Need help on acroporas SPS..I inherited a colony..now what

[ninjatech]

Hello I inherited a bunch of sps colonies..i know nothing about beside I believe they are acroporas...As you can see they are close to each other ..i dont want them to die ...please need some directions ..

Can i have them this close... they are touching .here are the names of some of them

1. UC Strawberry Shortcake Acropora colony (green w/ pink polyps)
2. Tabling Acro colony -
3. Green Tabling Acro colony
4. Bali aquacultured green tenuis mini colony (purple tips) -
5. aquacultured purple bonsai acro (green polyps)
6. bali aquacultured green acro

attach is the pic. can i set them up this way. I have a red sea 130 c Stocklighting

 

[bobssecrtsn]

What type of lighting does your red sea have? I am not familiar, But by the looks of it they are maricultured, brought from the ocean, so they tend to need a good amount of par.

you will need to keep your water chemistry stable, by now if you haven't measured your alk/ca then it is probably low. due to the fact that they consume quite a good amount.

water chemistry is key for them. second is water movement, third would be lighting,

all three are important for them. research and research until your brain hurts. there are lots of information out on the net. Good luck!

 

[scrapz]

Inherited sps, how so? Someone gave them to you to keep in a fresh tank? How long was the tank up before adding SPS?

Anyways, your stock lighting will not support SPS. Search Youtube lightning options from BulkReefSuppply and go from there. Add in strong flow. As far as water parameters are related, all the info should be easily attained by a simple google search.

Read up on using Bayer to dip your coral to prevent pest from entering your tank. Most likely you will have to go through a 6-8 week dipping regiment since maricultured colonies, especially one's from aussie (SSC), are full of bugs.

Don't freak out about anything and just react slow.

 

[ninjatech]

My Tank is Red Sea 130C stock lighting 2x55 10k Actinic Power Compact lights . I have it for 6 months now. I have mostly LPS which are all thriving and healthy. I received 15 colonies of SPS last night and dump them in my tank. Most of them are 5 inches to 7 inches. I inherited is as in the he gave it to me. I bought a colony of Duncan, Hammer from him and other LPS which cost me a total of$200. He asked if I wanted his SPS. Off course I said YES. He just told me he is no longer interested. So i gave him another $50 on top of that. I felt bad for him ..Over all I know I came up big I was AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME ..But my problem is I know nothing in regards to taking care of it.

I dont want it to Die... still debating what I should do with them . I want to try and take care of it.

 

[eddiereefs]

Sell them man. Sps are no joke it takes a lot of knowlege and money to keep them or they will most likely die. U need stronger lights like t5, led or metal halide, steady calcium and alkalinity, u will need to dose with kalkwasser or cal and alk and magnesium suppliments. Temp cannot fluctuate either. If u have a friend with an established set up let him hold on to them untill u get up to par. Pun intended

 

[reefwiser]

Yes you are best to sell them to someone else your tank is not even close to ready to have SPS you will kill them soon. SPS require a very stable Calcium Alk and Mag
Your lighting is barely adequate for LPS let alone SPS. You would need to upgrade your lighting and add either a calcium reactor or dosing system to maintain a constant calcium and Alk levels.
You are best to just keep the LPS but your tank needs better lighting just for them too.
an they need good Calcium and alk too but they are less dependent on constant levels.

 

[ninjatech]

Yes you are best to sell them to someone else your tank is not even close to ready to have SPS you will kill them soon. SPS require a very stable Calcium Alk and Mag
Your lighting is barely adequate for LPS let alone SPS. You would need to upgrade your lighting and add either a calcium reactor or dosing system to maintain a constant calcium and Alk levels.
You are best to just keep the LPS but your tank needs better lighting just for them too.
an they need good Calcium and alk too but they are less dependent on constant levels.

How can you say my tank is barely adequate for LPS are you saying that Redsea is ripping people off..? LOL

 

[Jlentz]

First. Awesome score.

Now. That looks like ok spacing short term.

What are your current parameters? What do you use to keep your calcium and alk in line? Those are going to suck a lot of alk out of the water and some sticks, especially shortcakes, are not tolerant of alk swings.

You need lots of light. The more the merrier. I don't think pc will cut it. Does Red Sea actually say their pc lights will do sps?

Fwiw I have 2 radion xr15s and 4x 48" t5 lamps on my reef. I've got a calcium reactor to take care of cal/alk. (A dosing pump setup would work as well for dosing 2part)

If you can sell them you should. If you have friends that keep sticks I'd call them up and see if they could take them for a bit. Put a frag off each colony in your tank and see how they do.

 

[reefwiser]

How can you say my tank is barely adequate for LPS are you saying that Redsea is ripping people off..? LOL

Your lighting is underpowered for most corals. Power compact lighting doesn't put out enough Par for SPS and while LPS can survive they will not grow.
They sell this light as an entryway to their tank system. They know you will have to upgrade your lighting. You most likely would not have purchased the tank with the proper lighting for SPS as the lighting would have double the price you paid for the tank. They only use T5 and LED's on their current tanks. I am sure they received push back from dealers.
I have tried using compact fluorescent lights with SPS. Having keep reefs for over 30 yearsI have tried Everything. I want you to be successful that's why we try to answer questions. Besides lighting you will need a dosing system to maintain your cal and alk levels. While you could do this by hand it requires a lot of time to do it that way. So you will needs dosing pump with the additives and test kits to help you adjust your levels. You can also use a cal reactor to do this also
While you "got a good deal" at present you need a few up grades in your system of several hundred dollars to enjoy that good deal.

