SPS help please. newbie here

[gypsy1203]

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

I've had my custom rimless 100g tank for about 2 1/2 years running good now with only fish and anemone that just split itself so now I have two. I've been wanting to add SPS coral and some other coral little by little but how exactly do I keep them in good form/color lasting? I have had some LPS and soft coral before but have died months of having them and my water levels are almost near perfect. So far I'm running a bubble king 200 skimmer and my lighting is a 48" giesemann setup with 2 aquablue 54W T5's and 2 true actinic bulbs.

I have a calcium reactor that isn't hooked up yet and a phosban reactor that's not hooked up as well. I have been making my own water for about 2 years and like I said, the water levels are good at exactly 1.25.

Please let me know what else I need to run SPS coral and how to keep them in healthy form! Thank you and sorry for being such a newb lol

 

[natas]

RODI is the first thing you need to consider if you don't already. When you say your tank water levels are near perfect, what exactly does that mean? Nitrate, Phosphate, Calcium, Alk all play a major role. What are they testing at?

How often do you do water changes? If you can keep a Anemone then LPS and Softies should be very easy for you. Unless that Anemone split from bad water quality....

 

[gypsy1203]

Natas - when I mean they split, I mean it got so big that it doubled itself from one day to the next. I started with the anemone pretty small and I guess it got so big that it just doubled itself so now I have 2 of them. And that was about 5-6 months ago and they are both huge again!

The water is at 1.25 but I haven't checked for alky, nitrate, phos or calcium in a very long time. When I do check them, what numbers should I be aiming for? Also, I have to install the calcium reactor and the phosban reactor as well so I can maintain those.

I have a RODI system already and that's how I've been doing my water changes. I change the water ever 2 weeks on Saturday. I change about 10-15 gallons every water change. Is that enough? Should I change more or less? Thanks for your quick reply, I appreciate it!

I'll be adding pictures some time this week of the tank so you guys can see the setup I'm currently running

 

[natas]

Well this is what I keep my levels at

Nitrate 1-2ppm
Phosphate 0.03-0.05 - keyword try
Calcium 420
Magnesium 1350
Alk 8.4

I have a 120g tank and maintain calcium and alk by dosing two part solution. I have ran calcium reactors in the past. Both work well. Personally I prefer dosing two part

For controlling nitrate and phosphate I now carbon dose, but before I was using gfo.

And a skimmer I would say is a must. But others I am sure will chime in

Btw alk stability is very important when keeping sps.

 

[gypsy1203]

What kind of two part solution do you use? I have B-ionic solution for both calcium and alk but haven't used it in a while. The skimmer I have is a bubble king 200. And what do you use to control nitrate and phosphate?

 

[gypsy1203]

This is my tank as of tonight 02/17/14






and this is a picture of the phosban reactor but it's not connected at the moment

 

[natas]

I just finished b-ionic two part and started brs two part tonight.

I currently use redsea's nopox for carbon dosing.

Btw your tank looks very nice.

 

[gypsy1203]

Thank you! I really appreciate your opinion. You see what I mean with the anemone? I guess it got really healthy and big so it just doubled itself and it's still growing and growing haha. Since I have B-ionic I guess I'm going to start using that. And I don't necessarily have to install the reactor if I'm using that correct?

Again, I'm sorry for all the questions and I do appreciate your help!

 

[gypsy1203]

Oh and how often did you put the b-ionic?

 

[natas]

I dose every night. It's important to check your levels when dosing it. My suggestion is to check your calcium and alk levels. Start the dose recommended by bionic which I believe is 30ml of both for a 120. Test a few days later and see where you are.

If you dose two part a calcium reactor is not needed

 

[cugly]

If u have a Calcium reactor use that instead and start getting your parameters stable is gonna key to keeping sps..just keep it stable and do water changes. .read and read and read as much as you can...start with easy sps for now ones that are hardy like montis and ora stuff tends to be more hardier and frags thats been growing in other peoples tanks..and take it also add a few at a time so you can monitor alkalinity and calcium intake and not have it swing so much..goodluck and be patient

 

[gypsy1203]

Natas - thank you for your quick replies and helpful information!

Cugly- yeah I have a reactor but since it's not connected and I have no idea how to run that I'll probably start with b-ionic first. Eventually I'll learn how to install the reactor and hook it up so it's better I guess but for now maybe the solution will help me understand and kind of perfect the numbers.

Seeing as I'm already gaining somewhat knowledge, you mentioned to start with easy to maintain sps such as montis etc... How do I maintain those kind of corals and what exactly do they feed on?

I also would like to point out I have 3 angel fish (annularis, majestic and emperor), pink tail trigger, 3 clown and a sailfin tang

 

[cugly]

Natas - thank you for your quick replies and helpful information!

Cugly- yeah I have a reactor but since it's not connected and I have no idea how to run that I'll probably start with b-ionic first. Eventually I'll learn how to install the reactor and hook it up so it's better I guess but for now maybe the solution will help me understand and kind of perfect the numbers.
Learn how to use the calcium reactor or if you're gonna use 2 part get a dosing machine so its very stable

Seeing as I'm already gaining somewhat knowledge, you mentioned to start with easy to maintain sps such as montis etc... How do I maintain those kind of corals and what exactly do they feed on?
They feed on light mainly I wont feed any food to them yet untill u can keep your po4 and no3
Levels within range

I also would like to point out I have 3 angel fish (annularis, majestic and emperor), pink tail trigger, 3 clown and a sailfin tang

some of your angelfish might nip at corals I would keep an eye on them..read read and read about the fishes

 

[sbreefer]

not might they WILL nip until you have big colonies of SPS. Gypsy-- just read read read on this forum. My biggest enemy has been my total lack of patience in the hobby. if you buy tank adapted frags rather than wild of maricultured coral, you will have a lot more success

 

[DaddyJax]

You're probably going to have to choose between your current fish and future SPS.

 

[gypsy1203]

Yeah I'm not planning on keeping the emperor angel very long and I'll probably just give it to a family member. As far as the majestic, annularis, pink tail trigger and sailfin, do you think they will nip at sps? I know for sure my clowns and chromis won't hard any coral but just those have me a bit worried

 

[gypsy1203]

Update: I went ahead and bought some GFO for the phosban reactor I have so as soon as it comes in I'll finally have the system set up. I also ordered an eheim compact 1000 pump to go along with it.

I was thinking of maybe ordering another phosban reactor and eheim compact 1000 pump to just run carbon. Do you guys recommend that? The fact that I'll be running gfo in one reactor and carbon in another?

As far as the calcium reactor goes, I'm not going to set it up just yet and I'm going to just use the B-ionic for the time given since I have brand new bottles in my closet. Once I'm completely done with that then I'll go ahead and install the reactor.