easier sps?

illal

illal

Active member
with the frag swap next weekend im excited as hell! and ready to give sps another shot..... the only sps ive had success in the past with was pocillopora that i got at the last swap from "reefwreck" but i think ive sorted out most of problems ....started using rowaphos in phos reactor, i started using b ionic and my cal & alk are now both were they should be (was a little low before) , also i switched my fuge light to opposite as my display to make my ph a little more stable...the only thing is i still have nitrates present (10ppm) but ive been doing 30g water changes at least every other week in hopes of getting them down to zero....which brings me to my first question is there anything else i can do in this next week to get my nitrates lower other than water changes? also what would be some suggestions for some easier sps to give a shot at? i know i wanna give a cap and a digita a try again but what else would be on the easier side? any acros?
am stupid for even attempting sps again with 10ppm nitrates?
 
Pocillapora, montipora (digitata and capricornis only, danae is hard to keep), If you want to try acros, I think Matt and maybe some other people might have Green Slimer frags. I believe that Green Slimers are supposed to be one of the easier acros to keep, but saying that, it was the only frag to die in my tank from last frag swap, so..... ::shrug::

It's a blanket statement to say that Montis are easier to keep than acros, because I gave someone a bunch of acros and like one or two monti frags, and the monti frags were the only ones to die. All the acros did fine, and they were all treated the same, dripped the same, etc. so who knows..
 
so encrustng montis are off the list but green slimmer is on... how bout birds nest? (green) anything else?
 
Birdsnests are kind of a crapshoot too, either they'll be sucessful and very easy to keep.. or not... I've had one colony bleach out and dwindle within a week, and then I currently have a colony that has been growing (very slowly), but it's also being stung by a galaxia that is 4" or so under it that just has HUGE sweeper tentacles.

Apparently its one of the few SPS that survived the UV leak this past weekend. Its still got polyps on the underside that maintained their color, though the top is totally bleached, and who knows if polyps will come back any time soon.
 
Yea stylo are usually pretty easy to take care of. I'm still looking for a piece of bring pink stylo, or rainbow. They're really nice corals, and are not imposing or hazardous at all, as far as I've ever heard..
 
SPS corals all vary in their hardiness. Some are much easier to keep than others by far. It is basically a crapshoot most of the time. I think the key to keeping SPS successfully though is stability. If you can keep you parameters in check and give them good flow and light you should be set to keep a large majority of SPS corals.

As for easy pieces here are a few that I started with long ago; these were even kept under power compacts.

- Monti Cap
- Monti Digi
- A. Millepora
- Green Slimer
- many "staghorn" acros I would say.

I have never kept danae's under anything except halides, but I have noticed the color of these fluctuate with ALK levels, well for me at least. I have never had any die on me though, just brown a bit when I am not keeping up with my water quality.

There are many SPS for you to "try" I would just stick to some of the more "simple" and less expensive frags at first. Also try to ask questions from the sellers to see what kind of environment they have the corals in.

-Mike-
 
I don't see any difference in colors really. But I would say maybe some of the brighter species may be a little harder to keep.

I have kept Orange Monti Cap, tyree Idaho Grape, UM Digi, Orange Digi, Purple digi, all with great success.

Some do grow faster than others. I think caps are easier than digis for some reason LOL. My orange cap grows very quickly is bright orange and has nice ridges along the petals. I have had it forever and frag it often. I have had the Idaho grape for maybe a year and it has grown really quickly and has keeps its color well. It is not directly under any light either but is midway in the 90G.

The digis for me however need a decent amount of light, they don't turn brown but the colors look nicer when they are in more light.

I don't think you can go wrong with caps and digis though, and milleporas.
 
milleporas are very very easy. Can be kept under compacts even.

I have kept blue and pink/rose and still have them both today.

They like flow and tolerate lower lighting. Colors however tend to deepen for me under more light. My rose mille is huge and is fragged very often, it also tolerates being right in the path of my SEIO 1500 and one of my eco-marine Vortechs. It takes quite a beating and does very well! i can honestly say I have never had any problems with milles, only complaint is they grow too fast LOL.
 
One of the things that you'll learn is that it's more about water conditions being consistent, more than light or other qualities.

With not enough light, usually the worst thing that happens is that it browns out, and if it just really can't scrape up enough light, it'll start to die away.

But the biggest thing is always going to be water conditions.
 
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