Anyone here give up on keeping SPS?

[10" Red Devil]

Hello,

Just wondering how many, just gave up on SPS? I am at that point. I mean I feel like such a failure because I did all the things I should, but in the end I just cant get my frags to color up. Wonder how many of you out there have had the same experience and just went back to a mixed reef with softies or lps?

I just want a beautiful reef at this point, but Im stuck with a few test frags that wont color up no matter what I do and I do not want to buy more until I am successful with these. At this point though I am tried of looking at bare rock. It is so sad, when I know I could make it into a amazing lps/softie tank no problem.

At the same time there is this little nag in the back of my head that says I will hate myself if I give up and I will feel like such a loser, because I have devoted so much time (years) to learning and keeping sps, and in the end all of that did nothing for me.

 

[kevinlo]

I have the same problem in regards to getting them to color up. But for now I feel good that they are growing and, well, not dying. The solution has to be what it always is - time to spend more money.

 

[10" Red Devil]

Kevinlo,

Yeah I feel that is very true. If I had that $300 Calcium Reactor it might make things more stable instead of fiddling with this 2-part.

Or a chiller for the summer months when your roomates cant decide between having the air on or off or having it too high or low.

Or spending tons on Zeovit.

I sometimes wonder if my problem is not my light I have a 250watt DE 14k Phoenix Bulb Pendant over a 20Long and I just wonder no matter how slowly I have acclimated (weeks w/ screens, 19" to 16") if this is not the problem. I have been on a 4 hour photo period for a month now with no change.

I have tried adding amino acids (small amount 2ml 2x a week), Kents Coral-Vit 20 drops 2x a week, feeding the fish more often (Daily prime reef, sf bay brand variety pack all strained of packing water). I have undetectable po4. No3 is probably 5 (Sea Test kit only goes down to 10), CA pretty much always 440-450, alk 4.0meq/l, mag 1455ppm almost always. SG 1.025. Temp 80.2-81F, 10% water change weekly, Refugium w/ cheto, remora skimmer on 24/7. I have spot fed the sps with liquid life coral plankton (zooplankton sized). Auto topoff on the system w/ very pure (2tds) R/O water.

I have lost 3 frags and 1 mini colony of montipora (Montipora supposedly the easiest to do) despite these efforts. :/

I do not see any sign of parasites. I once brought in some red bugs once by accident, but nipped that in the bud right quick and they have been gone ever since (4 months ago).

I have had the tank going for over a year and no luck.

 

[CeeGee]

I would post this in the SPS forum. Surely someone over there can help you.

 

[elephen]

Stability is the key. You don't want any of your water perams to hardly fluctuate at all over a 24hr period.

There are also alot of facters based on water quality, nutrient level and lighting -- all key factors in SPS.

 

[jasper24]

I am no expert (Believe Me) on SPS and only have 2 specimens a Hydnophora and a Milleporo (SP?) in my 40 Breeder which is softie and LPS dominated. I have an Aqualight Pro 150W 14K Phoenix with 2 x 65W Actinics. 18G sump (12G in it) with chateo lit by a LOA bulb in a reflector 24 x 7. I do 10% weekly water changes and do not run a skimmer. I feed my tank cyclopeeze and DT's 2 times per week. I feed my 2 clowns and clown goby small amounts of food 2 times per day. I use a 2 part to maintain calcium and alk. Both of these sps have maintained their color and have grown a little in the 2 months in my tank. Maybe they are the easy to keep sps I am not sure. Parameters are below.

Temp 79-81
SG 1.025
PH 8.1
Calcium 400 ish
Alk 10 DKH
No Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites

 

[LOTUS50GOD]

Do you have po4 or no3? If you do that is not good for sps.
I have seen growth/ color variations with as little as .1 nitrate or .03 po4.

Also I can tell you the success of SPS is requires more than 4 hours of light. I have my sps under 14 hours. Also what is the kelvin rating of your bulbs. My SPS seem to do best under 20k's. Flow is also a requirement; but not too much direct. What kinda turnover do you have in your tank?

 

[DKKA]

Of course it could be anything, but from what you've posted, I'd put my money on the lights. A 20 long is such a shallow tank. Plus the monti's you've lost are not the most light demanding of sps.

Do you have supplemental lighting as well, or is it just 4 hours of intense lighting?

Dan

 

[eboonaman]

My sps would not color up either, I was told to do three things and now my green acros are bright green and my purple acros are turning from brown to purple.
1st) was to stop feeding them sps need low neutrient water
2) even through my phos. and silica reading were undetectable I started using phos-ban
3) switched from 6 65watt pc two 2 150 watt Mh.

hth
chuck

 

[zukihara]

Even with limited experience I, too, believe that stability is the absolute key. Frankly, I believe that is why some advocate waiting so long before adding sps to a system. It's not that the environment isn't ready but that the husbandry schedule has not been stabalized yet. Heck, I think I've read that opinion in several publiications and other posts as well.

So, before you look at anything make sure your system and schedule keeps things as stable. The reason I can say this with limited experience is that creating that stability is much easier said than done and that is exactly what I'm still trying to tighten down on my own system.

Than again, maybe I'm wrong!:eek2:

 

[impur]

Does your temp swing? I had a long standing problem with poor PE and coloration. I'd check the temp in the morning, 80 on the dot. When i got home, 80 on the dot. Then one night i got up for a drink of water, checked the tank, temp was 70!!! I hooked up my AC JR. the next morning for the temp controller, and in about a week i have excellent PE and the corals are coloring up, some of them with colors i did not expect! It drives me crazy to think how much time, money and effort i wasted trying to figure it out the problem and it was that simple to fix in the end. I took the temp for granted. I mean i spent hours and hours pulling my hair out trying to get good PE and color out of my SPS corals. All fixed by something this simple. I think sometimes its the simple things we overlook.

