Diving into SPS, recommendations

[buddythelion]

Hey fellow reefers,

I'm about to try SPS for the first time. Tank's been running up for about 3 years so it's pretty stable. I am able to grow zoas, palys, and my torch and micromussa+acans are doing well along with a BTA, just to get an idea of the livestock I can keep right now.

But I've always wanted to try SPS, so here goes:

12 gallon Cube

Equipment:
3 koralia nanos + hydor flo on return
Kessil 15k
Media basket w/ chemi pure elite + purigen

My maintenance is about 40% display water changes (~3-4 gallon water change) using RODI and SeaChem's Reef Salt. I am trying a small bucket of Red Sea Pro right now as well for the time being, and everything seems to like it more, but that might just be my thinking.

Talking to my LFS, I was recommended to use B-Ionic to dose the supplements. I plan on ordering Red Sea's Pro testing Kit (ca, mag, alk combo).

Is this the right path? Do I need a skimmer? My goal for this tank is to be able to have a mixed reef, which includes all of my softies and LPS but can also keep SPS happy as well.

Hoping to find the simplest method, not to get fancy with dosing pumps etc.

My first frags are a tenuis and a milli, on the sandbed.

Here's a FTS of my tank:

I appreciate all help, thanks.

 

[jarrett shark]

Your tank looks great
SPS is like drugs so be careful you don't get the bug
sps takes time with maintaince and tank has to be stable all the time or thing will go wrong. dosing will be the question you need to ask yourself if you have the time to do

 

[buddythelion]

Thanks for the compliment on the tank!

I can dose, I am available to my tank everyday.

For dosing, I was recommended this:
http://www.amazon.com/E-S-V-B-Ionic...HZP6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1336356911&sr=8-4

Would this be a recommended method for the beginner's dosing? In terms of stability, are you referring to ca, alk, mag lvls (those are the 3 I've read that are the most important?)?

 

[arshad98]

I love your tank, very nice

 

[rogerwilco357]

since the tank volume is 12 gallons you might be able to get by on water changes alone for replenishing the nutrients needed doubt dosing will help may cause more problems than its worth ..your tank looks nice good luck ..
Roger

 

[MHG]

If your tank is stable and parameters are good I have one suggestion. If you want high end corals buy high end frags. My days of buying something from the Lfs because it was cheap or available are over...join your local reef club and wait for the good frags at the meetings.


Cheap ugly brownish frags grow ugly to ok corals....they don't magically transform into something with crazy color.

No I am not saying spend a fortune. Just be patient and choosy.....

 

[buddythelion]

I love your tank, very nice

Thanks!

since the tank volume is 12 gallons you might be able to get by on water changes alone for replenishing the nutrients needed doubt dosing will help may cause more problems than its worth ..your tank looks nice good luck ..
Roger

This was something others have been telling me in the other forums as well, but said I should have the B-Ionic just in case my salt was a bit low and if my direction in SPS changes. Thanks for the tank compliment, hoping adding SPS would make it more varied.

If your tank is stable and parameters are good I have one suggestion. If you want high end corals buy high end frags. My days of buying something from the Lfs because it was cheap or available are over...join your local reef club and wait for the good frags at the meetings.


Cheap ugly brownish frags grow ugly to ok corals....they don't magically transform into something with crazy color.

No I am not saying spend a fortune. Just be patient and choosy.....

I'm new to SPS, so I don't know which are high end frags other than what my LFS recommends me. The tenuis with blue tips is nice from what they say along with the sunset milli. Would you agree? You know more SPS than me, I know only a few encrusting montis. I've... yet to attend any local meetings. Sad, but I never know how they work or where they are. But my locals are nice, dealt with them before. Thanks for the tip, I'll learn from them.



So from what I've gathered from here and other forums as well, let me know what's right and wrong:

Keep up with water changes: I do 30-40% water changes, and that's a good thing = I don't need a skimmer. From my thinking, maybe as my SPS increase I should do 2 water changes a week, at 10-15% every 3-4 days, or should I stick with the larger water changes and the 2x change isn't needed? Test the water to know what I have to start with and fix according to the range I want.

Water movement: I'm still unsure how much flow these corals actually need. I have 3 koralia nanos, but if anything koralias put off more of a breeze (like someone blowing air at you softly) than a strong flow. Was told it might be a challenge with koralias trying to get the right flow.

Dosing: ESV B-Ionic 2 part, CA and Alk. Someone noted that perhaps the Mag portion of dosing wasn't needed as much so I don't need the mag. Test a bit in the beginning to get the feel on how much the corals will need and start to see a pattern.

Params:
Alk: 7.5-11 Ca: 400-420 Mag: 1200-1400

 

[matgvr]

quarantine is very important .

 

[MHG]

This thread has some great examples...http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1535594. A few pages in they are crazy corals...

 

[buddythelion]

quarantine is very important .

What would you recommend for a dipping procedure?

This thread has some great examples...http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1535594. A few pages in they are crazy corals...

WOW. Great SPS! I found these as some goals, hope the people who posted them won't mind:

And my favorite:

 

[matgvr]

those are great goals, great pics . I use coral rx for my sps and fresh water dips sometimes for softies but don't have many. just fallow the instructions on the bottle and be patient . I keep corals in qt for about a month personally. when buying coral i like to buy them in groups. say if i wanted 40 corals id buy 10 at a time, and qt the ten for a month then add them. Then id buy 10 more and go from there ,making sure i don't add any new corals into the qt tank well a previous batch is in there. Sometimes a month might not do the trick and the batch my end up in there longer. Example , i rushed some montis into my tank thinking that the monti eating nudis where dead, but i missed some eggs and they spread. So i had to take all my monties out of the tank and qt them again. and in the process i broke a few getting them off the rock. this is just what i do and there are many on here with good threads about qt procedures . man those corals are nice in the pic

 

[FriedaTakaha]

join your local reef club and wait for the good frags at the meetings.

 

[dlaws]

Or buy from reputable sellers in the livestock selling forum. Jeffberg often has top notch frags for pretty low prices. I think scoots is another one. . .