sps and clams..how hard?

[mopar9012]

Ive been keeping softies(zoos, frogspawns, tongues, etc.) and I've upgraded to MH lighting and would like to keep some SPS and Clams as well.
I am confident I can keep them if I get some advice on keeping them.
Soo any advice, things I should be aware of and anything like that would be appriciated.
thanks

 

[wangotango]

for beginner clams id say a derasa, which you can keep on your sandbed. they come in a lot of colors and patterns. i dont think croceas are as hard to keep as people say (my first clam was a crocea). for easy sps corals, id try a montipora, either capricornis or digita. sps require excellent water quality and A LOT of flow. hope that helps.
-Justin

 

[mopar9012]

derasa clams is actually the one i was looking to get.
Right now all i have for flow is a filter and a skimmer that can skim a tank up to 150 gallons and its on my 29 gallon.
I really would like to keep SPS but when ever I put a PH in it seems to blow around the whole tank, and I think it was a 260. Any advice on that?

 

[fishieness]

both sps and clams are very easy to keep assuming you have the right equiptment and time to do so.
what type of skimmer is it? saying what it is rated for does absolutly nothing because most of them are BS anyways
and you are going to up your flow by a lot. at least a 25X turnoever rate in my opinion. i would say at least that powerhead you had in, but preferably two with some alternating current by having one or two on a hydor rotating reflector.
keep doing frequent water changes with a quality salt, and make sure your tank is mature, pregerably at least 6 months and you should be good to go.
further down the road you may have to do somethign like dosing two part, but with your first few sps, you shouldnt have a problem. but measure your ALK and Ca and all yoru other levels.
what livestock do you currently have?

 

[teen]

its a piece of cake as long as you have the right equipment and you pay attention to your tank and dont slack. there not really something yo can just add to the tank than forget about, like you can with shrooms/ zoas.

 

[mopar9012]

My skimmer is definitly not the best, probably the BS one. Its a Jebo.
I will get some more PH but my main ? is if i add these PHs will all more softies be alright with this much flow?
Im pretty on top of things but I will definitly make sure I am paying attention to my tank when i start keeping SPS and Clams.

 

[fishieness]

your softies will be fine as long as they are not directly in the flow of your powerheads. i have a 42X turnover rate in my tank and i have a very mixed reef, softies included. but the lower flow stuff does fine right under the powerheads so they are not blown around like crazy

 

[mopar9012]

Alright, thanks for the help. I am excited about keeping clams and SPS.

 

[jrthomas40]

i upgraded my tank to hqi and every thing is not taking it well...my xenias died my goniopora wont open and my sailfin wont eat....what did you do when you changed to your MH??

 

[fishieness]

i dont think that was directed at me, but i could help out
first i upgraded from 192 watts of PC to a 150 watt DE MH and 2X65 watt PCs. i moved all my corals that would otherwise be right under the halide to the side of the tank and started with the halide being on for only 3-4 hours a day and slowly moved up from there. everythign was fine except for a blasto. i had bought it the week before and it already wasnt doing well in the LFS (which is why i was actualy able to afford it....). one polyp which wasnt doing too well died and so did another. it disapeared until i couldnt see a trace of flesh anymore but it did eventualy come back
now i jsut recent upgraded to 2X39 watt t5s and a 250 watt SE MH. so a lot more light. i am starting out by leaving the MH on for only 2 hours a day. its been like that for a little over a week and i am goign to start moving it up about a half hour next week and jsut slowly going up from there. the only problem so far isabout 1-2 mm of a few branches of one of my acros got a little burned. but it seems to be doing better and should be back up in no time.
you can aslo get some normal mesh screening and put ir over your tank. a few sheets of it and ever week or two take off a sheet. but if you just cut back your light timers for the Mh you will save money.
good luck!

 

[seannmelly]

Last time I checked, Jebo makes pond equipment. Just some food for thought. I don't know if they've branched out into saltwater. I would just double check to make sure.

 

[jrthomas40]

the lights have been on all week do you think it is too late to fade it out??

 

[scoobs]

I honestly think SPS corals like acro and stuff are sooo easy.. Only thing that makes them hard is when people have bad lighting or dont keep levels right.. but they are really easy.. I have a T.Cro.. so far so good.. been over 2 months now and it seems to be doing great.
I think alot of people have problems with hydrometers alot of times and think things are right in the tank when its really all messed up.. If you start keeping harder things i would 110% say get a refractometer you cant go wrong with those things well worth the money.

 

[mopar9012]

ill get a refractometer in the next week or so. I have tested my water a hydrometer and i never really get the same reading.