NaturalReef
Member
I have learned so much from this forum in the last few years and am thankful for the members who love to impart their knowledge on my new found love of Sps. I have been keeping reef tanks for the better part of 15 years and waited to hone my skills before jumping to the next level and final destination. I made the jump to a mostly (90%) sps tank over the last year. I had them in a 20 gallon IM fusion and equipped the tank based on advice from members here. I aimed for stability( auto topoff,doser,apex control), coverage over intensity with LED lighting and intermittent good flow.
The store where I purchase my sps has outstanding prices and healthy frags, they are just browned out. I started with a frag pack from a member on here and also with a few frags from the lfs. Within a matter of weeks, these dull brown acros turned into the most colorful sps i have ever seen! I was in awe of how vivid, bright and colorful these sps were when i provided those requirements i mentioned above. I was extremely proud of my accomplishment and couldnt wait till they grew out and were able to be fragged and shared.
Hang with me, there is a point to this long post
The last two months of water changes, I kept hitting and inadvertently breaking pieces off my sps when cleaning the tank. This was stressing out my beautiful sps and i said to myself, " self, you need to upgrade to a bigger tank!" I went out and purchased a IM 50 gallon fusion lagoon and carefully planned out the tank transfer. I reused most of the equipment and matched water parameters. After the transfer is when i started losing my most prized frags and colonies. It was heartbreaking and i couldnt figure out why. Alk,calcium, salinity were spot on and i was feeding the tank and nitrates were under 5. Over the next two weeks, i was losing a frag/colony every couple of days.
Observing my tank, the only thing I could think of that was different was my jebao rw-4's were not giving the same flow as in the 20 gallon and my previous lighting schedule,coverage and intensity with my prime's were inadequate with the bigger tank. I purchased a maxspect gyre and increased the intensity and duration of my three primes and the turnaround over the next two weeks was amazing!
All stn has stopped, my browned out and stressed corals have now started showing spotty intense pigment and coloring up by the day and encrusting even faster than before! I'm elated! I was so upset after losing over $1000 of high end sps. As all of the experienced members here have stressed time and time again.......Stability,light,flow! If any one of those are inadequate, sps will suffer and eventually use up their reserves and die when stressed. Again , thank-you reefcentral members! I almost threw in the towel....
The store where I purchase my sps has outstanding prices and healthy frags, they are just browned out. I started with a frag pack from a member on here and also with a few frags from the lfs. Within a matter of weeks, these dull brown acros turned into the most colorful sps i have ever seen! I was in awe of how vivid, bright and colorful these sps were when i provided those requirements i mentioned above. I was extremely proud of my accomplishment and couldnt wait till they grew out and were able to be fragged and shared.
Hang with me, there is a point to this long post
The last two months of water changes, I kept hitting and inadvertently breaking pieces off my sps when cleaning the tank. This was stressing out my beautiful sps and i said to myself, " self, you need to upgrade to a bigger tank!" I went out and purchased a IM 50 gallon fusion lagoon and carefully planned out the tank transfer. I reused most of the equipment and matched water parameters. After the transfer is when i started losing my most prized frags and colonies. It was heartbreaking and i couldnt figure out why. Alk,calcium, salinity were spot on and i was feeding the tank and nitrates were under 5. Over the next two weeks, i was losing a frag/colony every couple of days.Observing my tank, the only thing I could think of that was different was my jebao rw-4's were not giving the same flow as in the 20 gallon and my previous lighting schedule,coverage and intensity with my prime's were inadequate with the bigger tank. I purchased a maxspect gyre and increased the intensity and duration of my three primes and the turnaround over the next two weeks was amazing!
All stn has stopped, my browned out and stressed corals have now started showing spotty intense pigment and coloring up by the day and encrusting even faster than before! I'm elated! I was so upset after losing over $1000 of high end sps. As all of the experienced members here have stressed time and time again.......Stability,light,flow! If any one of those are inadequate, sps will suffer and eventually use up their reserves and die when stressed. Again , thank-you reefcentral members! I almost threw in the towel....
