The Acanthastrea Additions

Here is an April FTS, and some closeups of the new corals.

Over the past couple weeks several new coral species have been added to the display. Several SPS frags have been added to the upper portions of the rockwork, a few more colorful zoa frags have been placed in the lower portion, while two beautiful colonies of Acanastrea have been placed on the sand bed.

As all parameters are in check the SPS frags are growing already and their colors have in fact become more vibrant.

The Drip

The acclimation process is one that many aquarists overlook or rush. After a road-trip to shop some incredible frag tanksin Guelph (http://www.fragalot.ca) the drip in process becomes an essential step in the purchase of any marine livestock be it coral inverts, or fish.

To properly drip in the new species, a clean bucket has been elevated and placed beside the aquarium. Airline tube is attached to a valve which regulates the amount of water passing through the tube. A siphon is started through the airline tube which slowly mixes the

aquarium water with the water from the coral's previous system.

The idea is to slowly acclimate the coral to the same water conditions, and temperatures reducing stress greatly. This process is continuedfor an hour or two depending on the species while discarding water from the bucket so eventually the contents are very close to the water in the display.

There are hundreds of methods for livestock acclimation, this just happens to be the method deemed most effective and efficient. Some would argue a quarantine tank is necessary for coral addition, but due to the reputable source of coral purchase.

The Video

Here is short video that has been recorded of the aquarium. (Click HQ to see an better quality version)

The 250 watt 14k bulb that had been lighting the system since its establishment has just been switched with a new 20k XM bulb and the purple and blue results are clearly visible in this video.

Finally color is arriving in a couple of the SPS frags which had turned completely brown in their previous owner's tank. This color has been coming back slowly for the past couple months, but it is really quite noticeable under the bluer light.

No major updates have been made to the system other than the addition of a few frags. In the last month all corals have shown drastic growth and progress.