

Thanks so much.....I guess its time to sell some of my spare VW Karmann Ghia stuff to pay for my other habit ! ! ! Oh well it happens !

[UH_OH_5_OH]

Justin74..........Okay looked at the website and within seconds my eyes began to bleed.....what are the varieties that I should consider as a beginner....?

[Justin74]

hmmm.Good question, from the looks of it your keeping a nice variety in your tank currenly and Im assuming with success:) Some people may debate me but I dont consider blasto's a beginner, although some also say that the blastomussa merletti are hardier than the B. wellsi, I havnet had that experience either. Out of the 2 various morphs of merletti and 2 various morphs of wellsi Im left with 1 beautifull wellsi polyp. A lot of people here have discussed this mystery of sudden drop off, but right now its all speculation, and another topic ;)

But on another note, Ive had great luck with Acanthastrea echinata and have 3 different ones, and they noticeably grow if well fed and sport some of the sweetest colors, very intriguing. A buddy of mines gone help me dabble with a really beautifull solid tealish/blue A.lordhowensis and Im really looking foward to that.
I think my only advice for alot of these is start em at the bottom of the tank do your research because some of these may need to be totally shaded and just recieve refracted light, depends on the genus/specie, same goes with flow some like low some more, and just keep a close eye and if you see something that your not sure about drop a note on these boards someone will be and sure to give you tips or ideas where to look. Heres some of my acans:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a387/Justin1974/purpleblueacanthastreaechinata.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a387/Justin1974/acanthastrea7-2-06.jpg
This is a cool shot of when I caught my frag of orange crush sucking up a pyramid snail.It's eatin soo many of these things the guys a pig :D
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a387/Justin1974/1372.jpg

-Justin

[Justin74]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a387/Justin1974/Blastos007.jpg

That was the welsi I lost :( The one polyp from the other frag is doing very healthy now but I seriosly was soo close to taking it out it went down to the size of a thinly flattened rice kernal. The only advice I can give if you want to try your luck is low low flow, and low to moderate light. Spot feed if you can with mysis or small bits of krill .I would also suggest chose 1 piece and stick with it, to avoid any possible allopathy(chemical warfare) thats one of my speculations with the previous topics about them. Good luck:)

-Justin

[UH_OH_5_OH]

NO WAY....their carnavores...??? Awesome !

okay.....what varieties do most people start out with.....? Cause I have been reading the threads with the Acans in their title and WWWHHHOOOOOOOFTA...these things are gorgeous !


Also....water parameters....what should they be....?

here are mine as of Sunday August 20th:

SG-1.024
pH-8.0 (it's been stable at this for four months)
KH- 7
NH3-0
NO2-0
NO3-0
PO4-0
CA-450

.....help me out LPS people ! ! !

[UH_OH_5_OH]

......oh and BTW....here is a shot of my tank so I can show you that I have lots of shaded areas...the towers have large flat pieces of LR that create great shade and LOW flow areas !

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i20/UH_OH_5_OH/TankShot.jpg

[Justin74]

Hey neat tank! Sounds like your ready to rock and try your green thumb with these guys.Im not knowledgeable enough to know what a good all around beginner one would be though, but from what I hear the care for acans is rather easy in general. You may notice that your tank will be drawing up more calcium though so make sure it stays up there in that range for optimal growth since they need to lay down skeleton to grow. You may want to try a tiny bit more buffer to get your pH up(ideal range is 8.4-8.2) once you get that dialed in you can supplement with a kalk drip durring the night to give your corals calcium and help against pH swings durring night hours when it's at its lowest. Take this into consideration if your testing at 8.0 while the lights have been on for awhile. Best times to test for range is right before the lights come on, this will show you your lowest point, then right before they turn off, this will be your highest point.Hope that helps :)

-Justin

[UH_OH_5_OH]

Justin thanks so much for the advice on the buffer...! I will get busy on that right away.

Where do you keep your Calcium level...?

[Justin74]

Mine fluctuates from a high of 8.4-8.3 and a low of 8.2-8.1. I dont have a refugium so I cant keep it as stable as I'd like thats why I drip kalk at night, really helps, plus I have quite a few stonies so its pretty much mandatory.

-Justin

[Justin74]

Whoa! thats what happens when you have a 16 yr old in your ear that just wont stop talking, it reminds me of that phone commercial. hahah.

You asked about my calcium. Honestly I havent tested for awhile. I use Oceanic salt and its paked to the hilt with calcium so I dont usually need to start supplementing until a week or two after a waterchange. But like I said I dont test I just watch my halimeda and xenia mostly for my calcium and ph monitors :)

-Justin

[UH_OH_5_OH]

Cool....thanks for the intel....! Gotta go do more reading and research !