SPS tank keeper.. wats yr husbandry skills

[reefer guy]

May i know what's the use of filter wool???

===> To catch dirt? so using a filter sock on the overflow serves the same purpose

Do U use Rowa or similar phophate removal agent?

i use the wool to filter dirt; place them in the baffles of my sump. Nope, i dont use rowa nor any phosphate remover since after cycling.... maybe some reefers would find it unusual but my phosphate has been undetectable (using salifert test kit) for months....

[reefer guy]

i am using ro/di unit and i change my water every 2 weeks, aside from which i change GAC and filter wools..... it has work well for me and never regretted such religious maintenance..... i know of senior reefers who has really amazing success and they change weekly... guess its a living testimony for those who wants to reap colourful candies....

wats the volume u change ? 10-20 %

[hamannbmw]

Regardin water changes

25-30% water change once a mth.

Usin juz tap water with anti chorine, anti this anti tat....bla bla + salt.

Daily top up using "same as the above minus the salt"

Change new wool once a wk.

Do nt supplement trace element coz they r replenish durin water change.

Do dose iodide once a wk.

I nvr rescape my sps....only time i touch them is when i add in new colonies. I will look for "holes" then do abit of shuffin ard tat region for the new colony.

The less u touch them the happier they r.

Rowa change every 2mths

Check parameters every mth.

Lightin...

bulb change every 10mth.

MH is 8inch frm the highest sps.

There r specimen tat require more lightin than another...so knwin wat u bought will help in ur arrangement of top mid and bottom.

Feedin.

Feed GPs every day.

I do hav a refugium tat r seperated frm my sump (both r link by tubes, those who hav seen it will knw wat i meant ) where i kept macroalgae. They r under 150W 24/7. Trim occassionally when overgrown.

The rest r pretty automatic.....CR, skimmer.....etc

wow... this is wat i really meant, personal husbandry skills. u feed GP everyday ? may i know the quantity u feed ? for me i feed once a week with a pinch, cos i really wonders if the sps really takes them.

Do u change water from the sump and wash yr sump ? I normally change water from main tank but since my tank is up for about a year now, the sump is pretty dirty, thought of switching off all returns, use a sponge and clean up the sump den drain it and fill it up with newly mixed SW. wat do u think ?

Wats the purpose of iodide ? does ARMS media contains iodide ? cos i'm using ARMS..

Any guys here using iodide

[hamannbmw]

wats the volume u change ? 10-20 %

i could hardly gauge how much water i change, but always remove and replenish 5-6 pails every two weeks...

[tineng]

Maybe the difference between yours and Dan's is the water quality

defiantely could be, but still doesn't explain why switching back to MH will seems to color them up....

does it mean that we could subsitute poor water quality with better lights?????

btw, my tests for the past months with Salfiet test kits show 0 N03 and PO4.....just like most bro here.....so what could be that missing parameters that we seems to be missing...interestingly, i have also met bro with great tank but with slight detectable N03 - so seriously, are we really missing something here?

[jd_n]

wow... this is wat i really meant, personal husbandry skills. u feed GP everyday ? may i know the quantity u feed ? for me i feed once a week with a pinch, cos i really wonders if the sps really takes them.

Do u change water from the sump and wash yr sump ? I normally change water from main tank but since my tank is up for about a year now, the sump is pretty dirty, thought of switching off all returns, use a sponge and clean up the sump den drain it and fill it up with newly mixed SW. wat do u think ?

Wats the purpose of iodide ? does ARMS media contains iodide ? cos i'm using ARMS..

Any guys here using iodide

eh.....change water frm sump? they r link together rite.

They work juz like a loop, water frm main tank overflow thru the overflow comparment into the sump and the return pump in the sump pumps water back into the main tank again.....so changin water frm either main tank or sump makes no diff rite?

Anyway....answerin wat u asked....i use a hose and siphon water out frm my main tank instead coz of the height will give me more gravity pull hence more stronger siphonin effect as compared to the sump. Another reason being i can use the hose to siphon watever dirt after i finished scruppin the glass.

After tat, i top up newly mix saltwater into the main tank and turn on the return pump and tunze.

