So when did you put in your very first sps
- Thread starter johnvu713
- Start date
shih87
New member
My first SPS in tank was right after 14 days Zeovit cycle, but it only keep for 30 days or so. My SPS getting stable after about 6 months, and then since 2012 Nov., I only remember lost one SPS, and that was a new one shipped by mail. My point is, tank stability is one major factor to keep SPS, but also the knowledge and experience gain over time. Like how you select SPS, migrate your SPS to tank, watch its grow, etc....
Just my two cents.
Don Quixote
New member
I usually add a day after the cycle ends. I've never lost one for it, and currently have some red dragon in a fresh tank which has doubled in size in just 2 weeks. Can't speak for fact, but this has been my experience.
Regards,
The Don
The Fresh Tank setup :
40 gal
High light 14/10 dawn dusk cycle.
70x turnover rate.
Temp 72 degrees
Specific Gravity 1.025
Calcium 380
Dkh 8-9
Feed well, dose as needed.
Coral Accel, Seachem Reef fusion, Phyto/fish roe/Pe Mysis.
18 species of macro.
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MammothReefer
Active member
Fish stores systems are notoriously unstable they are constantly changing things around, corals in corals out. You need to figure out when your tank is stable then slowly add.
evolutionZ
New member
My first sps went in 2 weeks after tank first set up. Tank was cycled on day 1 with the use of cured live rocks. Till date my tank is coming to 4 months and I have lots of frags doing great. There is totally no need to wait for one year to add sps.
So it's a myth that you should wait at least 6 months like many folks in my town been telling me? It's awesome that you can put in sps frags as soon as a tank is fully cycled.
My LFS actually use their sps tank as a showcase but for some reasons they don't do too well. Thought they would have it handled for being the supposed expert in what they do.
My LFS actually use their sps tank as a showcase but for some reasons they don't do too well. Thought they would have it handled for being the supposed expert in what they do.
rovster
New member
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.
Epicreefer
New member
I've put sps in a tank that was a few days old as well, now it was set up with real live rock, straight from the ocean and kept submerged, and had a huge system volume so I wasn't too worried about stability issues. One issue with new systems is a lack of food for the coral as well as stability. If you don't have alk swings and have a few fish to fed a little daily then you should be ok. 6 months is a long time to wait and isn't entirely necessary. I would say quality live rock is most important on small tanks. It should have a decent amount of coralline and some sponges ideally, showing that its more biologically active than just ceramic filter media like in a FW tank. If your completely new then 2-3 months is a good idea to wait to manage algae issues that occur and start with cheap sps, they tend to be hardier and grow faster.
Seriously?? Did you use established water from an existing tank? That or NSW I suppose? Would love to hear your story if you dont mind sharing.
Touring
New member
No problem.
1.put my tank together
2.added water
3.Once tank cleared up and current salinity was reached i added rock(established)
4. glued coral to rock.
5.added fish.
there was no acclimation process at all on fish or coral. just threw them strait in. The only coral that gave me issues was my hawkins for the 1st day. now he's fine. i did the swap with another member on this forum that can vouch for me(areipas).
1.put my tank together
2.added water
3.Once tank cleared up and current salinity was reached i added rock(established)
4. glued coral to rock.
5.added fish.
there was no acclimation process at all on fish or coral. just threw them strait in. The only coral that gave me issues was my hawkins for the 1st day. now he's fine. i did the swap with another member on this forum that can vouch for me(areipas).
It's not exactly a mystery. He stated that he used established rock.
MammothReefer
Active member
I did the same sps on day one. Well cooler for a weekend, then sps on day one. It required a bit more attention at first and the right situation - having some cured rock available to you and then I used dead rock for the rest. I also used NSW and did a lot of water changes. It was easy with a 15 gallon nano. It's really no different then saying moving tanks or changing from one tank to another as long as you have all the pieces in place. Even so I wouldn't recommend it. I just happened to come across a few pieces that I couldn't pass up so I ended up kick starting my tank to accommodate them.
evo187
New member
I'm not expert on SPS as I set up my first SPS tank recently, but have had lots of reef tanks over the past 10 years or so. I think with any reef build it differs tank to tank based on how fast they cycle and stabilize. I've had some tanks cycle and become very stable in just 2 weeks and some like the last one I set up where parameters were all over the place for months. I think this tank took about two months before phos and nitrate levels dropped. Could have been the rock leaching but who knows.
I think testing your water and having several data points is key. One testing showing good readings does not make a trend. Get at least 4 tests over 4 weeks to make sure your parameters are stable and consistent and then you should be good to go. Keep testing afterwards as you add more coral to your tank to ensure your big "3" aren't getting out of whack.
I think testing your water and having several data points is key. One testing showing good readings does not make a trend. Get at least 4 tests over 4 weeks to make sure your parameters are stable and consistent and then you should be good to go. Keep testing afterwards as you add more coral to your tank to ensure your big "3" aren't getting out of whack.
