Want To Try Sps, Tips?

benwildog

Member
I want to give sps a try, tank has been up for 3 years and i have 400 watt mh's on my 110 gallon. All specs are good. Just looking for some advise on how high the calcium needs to be kept, my CA has always been high w/out dosing anything (@480).
Looking for some advice on some good starter sps pieces, and any additional testing/ dosing requirements different from lps.
 

nycbob

Active Member
montis r pretty easy to start with. put them bottom to middle to start with. most staghorns acros r easy and grow very fast. keep up ur water chng and measure ur calcium every few days, and u will get an idea how much calcium ur corals r consuming. good luck!
 

sambasam

Member
go easy just get 1or 2 at first and see how well you can take care of them. they are some of the toughest to take care of.
 

benwildog

Member
Thanks, definitely going to take it slow, another question, is it best to start w/ colonies or frags or is it no different? Just figure I could afford a few more frags to try out.
 

trippkid

Active Member
I would start with some monti's(caps,digi's,encrusting) first like said, maybe birdsnest,pocillipora, and some of the easier acro's. If you can, I would try and grow out from frags, when it is happy the stuff grows like crazy. Also, if you can get aquacultured, meaning frags grown in captivity, I would buy those instead of wild colonies, they are usually more adaptable to our tanks. Make sure you have lots of flow(30x's min. circulation), as close to zero as possible for Nitrate and Phosphate, optimal and constant(stable) levels of Cal,Alk,Mg and Sr.. Temp should not go above 81, 82 at the very most, IMO. My tank ranges from 77 to 79, occasionally it will hit 80 for a short time, usually because I bump our AC up to conserve some electricity. Go slow, like said, get some frags and see if you can take care of them. Water changes are a must in my opinion. I do weekly changes, 20-25gal/wk, in my 120. Hope this helps a little, if you have any more questions, please ask, I'm sure someone here can help. Good luck with your "New" addiction. I absolutely love SPS tanks, I guess I thrive on the challenge(it's not too hard once you get the hang of it, it can take time sometimes, don't get too discouraged if you have some stuff that dies on you, wait a little while and try again. Keep your tank as clean as you possibly can from the start. Again, good luck.
Matt
 

nycbob

Active Member
get aquacultured corals whenever possible. mine aqua ones grow a lot faster than the wild ones.
 

jmick

Active Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
get aquacultured corals whenever possible. mine aqua ones grow a lot faster than the wild ones.
This is very good advise, I started up my sps system about a year ago and did a lot of research and set up my system spefically for sps corals. I'm lucky in my area there are other locals to buy and trade corals with. To date, I have only lost one colony, which was wild caught and RTN'd on me in about 3 weeks. I'd also start out slow and pic up a few frags...green slimer, pocilopora, milli's and digi's are all good starters.
Also, be sure to examine all sps pieces for red bugs, monti eating nudi's and flat worms...all three are very very common in the trade. I'd try to dip all new corals, I like the Tropic Marin dip. If possible, you'll want to test for Magnesium and Alk and of course PH with the Calcium testing you are already doing. I try to keep my temp around 75-76, think my colors are the best when I am in this range.
 
Top