Me nvr touch the sump, no cleanin, scrubbin.....etc. Only thing i did to my sump is to change the cotton wool.

Can't remember the purpose of iodide....if i m nt wrong, its to keep ur corals healthy...like an antiseptic macham lugol solution. brand is seachem.

GP feedin is one pinch of 5-50nm and one pinch of 50-100nm. Feedin done 30mins after lights off. If u observe closely, u will c the polyps trappin them.

As for whether ARM media contains iodide ornt.....i dun remember seeing the ARM container mentionin it do. In fact, i dun remember seein it mentionin replenishin of Mg as well......so if Mg is low....better replenish.

[hamannbmw]

btw, my tests for the past months with Salfiet test kits show 0 N03 and PO4.....just like most bro here.....so what could be that missing parameters that we seems to be missing...interestingly, i have also met bro with great tank but with slight detectable N03 - so seriously, are we really missing something here?

This topic is getting more interesting... blueheaven i second that... why isit so that some tanks having algae bloom and some having NO3 still able to maintain the colours ? This really interest me

[jd_n]

defiantely could be, but still doesn't explain why switching back to MH will seems to color them up....

does it mean that we could subsitute poor water quality with better lights?????

btw, my tests for the past months with Salfiet test kits show 0 N03 and PO4.....just like most bro here.....so what could be that missing parameters that we seems to be missing...interestingly, i have also met bro with great tank but with slight detectable N03 - so seriously, are we really missing something here?

Frm wat i see....

matured system,

constant water parameters,

lightin (the choice of bulbs, color temp....),

leavin ur sps alone,

good water circulation,

feedin with the proper food,

knwin the requirment of ur sps such as placin.

proper acclamatizin of newly bought colonies especially wild.

All the abv contributes retainin and coloration.

[hamannbmw]

eh.....change water frm sump?   they r link together rite.

They work juz like a loop, water frm main tank overflow thru the overflow comparment into the sump and the return pump in the sump pumps water back into the main tank again.....so changin water frm either main tank or sump makes no diff rite?

Anyway....answerin wat u asked....i use a hose and siphon water out frm my main tank instead coz of the height will give me more gravity pull hence more stronger siphonin effect as compared to the sump. Another reason being i can use the hose to siphon watever dirt after i finished scruppin the glass.

After tat, i top up newly mix saltwater into the main tank and turn on the return pump and tunze.

Me nvr touch the sump, no cleanin, scrubbin.....etc. Only thing i did to my sump is to change the cotton wool.

Can't remember the purpose of iodide....if i m nt wrong, its to keep ur corals healthy...like an antiseptic macham lugol solution. brand is seachem.

GP feedin is one pinch of 5-50nm and one pinch of 50-100nm. Feedin done 30mins after lights off. If u observe closely, u will c the polyps trappin them.

As for whether ARM media contains iodide ornt.....i dun remember seeing the ARM container mentionin it do. In fact, i dun remember seein it mentionin replenishin of Mg as well......so if Mg is low....better replenish.

sorry for misleading Q, what i meant was , do we really need to clean the sump ? since mine is about a year and i didnt touch it. So if cleaning is needed due to some brown algae, fish poo and so on, we will den need to clear up the dirty water from sump and pump in new SW into it

does it really affects the water quality since the sump is dirty ? anyway my readings r all undectable my MG reading is about 1400ppm so its ok.

i think i better get some iodide in this case

[reefer guy]

i could hardly gauge how much water i change, but always remove and replenish 5-6 pails every two weeks...

bro from sump or main tank huh ? did u clean yr sump ?

[hamannbmw]

Here's mine

matured system, mine 1 yr liao, should be matured right ?

constant water parameters,

Ammonia, NO2, NO3, PO4 - undectable

MG - 1400ppm

CA - 440ppm

KH - 8.4

PH 8.1

temp - 26-27.3

lightin (the choice of bulbs, color temp....),

2 X 250W 10K BLV 9hours

2 X 54W 20K T5 11hours

leavin ur sps alone,

i seldom touch them unless it falls

good water circulation,

1 X eheim 1262 & 1 X quietone6000 as return

2 X tunze6060

2 X seio 820

feedin with the proper food,

i only feed mysis leh, ok huh ? but i nv wash b4 feeding lar

knwin the requirment of ur sps such as placin.

this is the difficult part, since only thru experience den u'll know where to place them

proper acclamatizin of newly bought colonies especially wild.

