Need SPS basic care tips.

[glenns]

I've decided I want to try establishing an SPS dominant reef in my 90G tank. But as I read the sticky on Alk, Ca & Mg, it looks very complicated. What are the basic requirements to keep healthy specimens of SPS with moderate growth?

Currently I have two Montipora Caps(Green & a Red cap). I plan to add a grape and some other beginner SPS corals. They've been doing OK with T5 lighting(6 bulb Tek retro). Typically I don't dose anything. I just change 10% water weekly. The LFS currently uses SeaChem, which appears to have higher Alk, Ca & Mg levels. A few weeks ago they tested at:
Alk 9.6dkh
Ca 570
Mg 1590

As I add more corals, will the WC be enough to achieve my goal of keeping healthy SPS corals with moderate growth, or will I need to dose?

Thanks.

 

[israel.kendall]

Hey, I recently started with SPS also (and reefing for that matter), so I can't give advice, but I can pass along my experience. I find it not so complicated, just test and dose accordingly. I don't have very many nor very large corals yet and I have already had to start adding Cal and Alk, water changes don't keep my levels up. My Alk will drop from 8dkh to 6 in a couple of days if I don't dose.

 

[Brian Chong]

You're going to have to dose for stability reasons.

 

[kduen]

Kalk will be your friend for a little while at least.

 

[allsps40]

SPS tips
Stability in everything, ca, alk, mag, SG, temp, lighting. I recommend getting an auto top off and dosing kalk. That takes car of 3 stability needs right there.
Good strong lighting MH, T5 or LED
Strong flow, there are many great power heads on the market today.
A good skimmer

 

[glenns]

Thanks for all the tips. I kind of figured I would have to start dosing. But when I read some people were doing both Ca reactors and Kalk, I got confused.

I just retested alk and it has dropped to 8.6 from a few weeks ago. But I did replace 70% of the water, from another LFS when I replaced my LR. Ca is still the same.

I was thinking about getting an auto top off and using it to dose kalk. But, I decided to wait until I get a controller. Then I can use it to handle that, plus temp, lights and making waves. BTW, I saw a video which says using Kalk in the ATO, a sludge will build at the bottom of the ATO reservoir. I'm supposed to draw water from above this sludge line. Once the water is gone, what do I do with that sludge?

As for flow, the DT has to Korillia 3's and a tunze 6060, so I think that will be enough flow. Skimmer is rated for a 120. I need to see if someone in my local reef club has a PAR meter I can borrow. That way I know what corals I need to avoid.

 

[allsps40]

I rinse the slug out every few weeks. I also dont run a controller ATO units have their own controller.

 

[reeferdale]

The dosing will change as the corals grow or as you add more so you need to test before you dose. As for water changes, same thing. I do not always do massive water changes every month. I figure I have 7 - 10 gallons/ week of top off RO water going into the reef every week, that is 28 - 40 gallons a month. You really need to keep up on your tests and adjust as needed.

 

[nano51]

Make sure you test water first before you dose. I learned my lesson the hard way.

 

[psykobowler]

I have killed a lot of sps before even with checking parameters and dosing but is now experiencing success ever since I started dosing kalk. what I would recommend is to top off with kalk and add either or both media reactor gfo, carbon and chaeto. Limiting phosphates and stabilizing ph and alk would be the priority. Kalk does magic in a reef tank especially in an sps tank.

 

[allsps40]

Make sure you test water first before you dose. I learned my lesson the hard way.

I agree. If you are doing sps a good set of test kits are a must. Never dose anything you cant test of. Big 3 to dose are ca, alk and mag. Must have IMO test kits cal ,alk mag, ph, no3 and po4. Have a for of alk, ca and mag to dose along with kalk ATO water if you need to tweak anything. Test daily while dialing in dosing amounts and then test weekly to ensure stability. Your ca at 500+ and mag at 1500+ is a bit to high, let it come down to 450 and 1350-1400

 

[SPSEMPIRE]

SPS tips
Stability in everything, ca, alk, mag, SG, temp, lighting. I recommend getting an auto top off and dosing kalk. That takes car of 3 stability needs right there.
Good strong lighting MH, T5 or LED
Strong flow, there are many great power heads on the market today.
A good skimmer

+1. That pretty much sums it up.

What ever you do, just do it slow.

A controller is going to be your best investment. You can run a fine sps tank w/o one by using a Milwaukee pH controller and a Ranco Temperature controller (or other brands) but the All-In-One controllers give you much better features for a few bucks more.

Kalk reactors are great and a must have for me but I'm seeing more and more nice sps tanks ran by two part dosing with a dosing pump only.

 

[powderbluu]

not just start dosing, but knowing how much to dose. Test your water, leave it alone without dosing anything. Test it again at the exact same time the next day to know how much your tank use in a 24 hour period and dose it that way. Repeat the process often to get a better reading. Get the doser to make your life easier.

Be patient. be Very patient.

 

[glenns]

When do you test relative to your lighting schedule? Do you test while the lights are out, just come on or after they've all be on for several hours? Most of my tests have been after the lights have been on several hours.

I'm not dosing Ca or Mg, so I cannot explain why they are so high. I think it is because of the Sea Chem salt my LFS is using. I have dosed with Kent marine Alk buffer. Usually I mix the amount they say to dose per week in my top off water jug.

 

[allsps40]

I agree with SPSEMPIRE, I controller will help make thing much easier. I will be investing in a Reef Keeper Lite soon.

 

[batt600]

All are right but when keeping SPS you have to test for N03 and P04. N03 get a good test kit . P04 get a hanna . You want to test for theys 2 the most thay will effect color in sps

 

[allsps40]

Yep like I said some of the required test kits are NO3 and PO4. Funny I test these the lease. I check ph alk ca and mag a bit more. I test NO3 and PO4 every other time. I have never seen PO4 above 0ppm Hanna and N)3 has only come up to 3-5ppm a few times in the 3 years my tank has been up. Not saying dont check them, because you do for sure.

 

[glenns]

Thanks for the tips.

Last week I setup my BRS P04 reactor. It's tumbling nicely with water I T'd off the return pump line.

I already have PH, Ammonia, NO2 & NO3 test kits. Last week I purchased a Salifert Alk test kit. My Ca kit seems to still be good, so the next one will be PO4. May get Mg test kit to.

Today I setup my auto top off I got from Autotopoff.com. Oh,I picked up a small purple Acro frag at the frag swap today. Figured start small and cheap. Hope it will do well.