Advice from sps veterans

[theshaman]

Hi reefcentral!
So here's my situation. I have been into keeping fish and lps for a while now and would like to get into keeping sps. My current setup is the reefer 250 with an ATI 36 inch LED powermodule with 4 t5 bulbs. I plan on two part dosing with an eshoppes dosing pump. For water movement I have 3 jebao pp8 and a ecotech vectra for my return. Tank has been cycling with no light for about 2 months and with light for about 2 weeks. It has a pretty big skimmer in there at the moment but I plan on replacing it with a vertex 180. For Ato I have the tunze osmolator.

Do you guys think I am ready to start putting in frags? What sps frags should I start with?
How often should I check my Ca, alkaline, Mg? I will be gone for about 2 weeks next month so should I wait to get back to start or can I start right now?
What kind of fish can I keep with sps? Currently the tank is filled more than 50% rocks. Should I take some out to have more room for sps to grow?
I think that sums up all my questions.
Thanks guys! I really appreciate all the useful information this forum has to offer.

 

[codydemmel4]

I am definitely not an expert but I have kept SPS successfully for a couple years so I will give my input but the real experts I am sure will chime in soon.

First if you could post some pictures of your setup that would be great. The flow it seems like you have under control, dosing seems like you have under control, same with water. As long as your phosphates, nitrates and ammonia are under control and have been stable for awhile I am sure you are fine to start adding frags. I would start with some of the easier ones such as Green slimer, some regular montis, birdnests, red planet.

In the beginning 1-2 weeks, you will want to check CA and Alk every single day. Make sure to test it almost at the same time so you can see if it dropped or went up, how to adjust your dosing. I would test mag like once a week (maybe others will disagree). The most important thing with SPS is stablitity, so yeah it is annoying checking every single day in the beginning but it is well worth it once you see how good the corals respond

For taking out rock, thats hard to tell without showing pictures so if you could post some pictures that would be great. For fish, you should let us know which ones you are looking to get and we can let you know our opinion if they will nip at the SPS or not

 

[swk]

Only way to make sure the tank is ready for sps is to add a couple cheapies and see what happens.

I test alkalinity every day. The other 2 of the big 3 are checked once a month for me. I do not concern myself with nutrients.

I would wait until you get back to start, personally.

I'm not sure what the size of your tank is, but many fish are sps safe. Do some research and you should be fine.

 

[theshaman]

Thanks for the reply, Cody! I will post some pictures if my setup when I get home.

 

[theshaman]

Btw, the tank is 55 gallons. Bare bottom.

 

[jda]

Growing coralline algae is a good sign that your tank can handle SPS.

 

[bif24701]

Watch algae growth and determine if you have a nutrient (NO3,PO4) problem. Increased or rapid algae growth means your nutrients are climbing and might want to do something about it. Other than that I wouldn't focus on it some much. Corals need nutrients for growth and color.

Keeping water is the most important thing about SPS. Learn to keep the parameters (pH, ALK, cal, Mag, temp, PO4, NO3, O2) stable. Water changes help a lot with keeping things in line. Feed! Don't be afraid to feed! However be sure your export can handle the input. Like I said before, watch the algae and it will tell you when things are changing. Big skimmer helps, I employ many export systems and in fact I have too little nutrients and my corals are a bit starved.


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[Rakie]

in fact I have too little nutrients and my corals are a bit starved.

That's where I'm at. I've noticed two things help -- One was dosing Nitrates, which was good.. But the second, is something most dare not do... I'm now dosing phosphates. And my tank is crushing them, I go from .05 --> 0 po4 in a couple days.

My tank is also barely stocked right now, and has a powerful skimmer. When I get 3-5 more fish in there we'll really be cookin' up some poop, hah.