SPS Help

bonesnapper

bonesnapper

Member
Ok, I have had two Birdsnest's with no luck with either of them. I have Nova Pro T5 156 watt. Params are:
PH:8.2
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:20
Are there any other easier SPS? I also have two clams and they are doing fine. I have a Squamosa and a Gold Maxima.
Thanks, James
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
Need a little more information...
What is happening to the coral?
Where are they located in the tank?
what kind of flow do you have?
What are your calcium and alkalinity levels at?
What do you dose?
Any pics?
 
pbnj

pbnj

Member
I have a Pink Bird's Nest under T5s with more wattage and better reflectors than yours and I have to keep it in the upper part of the tank right in the middle of the lighting to keep it pink.
Hawkins Echinata will do nicely. I have two frag plugs that I keep towards the bottom of the tank.
 
bonesnapper

bonesnapper

Member
Originally Posted by GatorWPB
http:///forum/post/2928208
Need a little more information...
What is happening to the coral?
Where are they located in the tank?
what kind of flow do you have?
What are your calcium and alkalinity levels at?
What do you dose?
Any pics?
Woooops, forgot to put all that info.
The corals are bleaching.
They are located in the middle prtion of my tank.
I have a Koralia 2 and a Rio 400. Also the filter and Skimmer.
As of now I do not have a calcium or alkalinity tester.
I dose that kit that is made by Kent that has all of the minerals and calcium.
No Pics, sorry.
 
mopar9012

mopar9012

Active Member
I am by far no expert on SPS.
But we always need to know the size or your tank. If you say have a 300 gal tank, you obviously wont have enough flow. But from the sounds of it, you dont have a 300 gal tank. Just saying.
Also I know calcium and alkinity can play a big part in a reef tank, espicially with SPS.
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
corals get progressively harder as you climb the ladder. you need to have a firm understanding of the chemicals needed for their survival, and how much of it is in your water column at any given time. how you can expect to keep SPS without Calcium, Alk, or Mag kits is beyond me.
do you keep LPS? even for them i would use those kits.
also, trates at 20 could be frying them.
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
Originally Posted by BoneSnapper
http:///forum/post/2928766
As of now I do not have a calcium or alkalinity tester.
this very well could be the problem. You need calcium and alkalinity tests and get the levels within acceptable ranges.
Calc - 400-450
Alk 7-9 dkh (although many keep it higher)
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
Originally Posted by BoneSnapper
http:///forum/post/2932169
Also on my Nova, I am running the bulbs it came with. 10000 K, and 460nm Actinic. Are these okay to run?
There are a lot of better bulbs to use than the stock ones. With just 10k and actinic, you are not utilitizing the flexibility of t-5s.
ATI makes some great bulbs. I think the Blue Plus and AquaBlue are popular because they contain an actinic spike for good sps coloration but still have great par for growth.
Im not a t-5 expert, just learning them all myself, but really like the flexibility that t-5 offers. Look for other t-5 threads here or elsewhere on the web and you can find people's bulb recommendations.
 
bonesnapper

bonesnapper

Member
Ok, I am going to the LFS today to get some SPS frags for helping my dad move. What should I get that is easy and that will thrive with T-5's.
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
Montis are about as easy as sps gets. You could try some caps or some digitatas.
Did you ever get test kits for calcium, alkalinity and magnesium? One other thing that you are going to want to test for is phosphate. High phosphate can also cause sps corals to bleach.
 
bonesnapper

bonesnapper

Member
Ok, I got a Calcium tester and I got a nice big piece of Montipora. I could not find an Alkalinity tester. I was pissed off. I will just take it to the LFS and have them test it. Is there another name for Alkalinity testers?
 
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