My SPS stocking... opinions welcome

[Bigmike]

So here it goes again, Ive been out of the scene for a while trying to get into the "real world" fresh out of college, now that I have a stable job I decided to start up a little tank again. Its a small one, 5 gallons, already made a hood to house a 70W halide and 64W of actinic PCs... Ive learned from my bigger tanks in the past about the need for flow and water parameters and such, the water will be "chilled" in a home made chiller (mini fridge). So I want this to be as planed of tank as I can make it, so I have corals in mind that I will be stocking over time. Heres my list thus far

1 oregon tort
2 superman monti
3 rainbow monti
4 green w blue birdsnest
5 PM or something similar
6 pink milli or prostrata
7 blue cap
8 green purple rim cap
9 other little zoas and rics and blastos on their own rocks
Note- I chose these corals for looks alone and not for names sake :rollface:

With limmited space I know Im going to have to keep an eye on corals and prune them a lot...

If you guys were planning a nano and absolutely had to choose from all the corals out there, which ones would you choose? Again Im trying to plan from the begining what coral I will stock so I want to make sure I get all the ones I want in there. Let me know what you guys would stock!!! Thanks for your opinions



Mike

 

[druluv]

I would pick one of the encrusting monti' (super man, Rainbow). When they start encrusting they can take over and use up rock space.

 

[Bigmike]

Good call druluv, I guess in a smaller tank you need to worry bout that a lot more, I was always siked when montis started to take over rocks.

And to all 60 of you who have looked at this and have no opinions... let me just thank you so much for your help in helping me. RC really has turned into a joke.

 

[otolith]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6546985#post6546985 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bigmike
And to all 60 of you who have looked at this and have no opinions... let me just thank you so much for your help in helping me. RC really has turned into a joke.

Boy, this really makes me NOT want to help you.

The rest of my advice is being withheld given your asinine comment. Wait, maybe you were using reverse sikology or something like that.

 

[Bigmike]

you already didnt help me so go figure...? Im outta this site.

 

[Bigmike]

mods can you shut my thread down please.

 

[alten78]

apparently sps noobs like myself can't look at a thread hoping to get ideas or look at pics without leaving a suggestion...but then again im not planning a nano so i guess my opinion doesn't count anyways.

 

[otolith]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6547037#post6547037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bigmike
you already didnt help me so go figure...? Im outta this site.

Too bad. Your loss. I must admit I'm kinda curious why you feel the way you do. But I guess that would be my loss if I never found out.

 

[tacocat]

[And to all 60 of you who have looked at this and have no opinions... let me just thank you so much for your help in helping me. RC really has turned into a joke.

That's probably because 60 people didn't want to be rude and tell you it is not a good idea to raise acros in a 5g tank. A properly setup acro tank will evaporate half that volume in a single day.

CA/ALK balance - How will you accomplish this? Most likely with two part. What about evaporation? A single acro colony will occupy the entire space (especially a monti). Keeping acros by constantly fragging them via bonsai style is a great away to ensure that they eventually die. When you frag corals, they release bacteria, slime, etc. which is irritating to other corals, more so in a small volume like a 5g tank.How would you even fit a ciruclation device?

Try not to be so heated and exhibit more patience. One needs patience to successfully raise acros.

 

[nwrogers]

Haha...

Bump

 

[Bigmike]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6548164#post6548164 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tacocat
That's probably because 60 people didn't want to be rude and tell you it is not a good idea to raise acros in a 5g tank. A properly setup acro tank will evaporate half that volume in a single day.

CA/ALK balance - How will you accomplish this? Most likely with two part. What about evaporation? A single acro colony will occupy the entire space (especially a monti). Keeping acros by constantly fragging them via bonsai style is a great away to ensure that they eventually die. When you frag corals, they release bacteria, slime, etc. which is irritating to other corals, more so in a small volume like a 5g tank.How would you even fit a ciruclation device?

Try not to be so heated and exhibit more patience. One needs patience to successfully raise acros.

OK maybe this thread can be salvaged, I appologize for lashing out, I do not however take back what I said about this forum in paticular being turned in to a joke, all people in here care about anymore are pictures. This site was built mainly for helping other members with things they had questions... when I posted I was expecting more than one response (which I did thank the person BTW).

And see what Tacocat said was very helpful even though he thinks he was raining on my parade, I have taken all that into consideration, (ie. auto top off, drip kalk, weekly water changes, chilled water etc.) The only thing you brought up that I hadnt thought about is the slime factor of fraging, do you really think that will be a huge problem? Or do you think it can be overcome by water changes after a fragging?

I would have not gotten that input if I had not blown this out of proportion, and that was not even what I was asking in the first place, but see how these forums are supposed to work Someone posts a topic, other people comment on it and the poster works on his plans and it helps him.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and concerns, if people do not think Im a total duche bag yet please feel free comment some more, but do not feel obligated to.