I jus dump it in the tank w/o acclaimatize

All the abv contributes retainin and coloration.

[Eric]

just sharing some personal observation and experiences.........

I find the main key to the colours on the sps is by keeping the water quality high (low nutrients), thats why I change my water(1-2 pails) every week.......

Also due to my high bioload and heavy feeding(4 cubes BS, cyclopeezes, small cut "sotong" daily) . Its very obvious for my tank if I dont change my water for 2-3 weeks, the sps frags colours will move towards the darker brown side instead of purple or green...........this has become an indication for poor water quality. However I also discovered those bluish frags that are at the top most of the tank(nearest to my 250W 10K MH) with higher flow is not as easily affected by the colour shift when the water quality is poorer. I attribute it mostly to the high flowrate near the water surface (my observation).

The lightings and water flow helps alot in sps growth. The varies in required PAR for each individual sps species is different. Through maintaining the sufficent PAR for the individual sps, you are more likely to bring out the true colours of the SPS (but 1st you MUST maintain the high water quality 1st).

I also dose 2 drops of Iodine everyday, but I notice the gains are more on the LPS than SPS.

Two cents worth,

Eric

[jd_n]

Sps can juz rtn or stn but they do nt juz lose it color overnite....its usually over a couple of daes tat u c the change in coloration.

Presence of PO4 and NO3 in reefer tank doesn't meant tat he is nt takin action abt it. So it can be the noticin of algae tat one knws the presence of PO4 and NO3 tat one has to tackle the problem before these elements create an impacts on his sps. For eg... given tis particular dae i posted a pix of my tank or some fellow reefers came over to my place and it happens tat we noticed an some algae formin on my sandbed, i knw tat PO4 has silently crept up and its time to replace the rowa. After tat, with immediate remedy, i will prevent sps frm brownin out.

So tat may explains y u c reefers with algae boom or NO3 capable of sustainin their sps colors. Or it could be a buy nw, show nw but nvr show again coz it turn brown oreadi scenario.

Of coz.....salifert test kit can show us a readin of 0 for PO4 or NO3.....but do u believe they r 100% accurate. Therefore i believe there r always a minimal amt of them in our system.

The key point i would say is to keep it at the minimal.

[Jimng]

Some of my thoughts on the coloring up of sps

-Imagine the sps sun tanning under the MH creating food for itself

-The higher the par, the hotter it gets.....just like your skin under the sun

-Water movement will move heat away from the surface area of the sps

-Chiller also working hard to bring the temperature down

The idea is to make sure that the sps are getting "cooled" properly.......the higher wattage of MH being used, lower temperature "settings" on chiller or "faster" water movement will be required for the sps surface area to maintain the required temperature.

For Husbandry on this, this is what i do:

-Water return from chiller will go to main tank instead of sump

-Clean chiller often to prevent airflow issue and water not getting chilled efficiently

-Try to oversize the chiller when planning as far as possible, this will reduce temperature flunctuation.

-Measure also the temperature of the main tank against the chiller temperature controller often, there could be a difference.

Of course besides temperature, water quality is also important.

Some snr reefer once told me about the following additive effect:

Potassium Iodide => Lugol Solution : Helps with the color of corals(but adverse effect if over dosed) - the idea will be to adhere to a routine of dosing...i do a drop of lugol into my main tank every moring before the lights comes on as i believe this is one component removed by protein skimming.

Just my few cents.....

We need more reefers especially those experienced and successful to share with us their husbandry skills and routine so we know what works for them so that we can all learn more....

Come on, this is a good thread on sharing....

[RAV-65]

Some of my thoughts on the coloring up of sps

-Imagine the sps sun tanning under the MH creating food for itself

-The higher the par, the hotter it gets.....just like your skin under the sun

-Water movement will move heat away from the surface area of the sps

-Chiller also working hard to bring the temperature down

The idea is to make sure that the sps are getting "cooled" properly.......the higher wattage of MH being used, lower temperature "settings" on chiller or "faster" water movement will be required for the sps surface area to maintain the required temperature.

