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Should i try SPS?


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  • SRC Member

Hey guys, never though i would ever make a thread in this section.. I've been reefing for almost 4 months now with a 34L tank. im keeping Mainly zoas and they are opening and growing very well.

Honestly, i do not have much interest in SPS as i don't really fancy them. However, there are some kinds which i really liked.. mainly Optic Fiber, radioactive pocci and birdnest. would like to know if my current set up can keep any of the 3 i mentioned?

Tank size : 31x31x36cm (34L)

Filtration : 1020l/hr Dolphin h-800 hang-on filter + 4.5kg Live rock + Rowaphos and purigen in a filter bag.

Wavemaker : Currently none, May add a 600/900 l/hr mini wave maker.

Substrate : Carib-sea live sand.

Skimmer : Dymax IQ Skimmer (with sanders 2 replaced once per 3 weeks, can only get light tea color)

Lighting : Par38 9 x 3 Watts BridgeLux LED. (5 Royal Blue, 2 Neutral white (4500k) and 2 Violet (405 -410nm) With no lenses.

Chiling : Fan Chilled.

Salt mix : DI + Red Sea Coral Pro salt.

Here's my water parameters taken minutes ago :

Temperature : 27 - 28C

(Taken with API test kits)

Ammonia : 0

Nitrite : 0

(Taken with Salifert Test kits)

Nitrate : 5 - 10

Phosphate : 0 - 0.03

Calcium : 480

Magnesium : 1440

kH ; 7.6 - 8

Maintenance :

Water Change : 5% on tues, thurs. 10% on saturday. (total 20% weekly).

Additives : Bacteria Starter on every sat.

Red Sea Reef Energy Part A & B 0.2ML Daily.

Can Any of the above 3 SPS grow well in my tank? i wonder if the temperature is going to be an issue.

Here's my tank picture. top part of the rock structure is currently bare because my zoas are light shocked when i upgraded my light to this 9x3w Par38. Hoping to try a frag or 2 there.

2013-03-30215227_zps69577d6d.jpg

Anyone can advice?

Thanks!

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EvolutionZ's Floating Reef:

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  • SRC Member

Thats great to hear! with such frequent WC im doing, is this going to replace enough Ca and mg for the SPS? at most going to try 1 or 2 frags actually.. till i upgrade to a 2ft before trying out more.

of the 3 i mentioned, which is the easiest to keep? maybe i should start with that.

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  • SRC Member

Thanks bro for your offer.. pm-ed u!

i forgot about monti.. read that they are the easiest of all SPS.. may give it a try too.

my same thoughts.. thats the reason why im doing such frequent WC to maintain good parameters.. as for chiller, no way i can find space to fit a chiller to this tank now.. But will get a chiller when i upgrade.

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  • SRC Member

Get the brown monti from dnsfpl, if your tank can colour it up, u can try out other sps species.

Cheers,

James

Reviving my reef tank :

Crystal glass 53" x 22" x 17" rimless (inclusive of 12"x22"x17" IOS)

Life Reef HVS3-24 with mazzei venturi

ATI Sunpower 8 x 39w T5 (4 x Blue plus, 2 x Aqua blue special, Coral plus)

ZET Light 3 x 3w LEDs moonlight

Arctica 1/3 Hp + 1/4 Hp back up

Vortech mp40w x 3 + Jebao wp25

Eheim 1264 x 3 + water blaster 5000

Vortech back up battery

TLF-150 + Rowaphos

Activated carbon

Kamoer 3 channel + CaCl2 + NaHCo3

150L Refugium with DSB, miracle mud, cheato

2ft T5 x 2 light tubes for refugium

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  • SRC Member

skimmer wont be much of an issue with your regular WC.... I used to suck out detritus everyday and replace water accordingly followed by a 20% everyweek. did not have a nutrient issue. Chiller on the other hand might pose a small problem. Maybe u can consider one of those ice probes thingy, its relatively small have seen it done the trick. imho i do agree with bro james72, monti seems very much more forgiving compared to the birdnest. :thumbsup:

:: just a noob ::

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  • SRC Member

Get the brown monti from dnsfpl, if your tank can colour it up, u can try out other sps species.