Mike

 

[Ben]

RC really has turned into a joke

You wont find a site that has as much as a following as RC. It may not be the most friendly site but does have the most traffic. 60 views in a short time, you should be feeling lucky.

I wouldnt even consider a cap in a 5 gal tank. I would think of some colorful slow growers to include.

I think you could make a nice display of encrusting montis like the rainbow, superman, and sunset montis.

 

[Ben]

I would not use kalk on such a small tank the if you drip just a little too fast the pH will spike. You would be much better off with a two part like Randys solution.

 

[Wiskey]

I agree with ben's suggestion about the kalk, my line clogs sometimes, then dumps 1/4 gallon in at once, not a problem for my tank, but a huge problem for yours. Perhaps a leiter meter for 2 part would be more approiate?

I love the suggestion about superman, and rainbow monties, they are slick. I love green slimers too, they slime alot but it is worth it.

What are you doing for skimming? I would definatally concider a protien skimmer, and you may want to think about a UV (small 9W unit or something since you do have a chiller) that may help with alopatic chemicals (warfare) and breaking down slime.

HTH,
Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Ps there is another small sps tank (5 gallons or so) running around here somewhere, I can never search, but you may want to find that and get some ideas.

He posted pics with in the last month.

Whiskey

 

[slojmn]

What about bumping it up to a 12g ? Just a thought. I had a nano for a couple of years but no sps...not enough light and the heat issue would have been a problem if I had added more light. As it was I had difficulty keeping it stable. I like the idea of the encrusting montis and some Rics to soften the look of the tank. Good Luck

 

[Treg]

Re: My SPS stocking... opinions welcome

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6541985#post6541985 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bigmike

1 oregon tort
2 superman monti
3 rainbow monti
4 green w blue birdsnest
5 PM or something similar
6 pink milli or prostrata
7 blue cap
8 green purple rim cap
9 other little zoas and rics and blastos on their own rocks


Mike

You can afford this list of high dollar frags but not a bigger tank than 5 gallons?

Why not buy something a little bigger like a 30g for, ohh, 1/3 the price of that O tort?

 

[synlapse]

I tried to keep a 20L SPS tank with a Coralife 150Watt HQI. The evaporation rate was amazing. The HQI cooked the tank, and I was having issues keeping up with topoff requirements. The tank consisted of a Red Sea Wavemaker w/3 Maxijet 900s, a CPR Bak Pak skimmer, misc SPS, "no sump", and a rigged Aqualifter/Kalk topoff system. I admit, I have bad husbandry skills, but this tank would break even the most diligent reefkeeper. I would strongly suggest something bigger than your current plans. I currently have a 55gl w/20gl sump. I'm not satisfied with the depth, so I'm migrating to a 40gl BB breeder w/20gl sump. I don't feel you have to maintain a monstrous tank to have nice SPS, but you do have to be able to maintain consistent parameters. I don't want to over-simplify SPS keeping, but from what I've learned it takes 4 key things:

Proper lighting (dependant on coral requirements)
Proper water chemistry (dependant on coral requirements)
Proper water movement (dependant on coral requirements)
and Consistency. Every thread I read boils down to consistency. Corals do not like "too" much change.

I hope this wasn't too long-winded and gives you a little in-sight.
Synlapse

 

[Bigmike]

Re: Re: My SPS stocking... opinions welcome

Re: Re: My SPS stocking... opinions welcome

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6549542#post6549542 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Treg
You can afford this list of high dollar frags but not a bigger tank than 5 gallons?

Why not buy something a little bigger like a 30g for, ohh, 1/3 the price of that O tort?

They have a high price tag for a reason... theyre beautiful! and Id rather spend money on awesome corals than a larger sestem. When you upgrade a tank, you have to upgrade the lights and the circulation and the LR and the chiller and the ammount of livestock, overall I really dont think it is worth it for me at this time to invest that much knowing what corals I want... again Im trying to plan this thing out as best I can.

I do have a 12 gal laying around... I think most of you scared me up to it. Looks like most of you agree that a 2 part would be the best solution too. And yes the evaporation problem is one of the scariest for me, Ill have the tank running a couple months before I stock it so I will try to dial in how much it is evaporating daily.

I have kept SPS successfully in the past, but when I had to move out on my own, had to sell it to make rent, this little tank is more of a return to SPS for me. I chose the corals mainly for their grow rates and colors, all of them grow relatively slow (except for the caps) and the caps are easily fragged so I dont know if thats going to be an issue?

 

[dirtyreefer]

No offense, but you are really risking alot by putting in prized and expensive corals into a 5 or even 12 gallon. If you spend $100 on a small superman danae frag or $150 on a purple monster frag and they die right away, wouldn't that be a $#$%ty feeling?

I personally would love to have all those corals but I would never risk it in a tank where they may not survive.