So when did you put in your very first sps

johnvu713 said:
If I'm not mistaken I think he said he used established rocks with fresh water for only a day. That's pretty brazen and gutsy if you asked me.
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The water you use makes no difference whatsoever.

Aside from the skill, if you real quality, established live rock is used it is nothing more than a tank transfer. Not saying growth and color will be amazing from day one. (no one will). But it's not exactly risky if skill and quality rock is on hand.
 
johnvu713 said:
Basically you didn't bother to let the tank cycled? Once in a blue moon I hear story like yours and it always amazed me how some people get away with adding anything, much less fragile sps, and survived. Wish I got that kinda luck/skills.
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Not really luck... 100 lbs of Rock was established already. It's just like doing a big water change. Fundamentals are all you need. Dosent mater what your putting in.
 
day 4-5 for me. usually I use the best rocks I can find, and when the tank is set up and rock and sand and water and everything in place, I dose about 10-15 Times more organic carbon source[like vodka] than usually needed, and let the tank run for 4 days, day 5 I add corals. fish go in about day 10.
 
It's not so much as how can can you add them. They are good to go once you can keep all of your water parameters stable and in an optimal zone. For some people they can do this right after a cycle others take a whole longer to learn to balance their tank. Run your tests once you get the numbers you want and you can keep them there add some SPS
 
rovster said:
Yes and no. See my post above. With any new tank, sometimes it takes a little time to stabilize, in terms of figuring out all your parameters. An experienced reefer can get that done in a few days, a beginner may take longer. As long as things are stable, it doesn't matter how "mature" the tank is. New tanks are plagued with issues with nutrient control, etc, but if you know what you are doing, you can manage that.
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Totally agree Rovster.

One thing I will warn the OP is not to change flow or light too quickly. I made that error recently with flow (not paying attention and running way too many tanks) and lost an acro frag. Water parameters were pristine, a mature tank. So its always good to go slow and try to have a checklist as even the most experienced reefer can make a costly newbie mistake.
 
Hot dang...I've been told different by many local reefers that the rule of thumb is at least 5-6 months down the road before I could even put a single sps frag in.
 
johnvu713 said:
Hot dang...I've been told different by many local reefers that the rule of thumb is at least 5-6 months down the road before I could even put a single sps frag in.
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If you are new to SPS (and possibly reefing), they aren't wrong. They just either keep the reason a secret like some mystery or blame it on other things. The reason is just never explained to most people for some bizarre reason.

That's why you have people just parroting over and over not to do it, but not why. The why can be a few different things.

Remember though, this is entirely different than talking about SPS coloration and growth. We are just talking about going ahead and stocking the tank early... I think most would agree it takes a system a while before it starts really doing it's thing.
 
johnvu713 said:
Hot dang...I've been told different by many local reefers that the rule of thumb is at least 5-6 months down the road before I could even put a single sps frag in.
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This rule of thumb that I always hear about.... I learned by doing the opposite of what everyone suggest. I mix salt water in my display and have never lost 1 coral. I remember my salinity reading being 1.018 and just dumping salt in until it was right. People don't agree with my methods but it is what it is.
 
Shoot then I guess you know what you're doing my friend. As for me I wouldn't dare going that route unless I got tons of experience under my belt first. By any chance you got any hard to keep sps? Those may be a tad more demanding as far as husbandry goes.
 
How are you going to gain experience if you dont try to test the limits? I now know my hawkins is the most sensitive in my tank. are you trying to look for a reason why im able to grow sps with my methods? Heres my current stock list, i dont know what you mean by more demanding. I still have flow(4k GPH blower and 1000 GPH return) lighting and good water parameters and of course skimmer....



Soli,Cali tort,nuke green acro,miami orchid,Orange Setosa,Blue tip stag,SB SC,Rose milli,Pink lemonaid,hawkins echinata,red planet,Merulina, 24k acro, rainbow Millie, garf bonsai, montipora spongodes,seasons greeting montipora ,$500 Efflo purple tip birds nest, birds of paradise, green digita, watermelon acro, green slimer, jetti mind trick, purple monti,Superman table, blue lagoon, hyperberry, lingonberry, thunder cats, tubbs echinata, red robin, glass slipper etc..
 
Touring said:
This rule of thumb that I always hear about.... I learned by doing the opposite of what everyone suggest. I mix salt water in my display and have never lost 1 coral. I remember my salinity reading being 1.018 and just dumping salt in until it was right. People don't agree with my methods but it is what it is.
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I know a cat who was shot 5 times and still made it. his name is Mr. Kitty and everyone in my town knows him, he is like 50c of the town lol

should we all start shooting our cats ?
 
I'm just a newbie just trying to gain an insight to your methods that's all. Really dig your stock list. Wish I got that kind of doughs at my disposal.
 
Touring said:
How are you going to gain experience if you dont try to test the limits? I now know my hawkins is the most sensitive in my tank. are you trying to look for a reason why im able to grow sps with my methods? Heres my current stock list, i dont know what you mean by more demanding. I still have flow(4k GPH blower and 1000 GPH return) lighting and good water parameters and of course skimmer....



Soli,Cali tort,nuke green acro,miami orchid,Orange Setosa,Blue tip stag,SB SC,Rose milli,Pink lemonaid,hawkins echinata,red planet,Merulina, 24k acro, rainbow Millie, garf bonsai, montipora spongodes,seasons greeting montipora ,$500 Efflo purple tip birds nest, birds of paradise, green digita, watermelon acro, green slimer, jetti mind trick, purple monti,Superman table, blue lagoon, hyperberry, lingonberry, thunder cats, tubbs echinata, red robin, glass slipper etc..
Click to expand...

thats a nice list, what do they look like ? all in a 93 gallon ? all frags ? pics please :)
 
Most of the tanks I've built lately have been 500g plus and with that much water volume a few frags don't change the alk level much and you can keep up with it changing dosing. Now not every coral placed in a brand new tank will survive but with this large of a tank usually75% or more do. As the tank ages they get better as well, like many people say 3-6 months waiting time is ideal. Something else to note is usually very fresh live rock is used, not the stuff you get in a petstore. Covered in coraline and some macro algae, the hitch hikers I have seen on it include 3 different types of wild sps, some lpl, pistol shrimp, crabs, octopuss eggs, sea squirts and sponges.

Manny of the guide lines are basicaly an idiots guide to keeping coral. If your new and want to be successful it's wise to listen to them but that doesn't mean if you don't you'll fail and if you do everything will live. In a lot of ways everything is a gamble the rules just improve your odds. Almost all montipora will do okright away as long as the tank has cycled and nothing crazy happens. Most other sps it's a good idea to wait a while.
 
Quick shot leaving the house but I promise almost I'll take more for you. I can say that a biocube is easy compared to this



35B55459-EC11-48F1-8E40-6FC2D641B801-325-00000112CB371C1F_zpsd7f6e7ba.jpg
 
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