 

[ninjatech]

Thank you guys , where can i get some information to upgrade my lighting , this is a close top system , I did do some googling and saw some guys removing their top off. I can get some lighting I will put my budget $400 ..is there a way i cant keep the lid...Where should i be asking these questions..thanks

 

[msaba]

Hi Ninjatech,


I have a 90g thriving all sps tank and a RSM130 D mixed reef in my office. The par of those lights in the top 10 inches of the tank is enough to house sps without question. Most acros do fine in 200-350 par and light will not be the limiting factor in your success IMO. The immediate challenge for you is that immediately housing that mass of acropora in a relatively small water volume and the ensuing ALK instability that may ensue will wreak havoc on those colonies. Keep a close eye on ALK make dosing changes slowly!

The other challenge in my systems are that most of my SPS, especially the larger colonies (especially tables and SSC) really need much more flow than your current inhabitants would tolerate in a tank the size of the RSM... (i.e. your chances would be best in a dedicated sps tank)

Most importantly, even in the hands of an advanced reefer, SPS colonies DO NOT LIKED TO BE MOVED.

the reasons for their demise after being moved only 6 inches in the same system can be difficult to understand..

In short, I think you have have the ability to sell or get credit for those colonies, you will come out ahead. You could even taken small frags of them which would have a higher likelihood of surviving than the whole colony and then sell the rest. If you choose to keep them, best of luck!!

Mark

 

[vette.tech]

I used to have that tank and while it's not like I had growth like I do with MH to say they don't grow lps is just inaccurate, I actually had a birds nest near the top that did ok too, now with those acros its not gonna cut it

There are a few companies that make led conversions for that tank, I lnow steves led does and I think rapid does as well

 

[outssider]

they are touching .

Don't let them touch.....

 

[ninjatech]

thank you everyone for your help. I will try to sell them to a local pet store or put an ad in craigslist.

 

[ninjatech]

I have been testing everyday since I added the Acros in my tank , it seem my PH is low every other day. I dose it it goes back to 8.2 (where someone told me to keep them at that level)

Do I dose my tank now every morning when I get up.?

 

[markalot]

Good grief!

Never ever ever dose to raise PH, it spikes KH and will kill your acros. This is why people are suggesting you sell them. Too much to learn in too little time I'm afraid, but you can try.

KH is your critical parameter, it should be as steady as you can make it. I would suggest picking a number between 7 and 8 and then keeping it there. PH is relatively meaningless unless way way out of range, I would stop testing for PH and never test again.

Can you take pictures of these colonies? I am leery of someone giving them away, I hope they're not covered in pests.

 

[ninjatech]

Good grief!

Never ever ever dose to raise PH, it spikes KH and will kill your acros. This is why people are suggesting you sell them. Too much to learn in too little time I'm afraid, but you can try.

KH is your critical parameter, it should be as steady as you can make it. I would suggest picking a number between 7 and 8 and then keeping it there. PH is relatively meaningless unless way way out of range, I would stop testing for PH and never test again.

Can you take pictures of these colonies? I am leery of someone giving them away, I hope they're not covered in pests.

Well I paid for them , Didn't really give it away , i just got them really cheap. I have attach the pics on my first post.

 

[toothybugs]

I'm afraid you jumped in to something on impulse, and that 'something' has a steep learning curve associated with fickle requirements which your system is ill-prepared to undertake.

I would highly recommend putting a post up in a local forum here on RC (you don't have main-board selling privileges yet) asking for pick-up only. I would wager that you are relieved of them within a day.

I'm sorry we are all telling you this news but I'm new to SPS myself over the last few months and even with several years previous experience behind me and a chem degree, it's been a trip learning what it takes to grow and maintain these species. I killed far too many specimens in the first 3 months to suggest to someone they get high-end sticks to start learning with.

 

[ninjatech]

I'm afraid you jumped in to something on impulse, and that 'something' has a steep learning curve associated with fickle requirements which your system is ill-prepared to undertake.

I would highly recommend putting a post up in a local forum here on RC (you don't have main-board selling privileges yet) asking for pick-up only. I would wager that you are relieved of them within a day.

I'm sorry we are all telling you this news but I'm new to SPS myself over the last few months and even with several years previous experience behind me and a chem degree, it's been a trip learning what it takes to grow and maintain these species. I killed far too many specimens in the first 3 months to suggest to someone they get high-end sticks to start learning with.

Agree with you on buying on impulse. But I cant past on a deal like this,it is a steal.

 

[plyle02]

Not if they end up dead, which if you are dosing alkalinity to raise ph, will happen in short order. Please do not allow your ego to get in the way of the ethical thing to do here. Donate the corals to a local store, or local hobbyist with proven sps success, and ask for a nice chunky frag when you are ready. ninjatech, we all want you to be successful, sps keeping is not as easy as you think. Take some time to read, read, read as many threads as you can, learn the chemistry side, understand the way alk, calcium and magnesium correspond. Understand biology, how nutrients import vs. nutrient export work. The information needed to keep these type of corals cannot be learned by using "Cliff" notes, you really need to dig in and understand these corals demands... At the top of this forum are sticky's, they include massive amounts of information, likely weeks and months worth of study. Please take no offense, your success is important to this community, and we want that to happen, we also do not want to see these corals die unnecessarily. Either way, I truly hope you all the best in your reefing endeavors, CHEERS!!!