SPS beginner

[stingeragent]

Ok, so I'm fairly new to saltwater. Have had my tank up and running about a year now. Kind of got lazy with it last few months and something bit and I'm going for a revamp. Upgrading from the current 20 long to a 40 breeder with sump/skimmer. So far out of all the corals in the tank, only one I've lost completely was a montipora. It did great for months and then basically browned out over the course of a week and was gone. Currently keeping a candy cane, few mushrooms, ricordea mushroom (which just split itself into 2, super excited), trachy, hammer head (was 2 heads originally, 1 completely died, other was always fine, the "dead head" has since sprouted 4 new very small heads), various polyps, zoas, galaxea coral, and a kenya tree that came from nothing out of some live rock and has since spread like crazy. When I get the bigger tank going, I want to try my hand at acro's. Are there any specific ones better for an SPS beginner? Also, is there a good place to buy from? I've bought stuff from live aquariua and saltwaterfish, but there acro selection doesn't seem to be very big. Thanks for any tips.

 

[billyzbear]

You didn't mention where you are. The best place to start with sps is with club members. Corals that others are growing would be better than wild collected ones.
Green slimmer is pretty easy...

 

[undertai]

Montipora corals are good for beginners. Try to get frags from people instead of the LFS. There cheaper and easier to care for since they have been in people's tank for a while and are use to the tank environment.

 

[spsfreak25]

Birdsnest, caps, digis, are the easiest to keep. Stay with in these guys for a while till you feel comfy with them and can keep them healthy and happy. Then try other types of sps

 

[stingeragent]

Thanks for the tips. I'm near Austin, TX. I don't know anyone personally that has a salt water tank. I have a job where I go in about 10 different customers houses a day. In the last year and a half I have not been in a single house with a salty tank. I may pick up another monti. I honestly can't say why the one I had died. I really slacked for I'd say 6 months on water changes (though I did keep up with top offs), and it was great and growing and then just 1 day didn't look good, and several days later completely gone, but all the other corals in the tank were good. I am excited though about getting the bigger tank and adding a sump. Will be much easier to keep levels in check with 50ish total gallons than it was with 20. I'd go bigger but just don't have the room. Surprisingly my LFS is pretty good. The main guy there definitely knows his stuff (as far as I'm concerned). Can point to any fish/ coral in the store and he knows exactly what it is without a 2nd thought. I have been in a few times and seen numerous fish with ich, etc, but I can only imagine running a fish store. Can't really properly QT and everything when your trying to get fish out the door to make a buck. I will definitely look around though for clubs and see what I can find. Thanks. Anymore suggestions are welcome.

 

[Pife]

I would read about the chemistry needed to keep sps alive before buying more frags.

 

[billyzbear]

Have you been in here?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=537
Maybe take some pics of your setup so we know what you have. SPS take more maintance than others so you need to keep up with your tanks needs. If your more a slacker then keep easier lps and softies. There is more to it but lets talk more about your system...