Can't keep SPS

coral_addict

coral_addict

New member
Hi all. I have a JBJ 28 Nanocube with Professional LED lighting. I've tried to different SPS corals, a branching montipora and a seriatopora sp. and both browned out, bleached, and then RTN'd :( I have no idea why. It isn't the light, because I have a crocea clam that's doing great. And all my other corals look fine (torch, many different capnella colonies, a large toadstool leather, lobophyllia, and a few GSP colonies) but both the montipora and the seriatopora died within a month. Can anyone give me advice on what I'm doing wrong? Could it be that they're getting too much light, or that the soft corals are too toxic? I am running carbon. I just can't figure out what's going on... The bleach mostly from the top down too, although the seriatopora did from the top and the bottom simultaneously...
 
The lighting could still be an issue. LPS and clams are no where near as picky as SPS corals. And just throwing this out there, maybe the supplier of the SPS.
 
In that small of a tank my guess is that it's a little harder to keep alk stable. Same is true for other parameters.
 
Ya it's gunna be ur water parameters. I doubt ur light is great for SPS, I think I read somewhere that the LEDs that come in that nano tank are not that great.

But anyways, browning out and bleaching is due to bad water parameters. How often do u test ur water? What's ur alk and calcium and mag at? What's ur phosphate levels? SPS hate phosohates. If ur not dosing, an keeping ur alk and calcium stable then don't even think about keeping SPS.


Do a little search on how to keep SPS. there will literally be thousands and thousands of threads.

Good luck


Sent from my iPhone
 
I need to retest calcium and alk probably. Problem with calcium is that I have to do the test myself and it always comes up at like 600... Which I don't think is right. Last time I checked alk it was at 9dkh I think. As for the light, I know SPS can be kept, because I've seen a build thread of someone with my exact tank that was basically 100% sps. It isn't the lights for sure. I was thinking either my calcium/alkalinity is unstable, or could it be that I have too many soft corals? I know they can really screw with SPS sometimes
 
lights are fine. i have the same tank with the old retrofit leds and sps grows good.

i would say it could be the softies chemically nuking - or -
most likely, KH not stable or salinity unstable (tank is so small).
the key in my mind to SPS is stability. (that is why you see so many different setups being succesful)
 
Sounds like parameter instability with a tank that small. Yes, it can be done but it would take lots of diligent labor. Try to get your parameters in check and keep them stable.
 
I will try that. Unfortunately I feel like I'm getting inaccurate calcium readings. Maybe not I dunno, but when I don't dose, I have a four inch clam, and three large LPS, I feel like I shouldn't get 600+ ppm calcium readings...
 
Unfortunately in small systems like yours it's harder to keep sps corals. A slight parameter swing can easily kill sps. Think about adding a sump to make your system more stable.

Sps-
Parameter stability
High lighting
High flow
 
I wish I could get a sump... The reason I have such a small tank is because of size restrictions. It's in my room on the second story of a house. But I'll look into a buffer and calcium supplements. And I'll check where those are at this weekend. Anything else I can be doing to help?
 
Before you rush out and pick up some 2-part dosing stuff, I would suggest making sure you can figure out your tests, or get some test kits you're more comfortable with. You really want to have a good handle on your parameters before you start dosing.

For Ca & Alk you want to test and get your levels, then dose, then test your levels ~24 hours later, then adjust your dose up or down based on those results, then test ~24 hours later, and so on.

If I was having major issues with SPS I would test...
NO3
PO4
pH
Salinity
Ca
Alk

And I would test every day for at least a week so I can get a handle on what the parameters in my tank are doing over time, not just from a snapshot look. Then from there I would determine my plan.
 
i tried to keep sps in the same tank with no luck. basically it came down to stability and over stocking. and that light is not the greatest. i ended up removing all fish but 1 and all soft corals, changing light to 250w mh and adding a doser. then i was able to keep sps.

personally if i were do it again i would not have gone with the nano. 75g is a great size for a sps tank without break breaking the bank.

this is my opinion only. i would not even try sps in that tank anymore. you WILL go nuts.
 
I had a couple very successful SPS nanos to the point where I couldn't even fit my hand in the tank without making frags. For me, the key was nutrient removal. My last nano (34 solana) had a deltic mce 600 skimmer, phosban reactor, and 5 gallon weekly water changes to keep things pristine. Having an auto top off in a nano is a must IMO. Salinity changes very fast in a small tank. Get yourself quality test kits from Salifert or Redsea for Alk, Cal, Mag, Nitrate, phosphate(red sea only) and maintain appropriate parameters.


Do you have a link to your lighting fixture? It would help to know the specs.
 
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