For Husbandry on this, this is what i do:

-Water return from chiller will go to main tank instead of sump

-Clean chiller often to prevent airflow issue and water not getting chilled efficiently

-Try to oversize the chiller when planning as far as possible, this will reduce temperature flunctuation.

-Measure also the temperature of the main tank against the chiller temperature controller often, there could be a difference.

Of course besides temperature, water quality is also important.

Some snr reefer once told me about the following additive effect:

Potassium Iodide => Lugol Solution : Helps with the color of corals(but adverse effect if over dosed) - the idea will be to adhere to a routine of dosing...i do a drop of lugol into my main tank every moring before the lights comes on as i believe this is one component removed by protein skimming.

Just my few cents.....

We need more reefers especially those experienced and successful to share with us their husbandry skills and routine so we know what works for them so that we can all learn more....

Come on, this is a good thread on sharing....

Bro, thanxs for the detailed explanation...

I tink I benefitted from some of the tips there...

anyway... Juz to add that the lower the number of fishes, the lower the bioload... unless u have a very effective skimmer to extract the nutrients from the water... Feeding once every 2-3 days would also help, but beware when using garlic supplements, coz they're pretty potent...

Juz my $0.02...

[scarab]

Now, these are very interesting and good comments from reefers from their personal experience. Keep them coming. I'm picking up some tips here and there. Good thread.

Just remember, no two tanks are the same. You must understand your own tank characteristic, meaning you must observe your tank reaction religiously, meaning you cannot follow someone's husbandry skill wholesale. May work for him/her (got to be politically correct ), may not work for you. However, all the tips posted here are positive and you can mix and match them to your convenience and observation.

[tineng]

Frm wat i see....

matured system,

constant water parameters,

lightin (the choice of bulbs, color temp....),

leavin ur sps alone,

good water circulation,

feedin with the proper food,

knwin the requirment of ur sps such as placin.

proper acclamatizin of newly bought colonies especially wild.

All the abv contributes retainin and coloration.

wow look like a good thread with some many expert responding.....i guess selection and proper placement of SPS is something that i'm still learning - but can't find any real useful info....perhaps we should start a thread to allow expert to share with us how they generally place their SPS....no need to very details kind...perhaps something generic, like birdnest, 12 inch from 250w MH....etc

[RAV-65]

Now, these are very interesting and good comments from reefers from their personal experience. Keep them coming. I'm picking up some tips here and there. Good thread.

Just remember, no two tanks are the same. You must understand your own tank characteristic, meaning you must observe your tank reaction religiously, meaning you cannot follow someone's husbandry skill wholesale. May work for him/her (got to be politically correct ), may not work for you. However, all the tips posted here are positive and you can mix and match them to your convenience and observation.

About time u share some more tips bro!

[junyong84]

hey guys, after reading so much, you guys really change alot of water regulary for ur sps... how do u guys prevent diatom bloom after changing the water? My tank always got alage bloom after changing water.... the colour of the SPS still lose out to the diatoms...

[RAV-65]

hey guys, after reading so much, you guys really change alot of water regulary for ur sps... how do u guys prevent diatom bloom after changing the water? My tank always got alage bloom after changing water.... the colour of the SPS still lose out to the diatoms...

normally u dun get diatoms after changing water...

Maybe ur tapwater high in po4...

[weileong]

normally u dun get diatoms after changing water...

Maybe ur tapwater high in po4...

You meant Silicates?

[RAV-65]

You meant Silicates?

I thought tap water got po4 also? Can anyone confirm that?

[weileong]

diatoms bloom normally caused by Si ma...

[Eric]

For my case I buy natural sea water from Irwana every week, so not much issue on impurities and save me the trouble on salinity balancing and minerals addition to the tank.

Eric

[bestcom]

i am using ro/di unit and i change my water every 2 weeks, aside from which i change GAC and filter wools..... it has work well for me and never regretted such religious maintenance..... i know of senior reefers who has really amazing success and they change weekly... guess its a living testimony for those who wants to reap colourful candies....

wats the volume u change ? 10-20 %