Is my tank ready for SPS?

[thomas.torode]

Just want some of your opinions before I add a SPS coral.

I have had 2 Zoa frags in my tank that have been having significant growth but have slowed down in the corse of a year :/ but, I have had crystal clear blue water for a few weeks and I am having coralline algae growing on my rocks and equipment. I do have areas that I know the flow rate and I have a par sensor (nothing fancy).

Aquarium size: 6' long 125 gallon

Stock: Clarkaii Clownfish, 2 Fire fish, lawnmower Benny, chalk bass, 2 cleaner shrimp.

Bio filter: 2 inch sand bed + 100 pounds of live rock.

Basic Equipment:
BH2000 Protien skimmer
4 1' eBay Lights
6 power heads

 

[Valentini89]

Just want some of your opinions before I add a SPS coral.

I have had 2 Zoa frags in my tank that have been having significant growth but have slowed down in the corse of a year :/ but, I have had crystal clear blue water for a few weeks and I am having coralline algae growing on my rocks and equipment. I do have areas that I know the flow rate and I have a par sensor (nothing fancy).

Aquarium size: 6' long 125 gallon

Stock: Clarkaii Clownfish, 2 Fire fish, lawnmower Benny, chalk bass, 2 cleaner shrimp.

Bio filter: 2 inch sand bed + 100 pounds of live rock.

Basic Equipment:
BH2000 Protien skimmer
4 1' eBay Lights
6 power heads

The real question here is are your lights ready for SPS? You need VHO lighting for SPS, MH, intense T5 or very strong LEDs

 

[scooter31707]

+1^^. Also are you able to keep the water parameters stable via dosing auto or manual? And keep up with your tank maintenance (cleaning of tank and water changes)?

 

[hkgar]

Do you have test kits for Alk, Ca, Mag, NO# and PO4? You nee to be testing for them and need great lighting plus flow of 20-30 turnover of thank gallons. The 3 things for SPS
Lighting
Flow
Stability!

 

[mcgyvr]

4 1' eBay Lights

what is that?

My motto is "if you have to ask... you aren't ready"

 

[ericarenee]

Do not be offended but i think if you have to ask this question you already know the answer.
I would slowly move toward less forgiving Soft corals Zoas are one of the most forgiving corals. Once you have more Experience on your side and Self Confidence.

You will know when you are ready and NOT Need to ask...


Hope this helps... From Zoas to SPS Is a Like Jumping Grand Canyon on a bike with Training wheels...

I am basing this on some of the other threads and Questions you have asked

Again Good Luck and Keep at it ..

 

[mcgyvr]

My motto is "if you have to ask... you aren't ready"

Do not be offended but i think if you have to ask this question you already know the answer.
...
You will know when you are ready and NOT Need to ask...

great minds....
Beat you by 1 minute though.. :beer:

 

[thomas.torode]

I think I'm ready. People with my same light say they have had success with SPS.

My Lights:
https://www.amazon.com/Programmable...&ie=UTF8&qid=1499809289&sr=1-2-spons&keywords

 

[Sobos Reef]

+1 to what everyone else said... but if you wanna give it a try go with some of the easier SPS to keep. You could try a birdsnest or a monti for example. See how they do and go from there. Don't just jump right to the expensive ones


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[ericarenee]

great minds....
Beat you by 1 minute though.. :beer:

But i typed more Info... :beer::celeb2:

 

[thomas.torode]

+1 to what everyone else said... but if you wanna give it a try go with some of the easier SPS to keep. You could try a birdsnest or a monti for example. See how they do and go from there. Don't just jump right to the expensive ones


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Alright, thanks!

 

[Ryan Darilek]

If you "think" you're ready, you're not... You should know you're ready... And success with Zoas doesn't mean too much. I strongly recommend getting a few more corals as a transition... Otherwise you'll likely just be throwing money down the drain. Just because you learned how to walk, doesn't mean you're ready to run a marathon. You should really take everyone's advice on this one man.

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[mcgyvr]

Worst case you kill some corals and waste some money..
So if you want.. Try it..
Start with some easier ones and see how they respond to your tank/lighting/husbandry and go from there..
We all start somewhere.. We have all probably killed an SPS or 2 along the way.. some more than others..

 

[MondoBongo]

Worst case you kill some corals and waste some money..
So if you want.. Try it..
Start with some easier ones and see how they respond to your tank/lighting/husbandry and go from there..
We all start somewhere.. We have all probably killed an SPS or 2 along the way.. some more than others..

i've killed more than 1 or 2, i can tell you that.

to the OP, do you have an auto top off? that's the only thing i didn't notice listed that i would have a question about.

aside from that, give it a try! as others have noted i would start with some monti caps or birdnest, maybe a cheap acro, and just go from there. i learn the most in this hobby when i push my comfort zone a bit. so i'd say go for it.

test for a few days in a row. make sure your cal and alk are staying stable, then go get you some cheap/easy frags. ask around local you might even be able to find some for free. i know i am constantly looking to rehome pieces of my SPS. once you get a few small frags, then make sure you're testing regularly. at least every couple days for a few weeks. make sure your alk and cal are staying stable. this might be the time to start thinking about some kind of dosing like kalkwasser. let your test numbers drive that.

good luck!