Missing Something

[reefgeezer]

I keep seeing threads where hobbyists are showing off their absolutely great looking 1 year old SPS tanks. I applaud their efforts. I've seen Montis that are several layers deep and huge colonies of Acros and Millies abound in what used to be considered young tanks.

I have to ask... What's the secret? Even if my tank was perfect, I can't imagine being able to grow the 1-3" frags that seem to be the normal size available for purchase into those great looking colonies is see in these threads in a year or less. What am I missing? Are there places to buy bigger (or faster growing) SPS corals?

 

[TRENT_G]

Kalkwasser, or some type of dosing. Stability, stability and stability. Also keep your hands out of the tank as fun as it may seem. All I do I'd Kalk in my ATO, supplement Mag and 20% WC EVERY week.

If something doesn't look right take care of it immediately. Don't wait for it to get out of controll before you say Oh s**t.

Find the nicest tank or what you would like yours to look like and follow their threads.

Good luck

 

[Mock]

I dont think there is anything that you are missing... I will echo Trent though... Stablity is the key... I get about an inch of growth a month, that can make a 3" frag over a foot in a year... I dont know about the water changes of 20% a week... I find 20% a month plenty but its all finesse and equipment and just the vast amount of knowledge now a day. With the newer equipment people are tossing SPS into weeks old tanks and having them take off... I also agree though with trents last statement... Find one thing and stick to it.. and reiterate... Stability...

 

[reefgeezer]

My tank is pretty stable when it comes to water quality. Light and temperature are a little less consistent.

I'm in the middle of a LED mod so the lights are not on timers. That will change this week when I finish the mod.

As for temperature, I don't keep a heater or chiller in the tank. The temp stays between 78 and 83 buy varies slowly in that range.

Anybody got any secrets to share for maintaining stability in a 75 gallon system?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[29reef]

I would suggest getting on board with using dosers. They seem to be the key in many people's tanks. Having a reliable amount of calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium added daily seems to help out a lot.

The second key is nutrient control; most employ large skimmers and water pumps to keep the junk moving and out of the system.

These two things coupled with a good routine and patience will produce great results.

 

[chefzif]

+1 on stability and good current and tank turn over, current plays a huge roll in your system and great skimmer! IMO

 

[fcmatt]

Some people do buy very large acro colonies that make a new tank appear to have
had a lot of growth when in reality they are just buying corals that were already big.

You never tend to see large colonies of the slow growers in their tanks... there is a reason
for that. You rarely see those slow growers sold as baseball and larger pieces.

But yes.. some people have everything dialed in and can take a 1-3 inch frag and make it
quadruple in size within a year.

 

[reefgeezer]

Thanks all. I haven't yet started to stock any nice SPS corals. I Just have some Monti, Millie, and Acro frags in there to test the system. They seem to be growing OK considering they've only been in the system a little while.

I'd like to start adding some more expensive corals but don't know if the tank is ready. I'll try to get so pictures to help but for now, do me another favor and critique my system and processes.

75 Gallon bare bottom RR tank with 40-50 lbs live rock in open aquascape

Modded Lighting: 24 Cree XR-E royal blue LEDs running at 1000 ma, 18 XP-G cool white LEDs running at 1300 ma, and 8 XP-G neutral white LEDs running at 1300 ma. They are running at about 80% right now. All are dimmable, no optics, 8" from surface.

30 Gallon DIY Sump containing a Reef Octopus Recirculating Needle Wheel Skimmer (6" ID X 26" Tall) running wet with DIY Soda Lime Prefilter

Little Giant MD-2 Skimmer feed pump
Pan World 50P-X-X (throttled back) for return and reactor.

