SPS question...

reefsoe

reefsoe

Member
No matter what I do, I cant keep SPS alive.. or some will die off and then start to regrow. 3 of the frags I had have started with tissue loss and bleaching. My params are perfect Alk is great and Calcium is 420 im not sure where im going wrong... the flow rate is the only thing i havent calculated but I have the 1200 gph liittle giant as a return and 3 power heads in the tank. there is 500w of MH and 220w of VHO. :notsure: the frags of SPS are not even extending the polyps. I have many other softies zoo's and Lps an clams that are doing well and im actually seeing a nice bit of growth on my clam and ric's. Sps.... no good.... and I dont know why.
Pls :help:
Thanks
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member
It could be lots of things.
1) not enough flow. what size tank do you have?
2) sometimes softies and sps won't get along, are you running carbon?
3) how long has the tank been running?
 
attml

attml

Active Member
A couple of things worth looking at. Are you running carbon 24/7? Softies can sometimes wage a little chemical warfare if they feel threatened. SPS also like very clean water how are your nitrates and nitrites? When it comes to SPS, as Dana Riddle says; "When you think you have enough flow, double it" Oxygen exchange and water transport are very important to SPS. Try redirecting your water flow almost right at one of your specific acros and see if you get any polyp extension. Also, if you have changed salt brands there have been quite a few cases of aquarists having STN & RTN issues that are being attributed in part to this. Salinity should be at 1.025 -1.026. Less than that there are reports of RTN issues. Mike Paletta & Eric Borenman spoke at our aquarium club meeting this weekend and they also were advocating a little lower temperature to cut down on RTN (76-78 degrees - higher than that causing potetial RTN).
 
reefsoe

reefsoe

Member
Trates an Trites are 0 no crabon is run ( That will change ) BUT I dont have allot of lps just some small fragspawn an bubble an when I say small i mean less then a quarter in size. mostly zoos and rics atm. salinity is 1025 and flow is almost direct hit on the frags, actually one is direct hit. Temp is 79 ... Im gunna have to frag this gemiphora because theres only a few good clusters left and see what happens.
 
S

spsaddict

Guest
check for stray electrical current as well, also do you have a fuge with the lights on 24/7. if not your ph might be swinging to much.
how long do you acclimate them for? sps are very sensitive to ANY water condition changes. what was the mother colonies tank like in terms of lightiing, there is a major stress enticer somwhere.
 
S

spsaddict

Guest
i acclimate all my sps for atleast 3 hrs. temp acclimate for 30 min or so, then drip acclimate for the rest of the time..... how did you acclimate these
 
reefsoe

reefsoe

Member
I dripped em slowly, airline tube tied in a knot to restrict flow but only for about an hour and a half... its so funny though because I have a hydrophoro ( i think ) and when i was taking it home the bag had leaked and I just put it in the tank... its fine!
Ahh well... I think what im going to do is a few step process.
1. Update all my test kits with new ones... the ones I have aare a few months old.
2. Dip for three hours and temp acclimate first.
I'm getting a few more frags over the weekend an we will see how it goes.
 
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