Didn't noticed dnsfpl got monti for sale.. bro kkk121 gave me a red monti to try!

skimmer wont be much of an issue with your regular WC.... I used to suck out detritus everyday and replace water accordingly followed by a 20% everyweek. did not have a nutrient issue. Chiller on the other hand might pose a small problem. Maybe u can consider one of those ice probes thingy, its relatively small have seen it done the trick. imho i do agree with bro james72, monti seems very much more forgiving compared to the birdnest. :thumbsup:

my nitrate still hovering at 5 - 10ppm though.. no idea why. I'll be upgrading soon and theres no way i can have any chiller or ice probe now..

EvolutionZ's Floating Reef:

(Decommed) EvolutionZ's 4ft shallow Mixed Reef Build :

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Special thanks to kkk121 for giving me birdnest and monti frags! hopefully they wont die in my hands..

2013-03-31230047_zps017aac73.jpg

no idea if their polyp are extending..

2013-03-31230052_zpsdbe9e39b.jpg

Monti

2013-03-31230059_zps0c27822f.jpg

They are placed pretty high up in the tank.. added a 300l/hr pump flowing in their direction.

2013-03-31230150_zps1818b6c8.jpg

EvolutionZ's Floating Reef:

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Frag looking quite healthy with polyps extension.

Do note that once the SPS get conditioned, they will start to grow real fast, you will need to trim them regularly.

Once you feel the tank is ready for more.

You can try the slower growing encrusting type of monti, i.e. Superman, rainbow, danae

Tom

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  • SRC Member

Frag looking quite healthy with polyps extension.

Do note that once the SPS get conditioned, they will start to grow real fast, you will need to trim them regularly.

Once you feel the tank is ready for more.

You can try the slower growing encrusting type of monti, i.e. Superman, rainbow, danae

Thanks for ur advice bro. im more than happy to trim it oftenly if it grow fast!

I should be upgrading soon in another month or so.. will probably give radioactive, optic fiber SPS and other montis a try.. by then there will be a chiller chilling the tank. I was wondering can i do without a dosing pump and those big bottles of water? i have to manual dose everyday to maintain ca and mg level?

EvolutionZ's Floating Reef:

(Decommed) EvolutionZ's 4ft shallow Mixed Reef Build :

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  • SRC Member

If your sps is striving, your kH & Ca will start to deplete rapidly. Without a dosing pump or a calcium reactor. Its very hard to keep parameters stable unless u keep doing water test and adjust dosage accordingly. If you go on a weekend getaway, what contingency do you have?

Cheers,

James

Reviving my reef tank :

Crystal glass 53" x 22" x 17" rimless (inclusive of 12"x22"x17" IOS)

Life Reef HVS3-24 with mazzei venturi

ATI Sunpower 8 x 39w T5 (4 x Blue plus, 2 x Aqua blue special, Coral plus)

ZET Light 3 x 3w LEDs moonlight

Arctica 1/3 Hp + 1/4 Hp back up

Vortech mp40w x 3 + Jebao wp25

Eheim 1264 x 3 + water blaster 5000

Vortech back up battery

TLF-150 + Rowaphos

Activated carbon

Kamoer 3 channel + CaCl2 + NaHCo3

150L Refugium with DSB, miracle mud, cheato

2ft T5 x 2 light tubes for refugium

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  • SRC Member

Best if u can change water very often. That would be even better than dosing pump.

right now i can change water everyday no problem.. only takes me just a few minutes. if i upgrade i'll probably stick to 10-15% weekly..

