When at the frag trade this weekend, my son won $100 in gift certificates (Amphibious was witness to sons lucky streak!):mrgreen:

The website is Reefdoctor Micromussas (http://www.reefdoctormicromussas.com)

I looked around on this sight, wow are these buggers expensive! $40-$80 per polyp. He sells them in a two polyp pair with $55 flat-rate shipping.

I know nothing about these things, my back-door neighbor said he bought something similar and it died pretty quickly. (Yes, the one who knows EVERYTHING)
Anyone have any experience with these micro mussas? they are absolutely beautiful, but they are not even worth the shipping if Im gonna kill'em!

i like these ..

Cherry Life Savers Aussie Acan. Reefdoctor Micromussas (http://www.reefdoctormicromussas.com/view_product.php?product=310)

and the price is not to bad either. (i just paid $180 for 2 frags less than 1 1/2" combined of some LE SPSs) !!

Not yet being familiar, what do you think about their care? Fragility?

most Acanthastrea (which is what i liked) are FAIRLY hardy. getting them to keep their color is another can of worms though. they need to be placed in just the right spot. IME, acclimation is also an important part of getting them into your system and thriving.

they are using very intense MH lighting on their systems. some 250w and some 400w, and a very blue light spectrum (20k with actinic and sunlight VHOs) to get the colors that everyone wants.

I can attest to Dillon's "luck". He won three of the drawings. Besides being lucky, Dillon is a good kid, very likable.

Wow, those are some wild colored corals. It would be hard to hold spending to $100. Good luck you guys.

Dick

Thanx Dick, I dont know what Im going to do when he's gone, I'll have to develop a hobby:D

I wasnt sure what to do about the micromussas, but maybe I'll give them a try, its just astonishing to me how much they go for!!!!

I'm going to have to ask about lighting, IreefIkeeper mentioned blue actinic. I do not have this. All I have is MH (overkill) and moon lights, no actinics. I guess I didnt realize that they would be necessary to have as well, I thought that it was lighting to use when MH werent being used, like for conservation. I need them? Help:shout:

you do not NEED them. they are mostly to please OUR eyes when looking at the tank. i was just telling you what THEY are using at the moment the pics were taken. what color (10,14, or 20k) bulbs are you burning in your MH setup ?? they are burning very blue 20Ks and you could likely need the same to get the same color that they are getting from the coral. they higher the K rating the bluer the bulb will burn and the blue spectrum brings out the color in the coral more than 10k, but 10k has better growth than 20k, on SPS corals.

burning 2x250 20k, so I guess I'll getgood color, but slower growth? Interesting, I still have a GOOD DEAL to learn inthe lighting department!

you should be fine with anything that they are selling with those bulbs. just be sure to acclimate them properly (drip acclimation is my method of choice), and i try to drip expensive things twice as long as anything else. lol

my last expensive frags were dripped for 3 hours !!

I agree with lReef lKeeper on the lighting and the drip method and length of time. You don't want to rush aclamation of any of your critters. The more expensive the more important.

Dick

Drip as long a you can to maintain your specimen from water parameter shock, but it is photo-acclimation that will determine color.

Photo-acclimation? I am going to take a guess, would that be (after drip acclimation), starting them out at a low level in the tank for a while and slowly moving them up?
I often put my specimens in plastic cups and drip them that way, with just enough of their own water to cover them. I cant stand fighting with the bags in the tank. this doesnt do much for temp acclimation though. Anyone have a better way? Those hang-on plastic jobs maybe?

you are absolutely right on the photo acclimation process.

i drip acclimate them in enough of the water they come in to cover them, and i add about 5 drops per second to the container. i also keep the container partially submerged in the sump and this usually keeps temp close enough to the system temp to transfer them after the time period i have chosen is done. of course ... i have a LARGE sump so this is not possible for everyone to do. all we can really do is improvise with what we have available for us to use. ni am sure there is something laying around that would make an excellent acclimation container, if you think about it for a few minutes. lol we ALL have things that are meant for other purposes, but will work for multiple uses.

Im already thinking of finding a way to hang plastic containers over the side of my sump or my DT. I have a hang-on specimen container that would work well for ONE critter!

Dumb question maybe, how do you partially submerge them?

i just sit the container down onto some rocks that are in my sump, but i use a 2 gallon container with the water and coral in the bottom.

Wow, okay I get it! It was the rocks that I wasnt picturing:D I havent graduated yet, I just throw extra pieces of stuff down in there to keep it going, and get it back out if I need it. One day I will add more rock. Im liking the hang-on containers, I dont know why that didnt occure to me before!

I use ice cream buckets, empty ones of course. :rotfl: Many times you'll come home from a frag event with corals from a variety of vendors. Isn't that right Laura? You can't just mix them up but, you want to get them acclimated in an expedient time frame. Multiple containers is the answer. Of course you all knew that.

Dick

well that was when I began thinking about it. II had 10 containers spread out on the counter, dripping them, but I knew the temperature was going to be off. before the MH lights, it wasnt much of a problem because my tank was usually about the same temp as my house, about 77 degrees. Now I will have to come up with a new way!

You mean fish dont like icecream?:o

I set my acclimation containers inside of a cooler to help maintain the temperature. Id you are keeping them in your sump do be careful to avoid spilling the other water into your system.

well my house is about 76, and my tank about 80. I like the 'hang over the side' idea, right in the display because I WOULD worry about spillage in my sump. If there is a mess to made, I will make it!

as carmie mentioned ... be careful not to let any of the water from the bag into the system. i try to never let any other water into my system than what i mix. there is no telling what is in it.

I am careful about that too, I tested (out of curiosity) LFS PH out of the bag, and I thought I was going to fall over!! NO, NO!:o