7 gallon beginner SPS tank help needed

[brandonlai]

Hey all you SPS experts
i want to venture into the world of SPS!
(because zoanthids DO get boring )

anyways, i finished cycling my 7 gallon minibow.

For lighting: 70w MH 14k Astra Lux and 28w PC 50/50

Filter: Aquaclear 70 modded into a fuge (stocked with chaeto and a heater)

Water Movement: right now i have an aquaclear powerhead that does 175 GPH, i was going to get another one because there are some dead spot in my tank.....

5 pounds of LR
5 pounds of Live sand (i have read that ssb are bad for SPS tanks, so should i just take this out?)

My parameters are good so far, and i have 5 zoa frags in there (couldnt help myself)

So questions
1. Do i have enough water movement?
2. DO i have enough lighting?
3. What do i need for cleanup crew? (i plan on having no fish)
4. Is this doable? (i do water changes once a week and will does with calcium supplements as needed)
5. Can i keep a few zoas in this tank?
6. Can i dip SPS with iodine dips like i do with zoas?
7. Am i stupid for even thinking of trying this?

Thanks for all your help

 

[fishdoc11]

Not saying you can't do it but a 7 gal tank is going to be a lot harder tank to keep than a larger one mainly because of the stability that sps need....especially since it will be your first sps. Trying a couple of tank raised digi frags would probably be a good starting point to see how you do with those. I personally wouldnt try anything smaller than ~ 30 gallons for a first time venture into sps.
FWIW, Chris

 

[GMAX]

Find some birds nest frags from a fellow reefer and maybe some stylophora and maybe a montipora capricornus.

Fishdoc is right. Its going to be very hard to get your water quality as pristine and then as constant as Acropora will demand to be healthy and grow.

 

[mirkus]

try nano-reef.com, you'll find more support there. I never lost a single sps in that tank. I had monti's, bonsai, millepora's, birdsnest, couple unknown acros in there for a 1.5 years.

I think you should really get yourself an auto top off though.

 

[Norwood IND]

Hmmm... seven gallon nano for sps kind of hard to do for parameter stability. I agree that if you are going to try it, then digitata or birdsnest frags are best.

Really, you should go with a bigger tank...

 

[GMAX]

An auto top off system is likely the only way a 7 gallon tank can stay in good balance. Pretty expensive addition and lots of possibilities for overflows and flooding the room, but it might allow the water parameters to fluctuate within a small enough range to allow acropora. I would not try it, but I am conceeding the point that it is possible.

 

[mirkus]

okay, I'll make another confession with that tank..... 7 gallon mini bow.

That tank was up since 2000 or so. It was SPS in it's last days. When I moved to a bigger tank the minibow was neglected. I rarely performed water changes, prizm skimmer broke, rarely added B-Ionic, one powerhead stopped working, topped off occasionally, and ran a 3 hour halide photoperiod. The growth in the corals exploded... while color suffered. The growth of the coral in there was much better than my bigger tank.

While I was actively maintaining the tank, adding Bionic daily, water changes, and auto top off... sps color was good and growth was decent.

SPS, is definitely possible. I wish I had the picture to show.

 

[jayare]

Small SPS tanks aren't very difficult. Check out my thread for photos of my 18 gallon.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=937633

I haven't checked any levels at all in over 2 months. I just started doing water changes after a month or so lapse. I do have a Auto Top Off which can be added for around $60. I also dose a 2 part buffer, but that's it. Growth has been decent exspecially in the caps, digitas, and green slimer.

 

[GMAX]

Cmon at least admit 18 gallons is almost three times the water volume of the topic's 7 gallon and if you are evaporating water ( hence the auto top off ) you are doing water changes by replacement via the auto top off. And I would think that the MH bulb you have is causing a fair amount of evaporation. How much per week is your auto top off adding?

 

[jayare]

Maybe 2 gallons a week.
I completely agree that an ATO is needed. When I didn't have one it was a pain.

 

[mirkus]

Geting back to your questions!

So questions
1. Do i have enough water movement?
2. DO i have enough lighting?
3. What do i need for cleanup crew? (i plan on having no fish)
4. Is this doable? (i do water changes once a week and will does with calcium supplements as needed)
5. Can i keep a few zoas in this tank?
6. Can i dip SPS with iodine dips like i do with zoas?
7. Am i stupid for even thinking of trying this?

Answers:
1: You should probably get one more small powerhead. Watch the heat generated by the pump though.

2: You have enough lighting for the easier sps corals

3: With no fish your clean up crew can be some snails and a scarlet hermit if you choose.

4: Of course it's doable. An auto top off will make your life much easier. You can use a 2 part CA/Alk or you can try to rely on water changes. Test your parameters to see what works.

5: yes, you can keep zoas in there too. Run carbon if possible.

6: I haven't been much of a dipper so can't help ya. You should dip, I don't think it's Iodine for sps.

7: No you aren't stupid for trying it. Get more that 5lbs of live rock. Order a new astralux bulb in the next month or so, and be careful with the ushio 10K.

 

[GMAX]

2/18 = 11% weekly = 44% monthly. Lots of water changes. If thats lazy what does it make me when I do about 15% twice a month?

 

[mirkus]

GMAX .....Top off does not count as water change. Only water evaporates!!

 

[jayare]

Wait, what are you talking about? That's just top-off. I'm not actually doing a new salt water change of 2 gallons every week. Doesn't your tank require fresh top off? Besides, top-off isn't exporting bad water and bringing in new nutrients.

 

[GMAX]

First off you would have to explain the new nutrient things to me. Now water changes do two things. Topping off keeps salinity in a very narrow range ( imporotant ) and dilutes nitrate and po4 which are the nemesis for colorful sps ( ie very important unless brown SPS is the goal). If you are talking about trace elements, those do come from salts which only come in from a saltwater change not a top off. Strontium and magnesium are important but I thought we were discussing dosing as well here not relying on water changes alone for a 7 gallon. Plus some kind of skimmer to get the "bad water" out.

Frankly if you are going to the expense of a top off system I would go to a remote water change system with a remote pump module and not just top off but change out mechanically. Liter meter III will do so and over quite a distance. I am sure other less expensive options that do much the same are available.

 

[ReeferMonkey]

I'll post some pics of my old SPS-heavy 7g Minibow if I have time later tonight. It was stuffed with acros, montis, zoanthids and some LPS.

Admittedly though, it had some serious water quality problems. The best thing I could have done would have been to use a larger aquaclear to add more capacity and to be better about the maintenance. Getting good water movement was also always a challenge.

edit:
Found one I had hosted on ImageShack:

 

[brandonlai]

Ok, Thanks for all the help everyone

so i have decided against the acropora and the other "harder to keep" sps. I will be doing monti caps (I LOVE THESE GUYS) and birds nest and probably some cool looking digitata if i find any.

I do have an auto top off system that works well. My LFS says that i probably will not need to add calcium if i keep up with my water changes (keeping in mind that i will have about 7-10 sps frags).

I will get another powerhead for more movement.

Thanks again for all your help
Brandon