Getting into the world of sps corals...

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siptang

Guest
I'm jumping into the world of sps.
I actually told my self that I would never do it because it's so hard to keep but gosh darn it, they are so cool.
So I'm picking up several different types of bird nests and caps.
Any advices from the advanced sps-ers here?
I know that they love high lights and lot of flow.
Are they pretty much easy to take care of? what should I look out for?
Thanks
Siptang.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Good light, lots of flow, stable Alkalinity, low Phosphate. You need to weigh the Pro/Con of feeding them. Low dissolved nutrients will give better color but more food and they will grow faster. Overskimming can offset the Con side of feeding but it can only help so much.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Start with the montipora, caps and digitata, those are by far the easiest and a little more forgiving. As far as birdsnest, I have ZERO luck with pink birdsnest, and that's supposed to be an easier one. My ORA Birds of Paradise birdsnest is my hardiest one. That thing grows like crazy and takes a beating all the time because my fish like to fling it off the rock it is on.
Once you get a handle on montipora, try some millepora, I've always had an easy time with those as well.
Biggest thing to pay attention to when buying them: Take notice of where in the tank they are, what kind of flow they're under and what type of lighting. Ask how long the light is on for, etc.
When I buy frags or even SPS colonies, I tend to snap off a small piece and glue it somewhere else, this way I have two and more chance of one surviving if I put one in a place in the tank that the coral doesn't like.
 
S

siptang

Guest
Wow thanks for the thorough input guys.
I have moti caps already for close to a month now. (I believe it's going on 3 or 4th week.. I forgot)
Red cap as grown a bit and I am surprised that I can actually notice the growth Brown cap, hollywood stunner, strawberry cap, idaho something cap and green cap frag, x factor cap frag has all grown a bit as well and I'm happy that's why i decided to jump into other things.
For low dissolved nutrient, what would you guys recommend?
I just want simple, less work possible just dump and leave kinda thing that works well lol.
I started on kalk dosing added to my ato
my calcium is at 460-480 solid
alk at 8
nitrate 0
phosphate 0.25 (changing out my phosphate media tonight)
ph 8.3
ammonia, nitrite 0
4 t5 with 2 10000k lights with ati super blues + marineland reef 1w LED set up.
3200g twin powerhead on one side and koraelia (i forgot which model but it's big and STRONG) sent by Jeff from here.
Anything that I should do or look out for from here?
I'm planning to add chaeto to my sump and run the light 24 hours in the bottom. What do you guys think?
Sorry for so many questions, it's my first time getting into advance corals and I want to make sure that I get this sucker right.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Hey sip. Glad you are starting to like SPS.
For low nutrients, use a skimmer, fuge, phos reactor combination. You will have better results
Don't run the fuge light 24 hours a day. Algae needs some dark time for respiration. It's better for the timer to be on 16 hours and off 8.
Stick to easy corals and then as you gain experience keeping your alkalinity stable, you can start adding higher maintenance corals.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Everything looks good so far. A good salt along with your kalk drip should be enough, you don't have to feed them. I do not feed my montipora at all.
Best food for SPS corals: good water quality, good salt, and FISH POOP
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
i have good sucess with milli as well and poclliporas easy too... sps can be tricky but kool when u get going. I dont think a kalk drip is really needed until they grow out more... when i buy sps i try and picture it fully grown out in my tank and where ill place it.
i find birdsnest to be very picky. Good luck and dont give up...
 
S

siptang

Guest
for some reason my ph is dropping... it shot up to 8.4 then now sits at 7.8, 7.9... I don't know what is going on... I buffered and it's still sitting on 7.9 on hanna ph tester...
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Hey, Richard go to reefking.com/articales/chemistry/
A Simplified Guide to the Relationship Between
Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and pH
This is a great artical, explain a lot.
 
S

siptang

Guest
Thanks Jack,
Reading it right now.
It's strange though... tested again
salinity 1.023
ammonia - 0
nitrite, n03 - 0
PH- 7.8
p04 - 0
calcium 440
alk - 7
hmm.. i don't want to add too much buffer but should I add little bit more to raise it?
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
First I would do a 20% water change (checking PH of water change) wait a bit check PH. If no raise in PH I would get mag. test kit, you'll be needing one since you are going into SPS. Then go from there. It's reefkeeping.com, sorry
 
S

siptang

Guest
got it! thank you Jack. I really appreciate your expertise.
I already made 15 gal of salt water yesterday and ph was at 8.4.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
A convenient and safe way to raise salinity is to use saltwater for topoff until it's at the desired level.
 
S

siptang

Guest
I didn't take that approach.
I just added slight more salt to my batch of salt water that I'm going to change today.
Would that be ok? I'm aiming to bring up the salinity by .01 today.
I buffered the ph/alk. ph is sitting both at 8 in the morning. (30 mins after light off. Had light in the sump all night for chaeto)
Calcium is around 450ish.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I hope you meant to say " raise it by 1.001. "
I wouldn't do it a a water change. That's a bit too rapid. I'd use saltwater for top off water for a little while and test every day. Use a refractometer.
 
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