BRS reactor with 1/3 cup GAC and 1/3 cup GFO changed every three weeks

ATO

10 Gal Lighted Fuge, bare except for tumbling ball of Cheato harvested monthly

2X Hydor Korilla (sp?) 4 Power Heads on timers - 15 min on/15 min off, alternating (sucks but works for now)

10 Gallon weekly water changes using Kent Salt and RO/DI water. Salinity determined with calibrated refractometer.

Top-off water is 2 tsp of kalk and 15 ml of distilled vinegar per gallon of RO/DI water - Evaporation is about 1.5 gallons per day.

Nitrate and phosphates are 0 (Salifert)
No algae, cyano, or dinos are present
Glass only needs cleaning once a week or so

Calcium stays at 400-430 ppm
Alk is 9 to 9.5 dKh
Magnesium stays around 1250 without supplementing for now
I don't test pH

Demand is pretty low right now. I haven't needed to add any two-part to maintain parameters. I think for the near term, kalk may work fulfill the tank's needs. I don't add anything else.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[allsps40]

Kalkwasser, or some type of dosing. Stability, stability and stability. Also keep your hands out of the tank as fun as it may seem. All I do I'd Kalk in my ATO, supplement Mag and 20% WC EVERY week.

If something doesn't look right take care of it immediately. Don't wait for it to get out of controll before you say Oh s**t.

Find the nicest tank or what you would like yours to look like and follow their threads.

Good luck

Big plus one.

 

[msp307]

My calcium reactor did it for me brought me stability and growth along with my radium for colors.

 

[tibob32]

I must say for me a stable alk is the basis for sps growth. My frag tank had a rough time with me being gone from home for months being dosed improperly once a day and growth STOPPED. I fixed it and 2 weeks later I'm seeing growth already.

 

[reefgeezer]

Can anyone quantify "stable" when referring to alk? Is a variation of under 1 dKh OK?

 

[Mock]

no..... dkh should be 7-11 calcium 400-450 Magnisium 1350-1450 and these number shouldnt move once placed at a desired number. That is stability.

 

[reefgeezer]

no..... dkh should be 7-11 calcium 400-450 Magnisium 1350-1450 and these number shouldnt move once placed at a desired number. That is stability.

I guess I'm nit-picking here... I understand the ranges that are required. What I am trying to get a handle on is the normal variation that occurs in successful SPS tanks. For example: I can't imagine that an alkalinity variation of less than 1 dKh would be harmful or that hobby grade test kits would accurately report minor changes. Of course, I could be wrong... again. I've been testing twice per week for the last couple of months; once immediately after the water change and once in the middle of the week. I get 9 to 9.8 dKH using a Salifert kit. Is that stable enough?

 

[tibob32]

I used to dose daily for 1dkh and when I added a dosing pump that dosed throughout the day, I saw an improvement. My alk doesn't vary more than .1 dkh. While the test kits don't accurately report minor changes, if you know you drop .5 dkh per day, you can set a doser to dose 10 times .05dkh at regular intervals

 

[reefgeezer]

I used to dose daily for 1dkh and when I added a dosing pump that dosed throughout the day, I saw an improvement. My alk doesn't vary more than .1 dkh. While the test kits don't accurately report minor changes, if you know you drop .5 dkh per day, you can set a doser to dose 10 times .05dkh at regular intervals

Thanks. I control Alk with KAlk in the ATO. It is a gravity fed float switch arrangement right now. I imagine the dosing varies depending on the evaporation rate. I'll look at using a dosing pump instead.

 

[stevejrnc]

From my time in the hobby I've seen
frags from aquacultured colonies grow faster then
frags from say another frag or wild colonie

and tanks that are set up and done
if your changing lighting/equipment adding fish or other
livestock during this "one year" period you referring to
that makes a big differance compared to a tank that
left as is with quality upkeep

 

[miwoodar]

+1 to nailing stability in the Ca/alk. Good lighting and flow are huge too. Just getting these into range will put many tanks onto the right track.

You've missed a big one though...many tanks that are '1 year old' are actually upgrades from previous systems. Couple that with a few choice coral aquisitions and a relatively new tank will look like a mature one in no time.