Original GARF Bonsai

I Am Not Buying Any Corals For 3 Months!

Ok, I am in the middle of a self-imposed pledge…..I am not buying any corals for three months! Why am I doing this? Because it will force me to minimize the amount of time I fuss with my tank and reduce the time I have my hands in the tank, which can introduce oils from the skin and stress out both corals and fish.

Drawbacks of Constant Tinkering

One key to keeping a successful reef tank is to let Mother Nature do her thing. Constant handling will stress out corals and potentially impact growth rates and colors. I know, a lot of us reef keepers have a tendency to move stuff around to achieve a better look. We must resist this temptation! The way I typically roll when I buy a new frag is to relocate an underperforming frag to less desirable real estate and replace it with the new frag. But here is the rub….sometimes those lame looking frags turn into gems.

As an example, the frag below was doing nothing for months, tempting me numerous times to enter it into my frag relocation program. Eventually, I saw its potential and left it alone, watching it develop red branches with an interesting green base.

sps frag

Meanwhile, the mini-colony below began as a nearly bleached out frag I received for free. I moved it around several times because, you know, it was the ugly duckling. Eventually, I let it be and it blossomed into a really neat piece. Yeah, it is a plain old Purple Valida but I dig it even tough it doesn’t have a fancy name.

Purple Valida

Avoid Overcrowding

Another thing I tend to do when buying new frags is to cram them into spots too close to other frags or corals. I guess I am a coral hoarder, not a good thing since corals need room to grow. Placing corals too close to one another also restricts flow, making it tougher for them to receive food and nutrients.

So does some of the above describe you? If so, you may want to join me in my three month frag “fast”. Now, we don’t want coral vendors to feel the pinch from this boycott so perhaps we can take turns. In all seriousness, patience is an important trait to have as a reef keeper and those who have it tend to be successful.

Additional Resources

If you would like some help with a new tank build, including help designing a custom aquarium, or help re-configuring your current setup then you can visit this page for more information. And if you are looking to add some equipment, I do sell GHL, Pax Bellum, Reef Octopus Calcium and Kalk Reactors and Royal Exclusiv products, including Dreamboxes, which is the equipment I use and recommend. I also sell Reef Brite metal halide and LED fixtures as well as Maxspect & IceCap Gyres.

As for additional insights and information, please explore my many other reef tank and SPS related articles as well as my YouTube channel. For an even deeper dive into reef tank care you can check out my Reef Keeping Master Class. This online course is an immersive and one of a kind educational tool designed to help reef aquarium hobbyists build and maintain a beautiful SPS reef tank. The course is a series of video presentations with some supplemental video from my YouTube channel. There are also quizzes to help students retain and understand the information presented in the course.

Need some frags…..I can help with that as well 🙂 Please visit my SPS Frag store to see what is available.

Shopping Cart
Scroll to Top