Just a few tips and tricks for those new to SPS and reefing....

[Denadai]

Few years ago I had a full SPS reef tank, and I just did the basic and I was very happy with the tank

Good skimmer and ca reactor , weekly water change, good flow and light, some GFO and carbon.

Keep it simple is the best

Today we have so many products and magical formulas that a beginner can easily buy a lot of things that is not necessary

Best Regards

 

[volcom69]

Ok well let me give you some examples im having right now, i have a saramatosa thats suposed to be green in color when i transfered tanks it started to green up nice since then it turned yellow/brown with green tips still, but yet my other greens seem ok, does this equal high nutrients. I have some unknown coral that was really never that nice when i bought it, but its brown and now is white just around the edges does this equal high nutrients. How about a tri color that is supposed to have purple tips some are dark purple while others you can see the hint of purple in it, and another tricolor thats supposed to be purple all the way down, but it only goes half way, but you still see the hint of purple down low, does this sound like high or low nutrients.

Its all confusing to me at this point, because i check my hanna for po4=0.02, and my no3 according to salfert 2.5, and api=0, so that seems low so why the brown on some. Then there are some since the transfer that has colored up like i have never seen. My transfer was 3 months ago now and i just started doing the carbon/bac method to see what happens. Any ideas here to much nutrients or not enough, should i try to feed my sps everyother night. Any thoughts oh all other parmeters are stable from weekly water changes which i check every week.

 

[Denadai]

volcom,

Sometimes things is not so easy to understand

The best SPS tank that I saw, had 0.07 ppm of PO4, 1000 ppm of Mg and the colors was awesome, really impressive

If I were you, I would add more food , but your tank is very young yet, be patient

Best Regards

 

[boret]

How is your light and water flow?

 

[yannicksjh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14755901#post14755901 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tfp
don't work on your reef or put your hands in the tank...
* past 9pm
* if you are tired
* have to leave within an hour
* are wearing nice clothes

Wow, i'm just reading this thread from start to end and came accross this. This is halarious and very true. Not to take away from ALL the great tips and suggestions so far in this thread. Keep it up everyone!

 

[kyle1284]

WOW THIS IS ALOT OF INFO!

 

[Konadog]

This thread has been nominated for "May's Thread of the Month".

Please take the time to read each of the nominated threads and cast your vote.

May's Thread of the Month

 

[SunnyX]

Pretty cool, we have been nominated. Alright guys, you know what to do! Get out an vote! The compilation of "tips and tricks" should be up soon.

 

[elijaher]

bump

 

[cirujano]

Great info!

 

[Reefy Fishy]

Is wet skimming better than the dry skimming? or the same?

 

[kmacartney]

I don't know if it was mentioned but, when ever you want to change the way you maintain or run your tank just change or add one thing at a time and give it a week or two to the effects. That way you will know if it is good or not. Altering multiple variables makes it harder to measure effects, good or bad.

 

[reefsahoy]

double check with the significant other that the empty tank that's about to be filled is in the perfect position.

 

[BradR]

-Keep your skimmer neck clean to keep it's efficiency up.
-If you can picture some part of your setup potentially causing a catastrophic failure, you may want to change it.
-Try keeping your hands out of the tank for a week straight instead of constantly tinkering. The corals like to be left alone.
-If a heater sticks on will it cook your tank? Sometimes two small heaters are better than one big one.
-More light isn't always better.

 

[Reefer08]

Sunny, I recently added a powerhead in my sump and its seriously helped a lot. I don't run filter socks so all the detritus is taken out of the water by the skimmer and the powerhead doesn't allow any detritus to settle on the floor. Thanks, great advice.

 

[bilpiper]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14921009#post14921009 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefer08
Sunny, I recently added a powerhead in my sump and its seriously helped a lot. I don't run filter socks so all the detritus is taken out of the water by the skimmer and the powerhead doesn't allow any detritus to settle on the floor. Thanks, great advice.

I put powerheads in my sump 3 days ago also and can't believe the difference. Agree, that it is great advice.

 

[SunnyX]

Make sure you guys put in your vote for thread of the month here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1626318

We need 30 more votes!

 

[cristiand]

I added two Koralia 3's to my sump, and I am now running Carbon, I have been doing it for a week, I am pretty impressed with the results. My sump is sooo much cleaner and the tank itself looks so much cleaner.

On a separate note, any suggestions as far as where to place the carbon/phosphate in the sump, do you recommend that I put it in filter sock, or in a place with lots of water movement? Currently, I have both the carbon and the phosphate in a sock, and I have the Koralia pointed towards it, about 10 inches away. Also what brands are the experts using for carbon/phosphate media?

Thanks, and again, great thread.

Cristian

 

[dustinP]

carbon and phosphate are best ran in a reactor with a ball valve to control the flow through it

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14921628#post14921628 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cristiand
I added two Koralia 3's to my sump, and I am now running Carbon, I have been doing it for a week, I am pretty impressed with the results. My sump is sooo much cleaner and the tank itself looks so much cleaner.

On a separate note, any suggestions as far as where to place the carbon/phosphate in the sump, do you recommend that I put it in filter sock, or in a place with lots of water movement? Currently, I have both the carbon and the phosphate in a sock, and I have the Koralia pointed towards it, about 10 inches away. Also what brands are the experts using for carbon/phosphate media?

Thanks, and again, great thread.

Cristian

I am glad that these tips and tricks are helping out so many of you guys and gals. :thumbsup:

As DustinP has stated, phosphate and Carbon media is best run in a reactor but carbon can also be run just fine in a mesh bag. You want to keep the carbon at the very end of your sump near the return pump and the PO4 reactor away from the CA reactor/Kalk effluent as this can essentianlly turn the Po4 media in a brick.

-Sonny