high nutrient v. low nutrient set ups

[Bruce Wayne]

I have a 60 gallon I plan to make SPS dominant, never done SPS before, I hear they like low nutrient systems..I also really like zoas and they like high nutrient systems...what can I do to have both? will the SPS not grow without low nutrients systems? also besides a fuge, what else brings the nutrients down?

 

[Potsy]

Hardy species will grow but not optimally and won't color up as vibrantly as sps kept in a low nutrient setup. The more delicate species of sps might not do very well. Many sps fanatics run a bare bottom system so that detritus can be siphoned out before it contributes to the tank's nutrient load. Some advanced aquarists utilize some form of carbon dosing - vodka, sugar, vinegar - which helps manage nutrients.

Plenty of tanks are mixed reefs featuring a wide variety of corals. I've seen huge sarcophytons inches away from a colorful sps colony with no ill effects. With careful planning, there's no reason why you can't mix zoanthids with sps.

 

[Jason S]

I have a low nutrient SPS dominant, and my zoa's are doing fantastic. There is absolutely no reason you can not have both in a low nutrient tank.

To give you an idea, I recieved a Purple Hornet polyp about 2 months ago, and there are now 4 and a bud. These are supposedly very slow growers, but seem to be doing very well. My other zoa's and paly's are doing equally well, but growing faster.

Most SPS will not do well with anything over about 5-10 nitrates. They may live, but will not thrive, and will likely brown out. Lighting and flow are as important, so this is something to keep in mind.

Chaeto, Mangroves, macro, good skimmer, carbon dosing, algae turf scrubbers, water changes, etc. There are many ways to get your nutrients down.

 

[ruprecht]

...what else brings the nutrients down?

No fish.

 

[Allmost]

do you have a good skimmer ?

high lighting ?

and ALOT of flow ?

those are musts for keeping SPS.

if you do have a good skimmer, then carbon dosing is the way to go to lower nutritions.

Fuge lit 24/7 with macro algea in it will help stabalize PH and lower nutritions and also provide usefull nutritins for all corals. soft or hard.

 

[williamjhitchcock]

I agree, I have a very low nutrient system with sps's and softies, both are growing great and extremely colorful. I only have one fish a cleaner wrasse, he eats off the rock so I rarley need to feed him. and I only feed my corals one small cube of coral food once a week. Even with this small amount of nutrient input my skimmer and filters still take out what seems a huge amount of nutrients. I can't imagine how much stuff must be in other peoples tanks that feed allot. This system seems to work for me. Good Luck!

ps you can target feed those softies to get them growing really fast.
pss good lights, skimmer and tank flow is a must!

 

[blasterman789]

Low nutrient is relative.

Last fall I set up several frag tanks to test various LED lights and growth. Not only did I learned a lot about that whole subject, but also about nutrient levels.

A bare tank with no fish in it produced decent SPS growth, but mediocre LPS growth and softies. Zoas didn't grow at all.

Adding a *single* damsel fed lightly caused a surge in LPS and softie growth within a few weeks. However, nitrate levels remain zero in all tanks, and I don't do frequent water changes. Obviously there's nitrate in the damsel tank, but it's being consumed.

My conclusion is that just a tiny bit of nitrate is all that's needed, and it also explains why the best SPS tanks I've seen have some fish in them, but not many. Most softies and many LPS would love to live in nitrate rich water (wild zoas seen thriving near sewage run-offs, etc) , but this only causes problems with nuisance algaes in our tanks that then compete with them.

 

[sirreal63]

There are lots of paths to success. I have done low nutrient but found my best results with fish, heavy feeding and heavy export. Corals need food, the key is to remove it before it has a chance to break down. Water changes, heavy skimming and monitoring your water quality has been the best producer for me. YMMV

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I have an octopus extreme 160, (4) Icecap 48 inch 85 watt over driven T5s, (2) Koralia (1400 gph), Quiet1 4000 HH return (w 2 flow accelerators), I also have a little place in my sump set for a fuge but my tank is still cycling...10 WEEKS NOW! I hate waiting...just put in live sand 5 days ago, I was going to do bare bottom but I think that is why my tank is still cycling...not enough live stuff in there...

<a href="http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e197/mogphotobucket/?action=view&current=IMG00137-20100705-1510.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e197/mogphotobucket/IMG00137-20100705-1510.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[Bruce Wayne]

also, do you think my tank not cycled yet because there is a lot of dead (marco) rock...not enough live rock? I had way more marco rock in there and only a couple small pieces of live rock before I re-aquascaped...

 

[Potsy]

When I set up my tank with nothing but dead BRS rock, I used bio-spira (refrigerated bacteria culture) to jump start the cycle. After a one day spike in nitrite, the tank was cycled. I'm not sure if the new, non-refrigerated version is as effective. Normally I'd take my time, but I had to act quickly as we were in the middle of move. I might try it again along with more BRS dry rock and a piece or two of live rock.

 

[ruprecht]

I have an octopus extreme 160, (4) Icecap 48 inch 85 watt over driven T5s, (2) Koralia (1400 gph), Quiet1 4000 HH return (w 2 flow accelerators), I also have a little place in my sump set for a fuge but my tank is still cycling...10 WEEKS NOW! I hate waiting...just put in live sand 5 days ago, I was going to do bare bottom but I think that is why my tank is still cycling...not enough live stuff in there...

If you are running that skimmer in that size of tank I am not surprised to hear that your tank is taking a long time to cycle. If you tell me that it is turned off, then I would guess that something else is wrong. Although what that would be I have no idea.

 

[Allmost]

I have an octopus extreme 160, (4) Icecap 48 inch 85 watt over driven T5s, (2) Koralia (1400 gph), Quiet1 4000 HH return (w 2 flow accelerators), I also have a little place in my sump set for a fuge but my tank is still cycling...10 WEEKS NOW! I hate waiting...just put in live sand 5 days ago, I was going to do bare bottom but I think that is why my tank is still cycling...not enough live stuff in there...

<a href="http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e197/mogphotobucket/?action=view&current=IMG00137-20100705-1510.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e197/mogphotobucket/IMG00137-20100705-1510.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

how do you know the tank is not cycled yet ?

do you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate ?

nice skimmer your sPS will love it lol

with a skimmer like that, u have to dose some sortt of carbon to see it work lol

 

[hectat2]

I know this is old but I have a 60 gallon cube mix soft corals lps and sps best way to run this system right now I dousing sugar cuz nitrates is on 20ppm to 40ppm and my acan have a little of green but my montipora have a nice green color my birdnest have a full extended polyps but my birdnest of paradise look brown like my acan any help of this

 

[BigCountry74]

do you have a good skimmer ?

High lighting ?

And alot of flow ?

Those are musts for keeping sps.

If you do have a good skimmer, then carbon dosing is the way to go to lower nutritions.

Fuge lit 24/7 with macro algea in it will help stabalize ph and lower nutritions and also provide usefull nutritins for all corals. Soft or hard.

x2

you can do both with nitrates stable around 5+-