FIRST TIMER FOR KEEPING SPS PLEASE ADVISE

[staromsa]

HI GUYS, IM PLANNING ON TRYING SPS ANY TIPS AND ADVISES?

[tamama]

What is your budget?

[Admiraltian]

U can try small frags from the ones reefers sell off first. Need to make sure your water, flow and lights are good enough to support sps.

[vtecintegra]

Make sure your alkalinity is stable, which usually requires kalk, dosing or reactor.

[Slimymadness]

U can try small frags from the ones reefers sell off first. Need to make sure your water, flow and lights are good enough to support sps.

I second what bro admiraltian says.

stable water parameters, good flow, sufficient light are the only 3 things you need to keep in mind.

of course, when you talk about water parameters, you need to consider temp, KH, CA, MG, Mg, Trace elements, etc.

flow wise, SPS keepers like to have as much random flow as possible.

lighting, most SPS sifus only trust MH/T5 but more and more people are beginning to look towards LEDs. You need to make sure the PAR (Photosynthetically active radiation, often abbreviated PAR, designates the spectral range (wave band) of solar radiation from 400 to 700 nanometers that photosynthetic organisms are able to use in the process of photosynthesis)

go read up some more, there are tons of threads in here and RC for your enjoyment.

cheers

[staromsa]

Hi guys, thanks for the advise. But for now, im only using a beamworks LED. What do you guys think if i would to switch to AquaZonic T5 4bulbs lighting? Then change all 4 bulbs to ATI? Would it be sufficient? Please advise:) Many thanks!

[tamama]

I tried LED (Not Radeon) and the result is fairly poor for SPS. If you observe the senior reefers who keep SPS, all use MH and T5 and minimum T5. When we talk about T5, it is not the aquazonic type.

[Admiraltian]

Hi guys, thanks for the advise. But for now, im only using a beamworks LED. What do you guys think if i would to switch to AquaZonic T5 4bulbs lighting? Then change all 4 bulbs to ATI? Would it be sufficient? Please advise:) Many thanks!

I tried aquazonic fixture before and the make/quality is pretty poor. I recommend u get something more durable. There's are some brand that is fairly priced and quality just as good. 4xt5ho might not be enuff for sps. IMO need at least 6-10T5HO. Most ppl uses 8 x T5s on average.

[mengyang_neo]

Not true, number of tubes will depend on whether all the sps is under the light. If using 4 tube and all the sps is directly under the 4 tube then it is good enough.

[Admiraltian]

Not true, number of tubes will depend on whether all the sps is under the light. If using 4 tube and all the sps is directly under the 4 tube then it is good enough.

Yes, u r right in that sense but then it will limit the no of corals u can keep. Need to plan the scape properly. Can alw upgrade in future, start with 4 tubes and stock slowly.

[staromsa]

Thanks guys for the useful info. But im still 17 anyway still quite tight on budget wise. Will any kind souls here be willing to sell me a second hand one? As for now i dont really have what it takes to keep sps corals. Will it be easy to make them grow?

[staromsa]

@Scolymia You said that there is some brand that is fairly priced may i know what is that brand youre talking about? But if i really go for the AquaZonic, will therr be any results of growth? As thats my only main concern.

[Admiraltian]

@Scolymia You said that there is some brand that is fairly priced may i know what is that brand youre talking about? But if i really go for the AquaZonic, will therr be any results of growth? As thats my only main concern.

I am using SoLite, so far so good, but if its out of ur budget, maybe u can try other brands like Dymax or hopar but not sure of their quality.

[staromsa]

Bro, what about water quality, additives needed?

[braincoral]

Water changes help a lot in keeping sps..

That's what I do every week...

A hobby should not be stressful to ur wallet and mind.

[staromsa]

I am planning of buying a dymax 3ft MH to keep sps. Will my sps thrive with that?

[staromsa]

Guys, is a calcium reactor needed? What does it do anyway? What im currently using to maintain my LPS is by using IWARNA'S TOP-UP. TO MAINLY MAINTAIN MY : MAGNESIUM kH CALCIUM I dose 275ml every 3 days into my 380 litres tank including my sump. For Strontium i used Seachem's Reef Advantage Strontium. For coral food, im using KentMarine Super concentrated zooplankton and pytoplankton. Please advise for room for improvements. Thanks.

[netviper]

Calcium reactor is to replenish ya calcium regularly. But of all things, u r still required to tune it properly to maintain gd parameters. Same goes to using dosing pumps.

[staromsa]

But if i were to manually doze it, will it be the same?

[netviper]

For a few sps should be able to cope w manual dosing if u r hardworking.

But if i were to manually doze it, will it be the same?

[Slimymadness]

Guys, is a calcium reactor needed? What does it do anyway? What im currently using to maintain my LPS is by using IWARNA'S TOP-UP. TO MAINLY MAINTAIN MY : MAGNESIUM kH CALCIUM I dose 275ml every 3 days into my 380 litres tank including my sump. For Strontium i used Seachem's Reef Advantage Strontium. For coral food, im using KentMarine Super concentrated zooplankton and pytoplankton. Please advise for room for improvements. Thanks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_reactor

bro, no offense but i think google is a reefer's best friend and you should really learn to do basic research first beforehand.

from your posts, it seems that you are really not ready for SPS yet (financial, technical knowledge, basis reefing husbandry) ... why not start slow with soft corals, LPS and gradually "graduate" to SPS? Reefing should not be stressful to wallet and mind. start slow, read, read, read, learn and save up for good equipment that will last you a long time.

Like many bros said, sps is no easy feat. for eg, if you are using MH, chiller is a must and due to the heat, your chiller will kicm in more often resulting in higher electrical costs. I am sure your parents would not like what the monthly electricity.

2 cents

[staromsa]

Can you name those for me? Thankyou:)

[tamama]

I started reading more and asking question here and there since June last year and bought my first set of equipments, but you know what? The skimmer&pump are the only equipments that I keep till now and the rest is actually quite wrong. I sold some off and donated some. I paid quite a large sum of school fee because of lack of patience to Google. I would suggest you to read about a few items about SPS before deciding what to buy or whether you should start now. Actually these are the things that I have been Googling. Anyway, they are quite interesting.

T5 lights / MH light
Skimmer / algae scrubber
Dosing pumps / calcium reactor+PH controller+CO2 solenoid
Wavemakers
Chiller
Biopellet / rowaphos / cheato / refugium
Sump and piping design for space utilisation
How supplements affect the colour

Edited January 31, 2013 by tamama

[staromsa]

Okayy. For now, ive alr got in hand my MH Chiller Additives.

[MarcoVan]

just go with monti or birdnest sps for starters. you can survive with kalk dosing but don't expect your sps to fly through the tank in a year's time