should i do a sps tank or lps

mrsaltwatertank

New member
i have a 75 gallon reef tank been up for 1 year have 4 lps corals but i think i wont to do a sps tank more colors and better looking. I run one power head so far and will add more if i have to. i have a 6 bulb t-5 aquaticlife fixture and i have a 30 gallon sump/refuge and a hang on the back protein skimmer. if anyone can help me with this discussion that would be great i will answer any questions you have.:fun4:
 
to start, you need a bit more light. ... 2 more bulbs of T5, or some LED supplements.

6 bulb is right on the edge of not enough light.

what power head do you have ? what model ?

Start testing KH and CA++ and start dosing if needed to keep them stable.
 
Yes do an SPS tank, nothing is more maddening or rewarding. I have found that you can use all the flow in the tank you can get. I'm using 45x turnover, others use more and some less but it will need to be much higher than you might think. A t5 and led hybrid is a great idea or even a MH t5 combo would be great.It seems to be an emerging idea that if you keep high light levels you can have a little "dirtier" tank which would help if you want to still keep LPS or softies. Good luck either way you go, but hope you join the madness of SPS
 
i think im going to try a couple and see what happens but im not changing my light i just spent 650 dollars on that light. i will get more flow but can i put some in right now and get the powerhead down the road in 3 weeks
 
Yes you can put some easy ones in now, Monti-cap, digital,birdsnest. Add flow as soon as possible. Another thought on your light..... If your going to stick with four bulbs then bulb choice is more important than "look". I would use ati coral plusx2 and ati blueplusx2 and stay away from supplemental bulbs like purple plus or actinic. Do with less glow and get more grow.
 
I'd get the powerhead and put some SPS in a few weeks down the road, start observing and testing your alk swings and levels. Stability is the key for SPS, a WP25 would be good for the $$$.
 
I would add a power head and get some ATI or KZ bulbs. If the light is brand new wait a few months on the bulbs. You can still do mixed reef there are a lot of nice tanks with Lps-sps mix.
 
6 bulbs is sufficient for any coral just add more flow and start with ease ones. Personally I love SPS.
 
thanks guys for all the advice and im going with sps and maybe some lps can you overstock a tank with coral and what about some good fish with it
 
We tend to be a bit biased in this forum … so SPS is my vote too lol.

Any pics of the setup so far?
 
6 tubes is perfect. I've seen many 6tube T5 SPS tanks with beautiful colours. ATI tubes tend to be cheaper by quite a bit compared to KZ. Having tried both, stick with ATI. Best T5 tubes in the hobby period.

The ATI Blue+ and Coral+ tubes are the best tubes out there. I have over 20 T5 tubes; KZ, Acadia, GE6.5K etc etc...all lying around. ATI is the best IMO in terms of price and performance.

And yeah: SPS is what you need to go for.
 
PS, later on you can add a Royal Blue Reefbrite in front of your T5's for that extra PAR boost (not really needed) and colour boost. You will love this T5/LED combo.
 
I was in your position a couple years ago. Had a lot of LPS but wanted the SPS look. Start slowly, up your flow. Start off with a easy acro and see how it does. Slowly add more if everything looks good. From what I understand, you don't need to be perfect with lighting because the water parameters are the most important. If you add to many SPS, you may have to start dosing Cal and Alk.
 
I was in your position a couple years ago. Had a lot of LPS but wanted the SPS look. Start slowly, up your flow. Start off with a easy acro and see how it does. Slowly add more if everything looks good. From what I understand, you don't need to be perfect with lighting because the water parameters are the most important. If you add to many SPS, you may have to start dosing Cal and Alk.

Excellent advice. Water quality is FAR more important that even light. I've seen many hobbyists spend $$$ on lighting and hitech pumps...but their SPS are brown etc.

I grew SPS and coloured them up too...UNDER the old T8's.

Concentrate on water quality:

1. Manage PO4 and NO4 to keep them below 0.03ppm and 5ppm respectively.
2. Keep Alk and Ca as stable as possible.
3. Once the above are sorted; start to tweak lighting, water flow etc.
 
thanks guys as of right now its a sps dominated tank but i am batteling a brown slime stringy stuff i am upping the flow as of next week will keep you up datded
 
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