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Assorted Montipora Coral Frag Pack

$ 49.99 $ 49.99

How to Care for Montipora Coral

written by Dave Burr

Aquaculture: Think of frags as montipora seeds. Fragments of montipora are mounted onto small stones and grown in aquariums. We grow and frag Green Apple Cap coral here at Vivid Aquariums. We believe that frags and aqua-cultured corals are the future of the aquarium hobby.

Placement: Mount the Montipora Coral using IC gel glue, or putty, on an exposed rock or ledge in the aquarium where it will receive direct flow and light. Remember that as it grows and plates out it will create more and more shade below it.

Feeding: Vivid Aquariums recommends feeding montipora corals with Oyster-Feast and/or Roti-Feast. Target feeding gets the corals fed using less food while keeping your nitrates and phosphates lower.

Lighting & Flow Requirements: Montipora Coral requires moderate to high water flow and bright lighting (PAR 250-400) to maintain its color. T5's, Metal Halides, or LED's can all grow acropora when the proper PAR levels are provided. We recommend a 14-20K color spectrum for best coloration.

Care Level: Easy - great beginner SPS coral!
Lighting Requirements: Moderate to high (PAR 250-400)
Water Flow: Moderate to high
Aggressiveness: Peaceful
Range: Indo-Pacific, Grown in California
Family: Montipora capricornus
Water Conditions: 75-80° F; sg 1.024-1.026 (1.025 is ideal); pH 8.1-8.4 Ca 420-440 ppm, Alk 8-9.5 dKH, Mg 1260-1350, Nitrates <10ppm, Phosphates, < .10ppm

Water Chemistry: It is important that proper calcium (420-440 ppm), alkalinity (8-9.5 dkh - run it 7-8 if you are carbon dosing) , and magnesium levels (1260-1350 ppm) are maintained. Raising magnesium levels gradually up to 1400-1600 ppm can help to combat algae outbreaks, just keep CA and Alk in line as you raise the Mg. Nitrates should be below 10 ppm and phosphates should be below .10 ppm. We recommend doing a water change when Nitrate levels rise to 10 ppm. It is important to replace your phosphate media when phosphates rise to .10 ppm. Media Reactors make the most efficient use of your phosphate media by fluidizing it.

Dosing: Vivid Aquariums uses and recommends dosing pumps to automate the dosing of additives and keep your levels more constant. A dosing pump can alleviate the chore of manually dosing your aquarium with Ca, Alk, & Mg 2,3, or 4 times per week and will benefit your aquarium by keeping your levels constant through frequent small additions of Ca, Alk, & Mg. Our tanks all progressed when we switched from 3 manual dosings per week to 70 automatic dosings per week and we got a lot more work done.

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Virgate Rabbitfish

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How to Care for Virgate Rabbitfish

written by Dave Burr

Behavior: The Virgate Rabbitfish is a very hardy fish and thus a good choice for a newly established aquarium. Best kept singly, although pairs or small groups may be kept in aquariums of 120 gallons or more. This peaceful fish can thrive in either peaceful community tanks or aggressive predator tanks. It has venomous spines, which it can raise to ward off aggressive tank-mates.

Virgate Rabbitfish will eat a wide range of desirable and undesirable algae, and should not bother corals, provided they are well fed. They are not a threat to invertebrates or clams. If underfed they may pick on soft and LPS corals.

CAUTION! All Foxface have venomous spines and should be handled with caution. Use a scoop or specimen container instead of a net since their spines may get stuck in the net.

Feeding: The Virgate Rabbitfish will graze over the live rock in the aquarium eating algae. You can supplement its diet with live macro algae, such as Macro Feast, and dry seaweed 2-3 times per week. Try using a rubber-band to attach the algae to a small rock or pvc pipe and place it in the sand bed.

Hint: Ruber-banding algae to bit of tonga branch rock looks the most natural and will stay in place the best.

Soaking all fish food (even algae) with vitamins will help keep your fish healthier and make them less susceptible to disease. We recommend soaking food in garlic as well when adding new fish and whenever your notice ich or other disease in the aquarium. Garlic will help repel external parasites and will boost the fishes immunity.

Feeding Tips: Remember to feed slowly. Leftover food will cause nitrates and phosphates to rise. If you see food falling to the sand bed and into the rocks, you should feed slower and give the fish a chance to eat before adding a little more. Using a turkey baster allows you to target food to different fish. For example you can feed the aggressive fish on one side of the tank and then squirt a little bit on the other side for the less aggressive fish. This way all the fish get a chance to eat enough.

Maximum Length: 11"
Care Level: Moderate
Family: Siganidae
Reef Compatibility: Add with caution
Minimum Aquarium Size: 90 gal.
Range: Fiji, Indo Pacific
Diet: Herbivore
Water Conditions: 75-80° F; sg 1.024-1.026 (1.025 is ideal); pH 8.1-8.4 Ca 420-440 ppm, Alk 8-9.5 dKH, Mg 1260-1350, Nitrates <10ppm, Phosphates, < .10ppm

Water Chemistry: Maintaining Ammonia at 0 ppm, Nitrites at 0 ppm, and Nitrates below 10ppm will help to keep your Virgate Rabbitfish happy and healthy. We recommend doing a water change soon after Nitrates rise above 10 ppm. Maintaining proper calcium (420-440 ppm), alkalinity (8-9.5 dkh - run it 7-8 if you are carbon dosing), and magnesium levels (1260-1350 ppm) will help to keep pH stable in the 8.1-8.4 range. We recommend a specific gravity of 1.024-1.026 with 1.025 being ideal for fish. Temperature should remain stable as well and should stay within a 2 degree range.

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