Also how high do you keep the light from the water surface? I have a 29 and have found that about 11" from the surface is perfect. Actually it might be slightly too close, as one of my encrusting montis is bleaching slightly. But i run my lights from 10am to 6:30 pm, i have only a 250w 14k MH.

 

[HippieSmell]

I think stability may be overrated. I often see SPS completely exposed to air at low tide and they seem to be doing fine. Of course you want some stability, but our tanks are more stable than the ocean in a lot of areas. If parameters are good and the coral is doing poorly, then I think the problem is probably the wrong lighting, too little flow, or nutrients are too high. There, I narrowed the problem down to three broad areas, lol.

 

[10" Red Devil]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6435907#post6435907 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jasper24
I am no expert (Believe Me) on SPS and only have 2 specimens a Hydnophora and a Milleporo (SP?) in my 40 Breeder which is softie and LPS dominated. I have an Aqualight Pro 150W 14K Phoenix with 2 x 65W Actinics. 18G sump (12G in it) with chateo lit by a LOA bulb in a reflector 24 x 7. I do 10% weekly water changes and do not run a skimmer. I feed my tank cyclopeeze and DT's 2 times per week. I feed my 2 clowns and clown goby small amounts of food 2 times per day. I use a 2 part to maintain calcium and alk. Both of these sps have maintained their color and have grown a little in the 2 months in my tank. Maybe they are the easy to keep sps I am not sure. Parameters are below.

Temp 79-81
SG 1.025
PH 8.1
Calcium 400 ish
Alk 10 DKH
No Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites

Hydno is an LPS.

 

[10" Red Devil]

You know I have posted this problem in the SPS and I get the same tried advice. None of it has worked for me.

My temp doesnt swing, but maybe a degree in the summer and maybe a half a degree in the winter. The other params dont swing either.

 

[10" Red Devil]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6436051#post6436051 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eboonaman
My sps would not color up either, I was told to do three things and now my green acros are bright green and my purple acros are turning from brown to purple.
1st) was to stop feeding them sps need low neutrient water
2) even through my phos. and silica reading were undetectable I started using phos-ban
3) switched from 6 65watt pc two 2 150 watt Mh.

hth
chuck

Hah! My acros are in low nutrient water and have been and still remain colorless. With only one fish in the system and weekly waterchanges, chaeto, remora.

I may use phos-ban, but I have been told that the iron in it may hinder calcification in sps.

 

[10" Red Devil]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6436015#post6436015 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DKKA
Of course it could be anything, but from what you've posted, I'd put my money on the lights. A 20 long is such a shallow tank. Plus the monti's you've lost are not the most light demanding of sps.

Do you have supplemental lighting as well, or is it just 4 hours of intense lighting?

Dan

No supplimental lighting.

Yeah Im thinking of going back to a 150. Or maybe just raise this light up higher?

Just want to say thank-you folks and I hope I dont come off argumentative. Im just a little frustrated and down right now after spending so much time and money and basically making this my life for a year.

 

[jasper24]

10" Red Devil. May want to check again. Hydnopora is SPS.

 

[10" Red Devil]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6435959#post6435959 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LOTUS50GOD
Do you have po4 or no3? If you do that is not good for sps.
I have seen growth/ color variations with as little as .1 nitrate or .03 po4.

Also I can tell you the success of SPS is requires more than 4 hours of light. I have my SPS under 14 hours. Also what is the kelvin rating of your bulbs. My SPS seem to do best under 20k's. Flow is also a requirement; but not too much direct. What kinda turnover do you have in your tank?

Yeah, non detectable levels of both.

Well I am following the advice of some well known experts in sps, for one Bomber who has his halides on for only 2 hours (has amazing color). The theory behind this is:

Apparently the sun in nature is only intense and usable for this approximate amount of time.

My lighitng is far more intense then most 250watt DE halide over 12" tall tank. I use to have mine on for 10 hours a day and I still had bleached looking sps.

Also the color of the bulb is 14k phoenix.

 

[10" Red Devil]

For flow I have two modded maxi-jets. Both are outputting more flow then the SEIO 620s.

I also have a 300gph return.

This has only been for a week now though. Prior to this I had a 1100 gph pump hooked up to a SCWD.

 

[10" Red Devil]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6437613#post6437613 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by impur
Does your temp swing? I had a long standing problem with poor PE and coloration. I'd check the temp in the morning, 80 on the dot. When i got home, 80 on the dot. Then one night i got up for a drink of water, checked the tank, temp was 70!!! I hooked up my AC JR. the next morning for the temp controller, and in about a week i have excellent PE and the corals are coloring up, some of them with colors i did not expect! It drives me crazy to think how much time, money and effort i wasted trying to figure it out the problem and it was that simple to fix in the end. I took the temp for granted. I mean i spent hours and hours pulling my hair out trying to get good PE and color out of my SPS corals. All fixed by something this simple. I think sometimes its the simple things we overlook.

Also how high do you keep the light from the water surface? I have a 29 and have found that about 11" from the surface is perfect. Actually it might be slightly too close, as one of my encrusting montis is bleaching slightly. But i run my lights from 10am to 6:30 pm, i have only a 250w 14k MH.

Well I have a titanium heater with a controller and the tank stays around 80.2-80.4F, I will admit I accidentally hit the dial a couple times and the temp shot up to almost 82F but that has been fixed I taped the controller so this doesnt happen again. It is a 250watt won brothers.

As for the light, my tank is quite a bit different from yours. I have a 12" tank whereas yours is double that height so I have to have my light a little higher I have it at about approximately 16" from the surface of the water. The sps are probably about another 6 under the water.