RE: setting up with a view to SPS corals.
In general, this is NOT where novices start, and I have some misgivings about starting this thread because I do not want to entice novices into trouble.
Understand these things first: sps is still pretty much the bleeding edge of reefing. If you get deeply into it, or before you get deeply into this expensive end of the hobby, you should start reading the SPS columns and understanding that it is one of those areas of the hobby where you need the right equipment, good advice, and patience.
Lighting, first, and right along with it, water quality and skimmer. Clear water matters. Muck floating in the water lessens the light reaching the corals, and these corals may have tiny mouths to exchange water and dissolved nutrients, but they are heavily dependent on their zooxanthellae---the bacteria that lives in their skin and photosynthizes sugars on which they live: the zooxanthellae live on light. This is why metal halide lights and now LEDs are where you're going. You have to worry about Par, or figure some way to determine how far your light setup is reaching. If you have a very deep tank, you will need to consider that.
You may also need a very good skimmer.
SPS are stony corals, and will need some sort of calcium supplementation: I've used kalk in the ato quite successfully, run on a simple pump and float switch.
Some sps frag so very easily that you can do it while cleaning the tank glass: montiporas are like this. Just glue the accident to a rock and put it back in.
You also need flow: stagnant areas are not friendly to sps. About 950 gph in a 50 gallon, eg, and so on up. Powerheads may not be enough. You may need more general flow in the tank than a spotty solution can deliver.
You need low nitrate. As in-- 2. You need a program that will keep it in that territory. Montiporas are more forgiving, but when you get into the fussier sorts, that's going to be an issue.
You need to keep your fish load reasonable, because of the nitrate issue. And the skimmer is important, again.
I'm not going to say much more than this. I'm going to direct you straight to the sps forum to get much better info than I can give you.
If you want to see how an sps will fare with your lighting and setup, montipora is the easiest of the class. It can live under good lps conditions, and how fast it takes off will tell you something. Above montiporas in difficulty are, say, pocillipora and valida.
One of the big problems for sps is an infestation called red bug. Find out about it, and be careful. Again, the sps forum.
Expect to spend money on lighting, flow, and skimming. The best shape of tank for your venture will be, IMHO, the often-cursed wedge, which has depth, but little length. That lets you escape with one light kit instead of several. Cube is not bad. Your rockwork goes high up.
Expect to spend on test kits, too. Ro/di is not an if, it's a must. A log book. I don't say you have to have a controller, I don't say you can't leave your tank and go on vacation. It's rewarding, it's pretty, and it's educational, to say the least. Fragging is easy--too easy---and you can almost always trade the frags to your lfs for credit.
A lot of positives, but don't do it until you've worked out your mistakes with ATO's and water quality and such. Think about your fish list. Don't get sloppy feeders. And be prepared for an exacting sort of hobby. If this is your first rodeo, approach it with caution.
In general, this is NOT where novices start, and I have some misgivings about starting this thread because I do not want to entice novices into trouble.
Understand these things first: sps is still pretty much the bleeding edge of reefing. If you get deeply into it, or before you get deeply into this expensive end of the hobby, you should start reading the SPS columns and understanding that it is one of those areas of the hobby where you need the right equipment, good advice, and patience.
Lighting, first, and right along with it, water quality and skimmer. Clear water matters. Muck floating in the water lessens the light reaching the corals, and these corals may have tiny mouths to exchange water and dissolved nutrients, but they are heavily dependent on their zooxanthellae---the bacteria that lives in their skin and photosynthizes sugars on which they live: the zooxanthellae live on light. This is why metal halide lights and now LEDs are where you're going. You have to worry about Par, or figure some way to determine how far your light setup is reaching. If you have a very deep tank, you will need to consider that.
You may also need a very good skimmer.
SPS are stony corals, and will need some sort of calcium supplementation: I've used kalk in the ato quite successfully, run on a simple pump and float switch.
Some sps frag so very easily that you can do it while cleaning the tank glass: montiporas are like this. Just glue the accident to a rock and put it back in.
You also need flow: stagnant areas are not friendly to sps. About 950 gph in a 50 gallon, eg, and so on up. Powerheads may not be enough. You may need more general flow in the tank than a spotty solution can deliver.
You need low nitrate. As in-- 2. You need a program that will keep it in that territory. Montiporas are more forgiving, but when you get into the fussier sorts, that's going to be an issue.
You need to keep your fish load reasonable, because of the nitrate issue. And the skimmer is important, again.
I'm not going to say much more than this. I'm going to direct you straight to the sps forum to get much better info than I can give you.
If you want to see how an sps will fare with your lighting and setup, montipora is the easiest of the class. It can live under good lps conditions, and how fast it takes off will tell you something. Above montiporas in difficulty are, say, pocillipora and valida.
One of the big problems for sps is an infestation called red bug. Find out about it, and be careful. Again, the sps forum.
Expect to spend money on lighting, flow, and skimming. The best shape of tank for your venture will be, IMHO, the often-cursed wedge, which has depth, but little length. That lets you escape with one light kit instead of several. Cube is not bad. Your rockwork goes high up.
Expect to spend on test kits, too. Ro/di is not an if, it's a must. A log book. I don't say you have to have a controller, I don't say you can't leave your tank and go on vacation. It's rewarding, it's pretty, and it's educational, to say the least. Fragging is easy--too easy---and you can almost always trade the frags to your lfs for credit.
A lot of positives, but don't do it until you've worked out your mistakes with ATO's and water quality and such. Think about your fish list. Don't get sloppy feeders. And be prepared for an exacting sort of hobby. If this is your first rodeo, approach it with caution.
