Having trouble keeping SPS happy.
- Thread starter JG1
- Start date
allsps40
New member
You will be fine with the 6 bulb fixture, 8 was overkill.
+1 Carbon dosing causes issues, paling and browning. It is a PITA but some have great results. However most are tanks with no3 in the 20+ range. In my case I was already at 0 no3 and po4.
JG1
New member
What bulb combo you running?
I switched to 5 B+, 2 FP, 1 NG....LOVE that color of this...going to try to replicate this look in a 6 bulb fixture
JG1
New member
Think ur right.
JG1
New member
Yeah I was considering that, but the dimmable SP's aren't out yet, and Premium Aquatics has a sale on their dimmable powermodules...just about the same price as the non-dimmable units. I'm in the hole about $75 between selling my fixture and getting the new fixture...not bad.
I really like the aesthetics of the powermodules as well.
Alex T.
Active member
Wow. That is one hell of a clean setup you have going on there.
The added sunlight from placing the tank near the window isn't helping your quest for less light either. I love your low rock profile. That will pay off when your SPS overtake the aquascape. From the look of things your rocks still have that "unestablished" look. Come Fall I think things could really start taking off. Your bacterial beds aren't established just yet.
Are you getting little specs of coralline on the glass yet? I've always waited until it showed up and then tested every parameter. Whatever they read was where I aimed to keep the tank stabilized. That way I had a baseline of what to come back to that promoted that environment.
Out of curiosity...are there any fish in there?
The added sunlight from placing the tank near the window isn't helping your quest for less light either. I love your low rock profile. That will pay off when your SPS overtake the aquascape. From the look of things your rocks still have that "unestablished" look. Come Fall I think things could really start taking off. Your bacterial beds aren't established just yet.
Are you getting little specs of coralline on the glass yet? I've always waited until it showed up and then tested every parameter. Whatever they read was where I aimed to keep the tank stabilized. That way I had a baseline of what to come back to that promoted that environment.
Out of curiosity...are there any fish in there?
JG1
New member
This pics was actually back in Decemeber when I had just set the tank
I do have coralline growing but it took a while to get started.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Sorry to OP; but I would love to see photos of your tank. I searched your name and couldn't find any build threads etc.
JG1
New member
2 & 5 are dusk/dawn?
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
This is the most sleekest, modern and beautiful setup I've seen! The Rimless tank, the beautiful stand, the window behind, the beautiful floor, the powermodule, even the hanging kit for the powermodule = simply awesome. This is one of those advert photos in catologues or like designer magazines for aquariums! Man...I could say so much more! :inlove:
Through some cheato in my sump 5 days ago to help with my PO4.
PO4 is now reading this
Nice dosing containers. Where did you get those and how much fluid do they hold?
Good reading on the phosphate level.
allsps40
New member
Great man, all good signs. Right before I started to seem my sps coloring back up I started to see new coraline growth taking off. If my fuge stayed as clean as yours I would still be running it. I put mine back online and in like a week CCA and other algae had started to grow. I refuse to deal with the CCA again.
Alex T.
Active member
Good luck with the chaeto. I think there's a couple things you're going to be seeing happen in the next month or so. Your tank is extremely clean....not just in design but in maintenance of the system. Aside from there maybe being too much light for your LPS, they may have been in too low of a ULNS system to support them. That, coupled with the bright light could have hurt them long term. My fuge did well for the first few months of the tank being set up. Slowly the chaeto died regardless the amount of flow or light I offered. To this point, I have tried to run a fuge 3 times and each time the chaeto disintegrated.
Keep an eye on it. If it starts to melt a little each week, your system is most likely incapable of feeding it enough nutrient to grow, which is not necessarily a bad thing. You could always add another fish. In fact, measuring a .01 on your Hanna Instrument may be a telltale that it may die out pretty soon. There's no sense in feeding the tank more just to support the chaeto...unless of course you're interested in keeping macro algae displays.
Check out Dan Rigle's TOTM http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/75-tank-of-the-month. He has some good insight with respect to keeping a mixed reef with a healthy refugium. More often than not, the people that have great SPS colors, happy LPS and a macro algae refugium all at the same time are carrying single digit nitrate levels like Mark Polletti, Keith Berkelheimer and Dan Rigle. Running too low on either nitrate or phosphate is sort of counterproductive to the overall balance of these mixed reef systems. Within reason, the tank has to be fed well to support the whole "benthos" without reaching a tipping point. Dan's got a great eye for the little nuances of minor changes that he makes. If his colors brown on his sps while LPS look happy, he'll feed a little less and turn things around. Likewise, if LPS look unhappy and won't open and his SPS look pale, he'll up the feedings. It's really a see-saw affect in a mixed reef. You keep testing the highs and the lows in feeding, photoperiod, flow and water change volume until you've narrowed it down to what works for your system. You and I could have the same size tank with the same equipment, fish, food usage and maintenance. If we each have a different aquascape all bets are off. Flow patterns have just been the changing variable that could affect one system's success over another. That's why EVERYONE'S advice on this thread (myself included) should be taken with a grain of salt. Aside from personal experiences in our own systems, nobody else sees your tank's reactions and changes on a day to day basis like you do.
