Keeping SPS is soooo hard and expensive! Thinking about quitting after 2 years.

[Reefin' Dude]

For a simple mind like me, what would be the best thing to feed coral with? If it comes in frozen form or a bottle I can probably manage using it.

blender mush, or the store bought equivalent. i either made my own by hitting the fresh seafood counter at the local supermarket, or bought those frozen cubes of mixes. when making your own the object is to barely blend it. just enough to get the largest chucks small enough for the largest fish in the tank. it is all of those juices formed from the blending of the seafood that will feed the coral. it is a one shot feeds all type of thing.

This is all very helpful - still letting it all percolate into some realizable for my system. I've got another question, that is perhaps somewhat off topic, but I'd like to know if carbon dosing plays a role in the approach that you've laid out in this thread?

Thanks

carbon dosing is a tool. as PhaneSoul suggested it really works wonders for the water column, but not so good for the substrates and LR. it can be a useful tool for stripping the last remaining inorganic P and N from the water column if needed. i would only recommend this to people who are running true BB systems and they know what levels work and are in control of the overall nutrient levels of the system by detrital removal and heavy skimming. i could also see it being used in mixed reefs where a hit every now and then would be needed to keep the inorganic N and P within reason for the SPS. though one would have to be very careful that it doesn't become a crutch here also.

the way most people use it now is to cover up the effects of eutrophication. carbon dosing as a crutch.

G~

 

[Big_Boss_77]

Here is the full tank shot, all the open space on the right larger island is from me pulling dead SPS. Bottom sanded corals come and go, if you look close you can see my zoa rocks all closed up. Left side softy island is doing well. Right side no so much...

The smaller frags some are RTNing as of today, need to remove about 4 of them.

I have about 700-1000 bristle worms in the sand/rock so I know nutrients are ok?

I don't feed heavy at all, not sure how my nitrates are 5 and pos is .03 after using GFO/Carbon and Ecobak pellets

Birdsnest on top left is my fastest grower, was the size of my finger when I got it 4 months ago. Now it's huge...

I haven't read the thread and am relatively new so I can't offer any advice to your problem but I will say this, your tank is beautiful. I hate to see you quit because of a few corals you can't keep. The ones you have look amazing. I couldn't see any of the tissue necrosis you spoke of. Just my 2 cents... good luck with what ever you decide

 

[Cincyreef]

Just skimmed through this whole thread. Any updates on the tank conditions? New skimmer?

 

[kurfer]

I figured i'd give an update here since it's been a while and thanks to everyone for all the help and suggestions. My growth has really taken off, my tank is doing great; i'll list a few things iv'e done that has caused it take a huge turn for the better...corraline algae is all over my pump heads and side glass.

Here is the latest shot:

Biggest change: I purchased a vertex calc reactor and ditched 2part dosing. I feel like I can keep my alk consistent and easily change using this. Mag is no longer an issue since I mix zeomag in with the ARM course media. Using the aquarium plants digital regulator with a PH probe/Apex.

Second biggest change: Zeovit, I started using zeovit...after 2 months my nitrates went from 10 to 1 and my phosphates went from .09 to .01. My colors are MUCH improved.

Using zeostart, zeobak, spongepower and coralsnow. I dose zeostart 1ml per day via my old Apex DOS that I took offline after my calc reactor install.

Third change: I removed my 2 biggest leathers and gave them to my LFS just to be safe. Not sure if it helped but I wanted to take away any issues of them poisoning the tank.

I changed salt to the blue bucket red sea and keep my alk steady at 7.5, don't even check calc anymore.

Low nutrients and consistent params have made 200% difference.

**Also want to note: I continue to clean/stir the sand bed weekly with water changes; usually take 5-10 gallons of nasty junk water from the sand alone. I currently have a slight cyano issue which is an after effect on the zeovit; it's starting to go away.

 

[RingingEars]

I read through this thread and wow what a difference.
Glad it you figured it out. I thought your tank looked good in the other pics, but it's absolutely stunning in these pics.

 

[fredro]

Wow...

 

[smatter]

Lookin' rad.

 

[tharkins]

stunning. well done back from the brink!

 

[power boat jim]

Nice to see a success story. Very well done.

 

[PhaneSoul]

Very nice, well done.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Happy to see your tank's results over the last couple of months. A couple of your SPS colonies, in particular, seem to be growing very well.

One caution, however, with respect to the Zeovit system. You are, in effect, utilizing carbon-dosing in the form of the ZeoStart. There's nothing wrong with carbon dosing, of course; many of us consider it an essential part of modern reef husbandry.

But because it is so effective at reducing dissolved nutrients, many folks have experienced coral fading/bleaching when nutrients are driven to undetectable with hobbyist test kits. This seems to be especially prevalent when folks are using both the ZeoVit "start" supplement in combination with the molecular sieve "zeo stones" in a reactor.

 

[fredro]

This almost looks like it should be a commercial for the products that you used...

 

[fessoclown]

As in, on a given Sunday morning my residual Jameson levels might be fairly high but this would not extrapolate to my husband in the same house having a hangover :beer:

hahahahahahahaha

 

[Newreeflady]

I am replying to your thread title. The fact that anyone can keep any coral alive in their tanks is fascinating when you think about it. The stability of difficult to control parameters needed by sps makes the systems more difficult to keep. It's always more hands on no matter how hands off you make it. You have to do the system that is right for you. Maybe that's sps. For me it isn't.