EvolutionZ's Floating Reef:

(Decommed) EvolutionZ's 4ft shallow Mixed Reef Build :

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Yes if u just keep a few small frags then water change will be sufficient. Once reefer starts

Sps and successfully colour it, its like a plague. .....you wont stop......good luck!

Cheers,

James

Reviving my reef tank :

Crystal glass 53" x 22" x 17" rimless (inclusive of 12"x22"x17" IOS)

Life Reef HVS3-24 with mazzei venturi

ATI Sunpower 8 x 39w T5 (4 x Blue plus, 2 x Aqua blue special, Coral plus)

ZET Light 3 x 3w LEDs moonlight

Arctica 1/3 Hp + 1/4 Hp back up

Vortech mp40w x 3 + Jebao wp25

Eheim 1264 x 3 + water blaster 5000

Vortech back up battery

TLF-150 + Rowaphos

Activated carbon

Kamoer 3 channel + CaCl2 + NaHCo3

150L Refugium with DSB, miracle mud, cheato

2ft T5 x 2 light tubes for refugium

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  • SRC Member

Yes if u just keep a few small frags then water change will be sufficient. Once reefer starts

Sps and successfully colour it, its like a plague. .....you wont stop......good luck!

i hope it wont hit me too hard!

Thanks for all ur adivce bros!

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(Decommed) EvolutionZ's 4ft shallow Mixed Reef Build :

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Guys, im thinking if my SPS PE is constant, does it means its healthy?

any signs of bleaching? recently added lenses to my LED so its stronger.

2013-04-07224937_zps421cb9de.jpg

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it does seems like from the picture, will have to view it from top when i get back home.. the frag at the back is slowly dieing of as you can see from the picture, but its also slowly extending its polyps this few days.. as for the 2 other frag (espcially the left one) their PE is pretty good.

EvolutionZ's Floating Reef:

(Decommed) EvolutionZ's 4ft shallow Mixed Reef Build :

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The centre one probably wont make it. Give all the frags good random flow.

Cheers,

James

Reviving my reef tank :

Crystal glass 53" x 22" x 17" rimless (inclusive of 12"x22"x17" IOS)

Life Reef HVS3-24 with mazzei venturi

ATI Sunpower 8 x 39w T5 (4 x Blue plus, 2 x Aqua blue special, Coral plus)

ZET Light 3 x 3w LEDs moonlight

Arctica 1/3 Hp + 1/4 Hp back up

Vortech mp40w x 3 + Jebao wp25

Eheim 1264 x 3 + water blaster 5000

Vortech back up battery

TLF-150 + Rowaphos

Activated carbon

Kamoer 3 channel + CaCl2 + NaHCo3

150L Refugium with DSB, miracle mud, cheato

2ft T5 x 2 light tubes for refugium

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  • SRC Member

The centre one probably wont make it. Give all the frags good random flow.

If you the one at the back (with only 2 branches), yes probably wont make it.

i have a 1000l/hr hof and a 300l/hr power head blowing at different directly, hope its random enough :D

EvolutionZ's Floating Reef:

(Decommed) EvolutionZ's 4ft shallow Mixed Reef Build :

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  • 1 year later...

Bro evolutionz,

I happened to come across this thread and find it interesting to read such posts i.e. from a non-sps fanatic to a whole aquarium full of sps, you have really come a long way in the span of a year. It's really wow and impressive. Now you are more than qualified to provide guidance to others on sps.

 

Aquarium 3 - 250 liters with sump and refugium

Jebao DC 6000 pump with speed controller

Skimz skimmer

AI Hydra 52 HD

Hailea HS-66A (1/4 hp) chiller

Maxspect Gyre

TLF Phosban reactors with Phosban

Tunze nano osmolator

Marine Magic Triplet Dosing

 

Aquarium 1 - 27 litres

Atman HF-0600 HOB filter

Maxspect Razor Nano 60W (10,000 K)

AOL 60 litres chiller

Tunze Nano Osmolator

 

 

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