Red Planet care

[NanoDrummer09]

Hey i got a 2" frag of redplanet yesterday i have it mounted halfway up in my tank that has a 150w 14k pheonix bulb. WHat should i dose to make sure this guy keeps his color and stays and keeps a healthy growth? Thanks happy reefing! :wave:

 

[Cozmo4]

Likely nothing except alk, calcium and magnesium. What are your levels of these currently?

 

[NanoDrummer09]

i dont have any kind of meters for those =/ but i dose weekly calcium. Along with phytoplex and zoomax weekly should i add anything else?

 

[jackson6745]

i dont have any kind of meters for those =/ but i dose weekly calcium. Along with phytoplex and zoomax weekly should i add anything else?

Sorry to be so blunt but you are not ready for SPS. You should trade it out or get a store credit while it's still alive. It takes a little more to keep SPS thriving. I would research and ask lots of questions before taking the plunge.
Sorry

 

[NanoDrummer09]

its cool lol i actuallyt got it from a buddy so i only paid 20 for it and another friend of mine wouldnt mind holding it and hes really good with sps and he'll help me along with the process of keeping them. SO far it looks good but if any changes come ill give him a call and take them over ASAP

 

[jackson6745]

Good to hear dude.

 

[NanoDrummer09]

so help? lol what do i need to do and what kind of test kits should i get?

 

[jackson6745]

Well, get yourself Salifert Calcium, Alkalinity, and MG testkits. You can start dosing b-ionic to maintain these levels. There are many was to maintain calcification levels that's why I said to research to determine what is the best for your system.

Most important thing is to keep water pristine and parameters stable. Nitrates should be very low and phosphates should always be undetectable on conventional testkits. If you want to save yourself a lot of troubles buy the best skimmer that you can afford for your tank HTH

 

[curlykid]

I really wouldn't woory about it much. Mine is the most hardy SPS in my tank.

 

[NanoDrummer09]

ALright thanks for all the info Jackson I was just looking at the b-ionic dosing suppliments and the test kits i have right now Natureef calcium buffer which has mag and alk with it but im running low and the reviews foor b-ionic look better so ill do a big order at once. Im trying to sell my seaclone skimmer cause its too tall and i heard bad things about it so with that money ill put that toward another skimmer. =) thanks for the help!!

 

[Cozmo4]

Yes, pick up an alkalinity and calcium test kit in short order. If you don't have a nitrate test kit, I'd get one of these. Here are the things you should be testing for and where you need to maintain each of the levels:

alk (dkh): 8 - 12
calcium: 400 - 450
magnesium: 1300 roughly...should be maintained at 3x your calcium reading
nitrate: 0 is best, but up to 10 is okay
nitrite: 0
ammonia: 0
phosphate: 0

As a general rule, don't add anything to the tank that you can't test for. I'd highly recommend B-Ionic. I used it for quite some time, but recently switched to the similar product from Bulk Reef Supply because it's cheaper when buying a large amount and my tanks consumption rate has increased quite a bit as my SPS has started to grow out (see pics if you'd like by clicking my username and going to my webpage link).

Also, how are you measuring salinity and where are you maintaining it?

 

[NanoDrummer09]

i have a specific gravity meter and its at 1.021 im actually going to hook up a ATO today so it doesnt fluctuate at all. ANd im going to go get the b-ionic today along with the test kits

 

[jackson6745]

NanoDrummer, get yourself a refractometer. It really is a must have. Hydrometers are very inaccurate. Most guys here keep their salinity @ 1.025-1.026.

 

[Cozmo4]

+1 - coral won't be happy 1.021.

 

[Peter Eichler]

The most important thing you need to be doing whether you have sps or not is to test and maintain alkalinity. A cheap API test kit is good for calcium, alkalinity, and nitrate. For magnesium you'll need to get Salifert or Elos.

Also, as others have pointed out you need to get your salinity up to 1.025-1.026 and using a properly calibrated refractometer to do so.

 

[pbnj]

Someone once posted this info after e-mailing ORA:

High light, gives the red it's intensity, and the green fades out to brown...
low light, fades the red to brown but the green is greener.

 

[skibum9884]

also, i would recommend elos test kits. i think we can all say that salifert test kits are pretty terrible. there have been lots of horror stories with inaccurate test kits.

personally, i wouldn't risk it.

 

[jackson6745]

also, i would recommend elos test kits. i think we can all say that salifert test kits are pretty terrible. there have been lots of horror stories with inaccurate test kits.

personally, i wouldn't risk it.

I find salifert ALk, MG, and Cal testkits to be on target. ALL Phosphate conventional testkits, including Elos, are absolutely useless for reef keeping.

 

[Peter Eichler]

I find salifert ALk, MG, and Cal testkits to be on target. ALL conventional testkits, including Elos, are absolutely useless for reef keeping.

Wait, did you really just say all test kits other than Salifert are useless?:lmao:

 

[jackson6745]

Wait, did you really just say all test kits other than Salifert are useless?:lmao:

opps I meant to say All conventional testkits are useless for phosphate. Salifert included.