first try at sps.....

blackthunda77

blackthunda77

New member
well not really, ive had sps like 1-2 pieces for the past 4 months or so but im trying to get more into it so im a newbie, hence the rappy colors they are showing me. also 2 pieces are not showing much polyp extension. any input? also i know this is not the ID section so ill try to post there as well but if any of you have some input as to whatthese pieces might be so i can get more detailed caring instructions that would be awsome!

sorry for the crappy pics so i know IDing will be near to impossible. this one is alil lighter in color and the guy i got it from said its supposed to have purpleish tips.



this one has a darker color but has neon green polyps but since i got it it has not shown any PE, justenough though to see the color of them.



this one has crappy color also, the guy told me it is supposed ot havea greenish body but atleastthis one has awsome PEalthough it receded some tissue towards the bottom but seems to have stoped.



my params are calc about 410, alk about 5-6 meq/L mag i have not tested, phosphates say 0 but i doubt itand nitrates i believe are around 30but tomorrow im am going to the LFS and they will test all my params so i will be able to cross check them with my kits whichi ibelieve to be crap!
 
need more info. what kinda lighting do you have. and did you say your nitrates are 30. thats way to high! how long has your tank been set up. give us more info. those acros look very unhappy.
 
tank has been up for more than 2 yrs so thats not the probelm most likely, and even before the 2 yrs, the tank was previously set up at my parents house for about 3 yrs. so the rocks and most corals are about that old. lighting is 2 250mhs. its over a 55 gal tank with a 15 gal sump and a 20 gal refugium. flow is 1 koralia 3 and one koralia 1 and a seio 1100. also added a RS belin turbo skimmer about 3 weeks ago. calc and alk is maintained with randy 2 part with mag also. previously was maintianed with bionic 2 part. those sps that i showed have been added in the last week to 2 weeks. i have frags of monti digis and encrusting montis that are shwoing good growth and PE, the bases are a little brown but the polyps are electric red, electric green etc. also have a monti cap that ive had for about 2 yrs which i still have and is growing very well. seems like the acros families and the branching stuff is what gives me probliems.
 
if the trates are that high and you have any P02 that could be the problem. acros are alot more finiky. i kept a monti under pc light and had nitrates around 15. it did well. as im sure you know Acros require prestine water quality. Do you have any nuisance algea?
 
no actually ive been maintaining my tank pretty well since about the beginning of the year, so for about 6 months eveythings been going good. i even got the refugium up and going with cheato, and shaving brush macro thats showing good signs of growth. some people have told me that the problem might be my leathers i have in the same tank, a toadstool and some sinularia.
 
Here are the water parameters

Here are the water parameters

Ok well ike i mentioned yesterday, i got my parameters tested like i said i would. I went to the LFS at lunch. this is how they stand.

The testkits were mostly sera, from what i saw, so you guys can chime in n the quality of that kit, i dont know.....

CALC........480
ALK..........8dkh
MAG.........1380
PHOS.......<0 (undetectable)

those were my main concerns

PH...........7.6
AMM........0
TRITE......0 (taken with dip stick test kit):rolleye1:
TRATE.....0 (taken with dip stick test kit):rolleye1:


with th PH, i took the sample this morning on my way to work, most likely just the daily ph swing, ill test again tonight when i get home.

any other suggestions?
 
i do run chemi-pure and chemi-pure elite. i dont have another tank big enough for the leathers with sufficient lighting. i might try to frag them out, or get some store credit. what would give off more toxins? a neon green finger leather(sinularia)sp? or a toadstool teather? id kind of like the toadstool though, its hosting my clowns when its open at night, otherwise they sleep in the xenia, thats left. most of the xenia has receded since i strated getting on top of the tank and do frequent water changes. before it used to multiply like crazy.
 
Your Ph is'nt helping you need to get it up to 8.2-8.3, your calcium is good along with your magnesium but at night, with a Ph that low, the Ph is dropping drastically and then slightly rebounds as the lights and bioload increases during photoperiods. It most likely is'nt increasing enough. You may want to add a good Ph/Alk buffer first thing in the morning before the lights come on. (JMO)
 
Thats what i do though, im adding randys 2part calc and alk supplements, with the mag additive. i add it usually in the morn before i go to work. ill test it tonight around 7 when i get home. lights come on at 2 and go off at 1030 so it should be a pretty accurate reading.
 
nope, i use to dose B-ionic 2 part but i ran out and someone gave me a batch of unused randys 2 part so i followed the directions and have been using that for about 2 weeks, but ive been dosing on the light side, maybe ill bump up the dosage. weird thing though is that calc is right where it needs to be but its alil harder raising the alk. is it ok to add more of the alk supplement than the calc? on the directions it say to add both equally. thanks for the help by the way.
 
Your photoperiod is a bit on the short side for sps. average is 9 to 11 hrs. You may want to bump it up a bit. Also if you decide to dose kalk You can avoid large Ph swings by dosing it slowly at night. The key is slowly.
 
i shortened the photoperiod because those corals i aquired are one about 2 weeks old now in my tank. Im acclimating them to my tank and lighting slowly. thats the way right?
 
Yes, sorry, I did'nt know they were newbies LOL. It seems your water perameters are pretty good. Just need a little tweeking. I would however watch the leathers. If they are happy they should not be a problem but if they are constantly shrinking and expanding which generates a lot of sluff (Slime coat) being released into the water, then the toxin level they normally secrete will be increased and also your doc's (dissolved organics)will increase greatly. What type of skimmer are you using?
 
yea they do retract and expand almost every noght, but not always. i didnt know that thats when they secrete the toxins. interesting. i actually havent been running a skimmer at all until recently, and on my budget all i could afford was a used RS berlin turbo skimmer. i know most say they are crap but i actually tuned mine in enough so that is take out about 1-2 cups a week of skimmate, dark stuff too, im not really wet skimming. maybe i should skim wetter?
 
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