I was told a while back that with my two Vortech MP40's on full blast alternating reef crest mode in a 72" and 18 wide tank was way too much flow and that's why they weren't opening their polyps. After personal obserfvation and trusting what I was seeing I concluded it simply wasn't enough. I added two more MP40's and voila, polyp extension and happy SPS. When you study the habits, maintenance and equipment of the best systems on these forums you get a sense of what the majority of people at the zenith of the hobby do. None of them seems to rush their systems at all, and almost all trust themselves over their equipment every time. I still remember Steve Weast saying he didn't believe in a cleanup crew because he himself was the best and most efficient member of his cleanup crew. You obviously know what you're doing or you wouldn't have such a sweet setup and overall understanding of what's happening in your system. You need to trust yourself and not push too hard too fast.
I can't wait to see that tank in person. Maybe I should be looking for a smaller, sexier setup instead of the direction I'm heading!!
Keep an eye on it. If it starts to melt a little each week, your system is most likely incapable of feeding it enough nutrient to grow, which is not necessarily a bad thing. You could always add another fish. In fact, measuring a .01 on your Hanna Instrument may be a telltale that it may die out pretty soon. There's no sense in feeding the tank more just to support the chaeto...unless of course you're interested in keeping macro algae displays.
Check out Dan Rigle's TOTM http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/75-tank-of-the-month. He has some good insight with respect to keeping a mixed reef with a healthy refugium. More often than not, the people that have great SPS colors, happy LPS and a macro algae refugium all at the same time are carrying single digit nitrate levels like Mark Polletti, Keith Berkelheimer and Dan Rigle. Running too low on either nitrate or phosphate is sort of counterproductive to the overall balance of these mixed reef systems. Within reason, the tank has to be fed well to support the whole "benthos" without reaching a tipping point. Dan's got a great eye for the little nuances of minor changes that he makes. If his colors brown on his sps while LPS look happy, he'll feed a little less and turn things around. Likewise, if LPS look unhappy and won't open and his SPS look pale, he'll up the feedings. It's really a see-saw affect in a mixed reef. You keep testing the highs and the lows in feeding, photoperiod, flow and water change volume until you've narrowed it down to what works for your system. You and I could have the same size tank with the same equipment, fish, food usage and maintenance. If we each have a different aquascape all bets are off. Flow patterns have just been the changing variable that could affect one system's success over another. That's why EVERYONE'S advice on this thread (myself included) should be taken with a grain of salt. Aside from personal experiences in our own systems, nobody else sees your tank's reactions and changes on a day to day basis like you do.
I was told a while back that with my two Vortech MP40's on full blast alternating reef crest mode in a 72" and 18 wide tank was way too much flow and that's why they weren't opening their polyps. After personal obserfvation and trusting what I was seeing I concluded it simply wasn't enough. I added two more MP40's and voila, polyp extension and happy SPS. When you study the habits, maintenance and equipment of the best systems on these forums you get a sense of what the majority of people at the zenith of the hobby do. None of them seems to rush their systems at all, and almost all trust themselves over their equipment every time. I still remember Steve Weast saying he didn't believe in a cleanup crew because he himself was the best and most efficient member of his cleanup crew. You obviously know what you're doing or you wouldn't have such a sweet setup and overall understanding of what's happening in your system. You need to trust yourself and not push too hard too fast.
I can't wait to see that tank in person. Maybe I should be looking for a smaller, sexier setup instead of the direction I'm heading!!
Through some cheato in my sump 5 days ago to help with my PO4.
Today it looks like this
PO4 is now reading this
Feeding Roggers Reef Food pretty heavy too, twice daily.
First I want to say nice setup you got there. The PM is a beast, do you have any lps or softies? Do you find it hard to keep their colors? I think my PM puts out wayyyy too much light. Most of them look pale.
Second, is that just detritus accumulating in your sump or is that precipitation? I only ask because I notice that happening when dosing in a low flow area of my sump which made me have to adjust my BM constantly. Now I dose right next to the drain and all is good.
