wanting to get into SPS

[devonjevon]

I know I have vary rarely posted in this forum.
However I use this forum almost everyday.
I have been reading everypost since I started reefing 9 months ago.
I am taking things very slow since I have limited time and money.
I am proud of what I do have.
I know alot of people say wait a year until you get a coral. so that your tank will be fully cycled.
Well im close to it and I want to get into sps.
I take my time and read eveything I can find on a item or fish before I get it

What I have is a 110g tank 40gallon sump.
protien skimmer= EV 240 Aqua-c beckett skimmer. Modified with a 54L/per min luft pump
lighting= 6 T5 54W 48inch bulbs each on individual reflectors
36 watt UV steralizer feeding into skimmer
1000mL/hr Comercial Ozone generator
1200 g/hr return
2 koralis 4
100 pounds fiji rock

Inhabitants 1 Convict tang One foxface 2false clowns 1fang blenny 1 royal gramma 3 pep shrimp 1 cleaner shrimp numerous snails one crocea clam

my nitrates have actually been at 0 for about 3 months now.
3 months since any fish loss or additions.

so what I want
1) IS it to soon to add SPS coral?
2) could my current lighting setup support SPS?
3)what sps are good ones for stater
4)I really dont wanna spend 45 dollars on a sps colony at the LFS just to have it die if my tank isnt ready.
Does anyone have any cheap frags that I can purchase and get started with?

 

[gsusfreak]

wow..people told you to wait and year to add coral and you did!..thats impressive in of itself

you should be fine adding corals in there now...and i will i had some frags to give you....but all of my sps are still frags themselves

 

[ocd_mariner]

I've got a couple of frags for you in murfreesboro. Shoot me a pm.

I would consider a bit more flow. I think for optimal sps growth you are lacking a bit. But thats just my opinion.

 

[devonjevon]

thanks well I was told it takes about a year for the tank to mature and then its time to add corals. I just wanted to give em the best environment to thrive.
Any recomendations on what to get?

 

[ocd_mariner]

Pm box cleared.

 

[crumbletop]

Welcome

Montiporas (caps and digis) are good SPS to start with. They are pretty hardy and tolerate a variety of conditions.

Since you are interested in SPS, you'll want to keep your alkalinity, calcium, and phosphate pretty stable and at decent levels. For Ca you'll want to shoot for ~350. For alk, ~3+ meq/l, and for phosphate keep it as low as you can. You'll want titratable test kits for the alk and the ca because they give you more accurate readings than simple color matching tests. I use salifert and seachem. There are other good tests out there as well.

 

[devonjevon]

cool. I think the critter has a red cap. I will look at some digi. I know nothing about them. I currently use kalk water for top off. I maintain actually ca levels around 420. Is it to hi. My clam is doing good.

 

[crumbletop]

That Ca is fine. What is your alk?

 

[Tennsquire]

Try to pick up local tank-raised frags from folks on the board. IMO, tank raised are so much hardier (and less expensive) than their wild-caught cousins. As Jack said, montiporas are a great starter sps and grow like weeds. I think milliporas are also pretty hardy (at least I seem to have some). I've also got some frags if you're interested. Congrats on your patience; you're doing it right and it will pay off.

I think your lights are fine. I do think, however, that you'll need more flow in the tank. I would personally slow the flow through the entire system (tank => sump => tank) and increase the flow within the tank itself. In other words, go with a smaller return pump and more/larger pumps in the tank. SPS love flow.

 

[waynesworld]

I have some frags you can start with for $10 if you want.

 

[devonjevon]

wayne and tennsquire thanks I am very much so interested in frags.
I was thinking about what u said about more flow and that sounds good. I found this website that sells knock off Koralis 4 for 20 bucks what do you guys think.
Oh and if its not allowed to post website link just deleate it.
http://www.reefshops.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=246
oh and PM sent

 

[NeveSSL]

Personally, I think with as cheap as Koralias are and as good as Hydors customer service has been so far, I wouldn't go with a knock off. If something fails, your corals are going to suffer (although maybe not a whole lot, but still...) and for just $20 savings...

So, in short, I don't think knock-off Koralias are worth it.

Brandon

 

[crumbletop]

From the link, it looked like those are made by hydor as well -- just a different name for the pump. Not sure about that website, though. It doesn't inspire confidence.

 

[sandalscout]

Yeah, looks like it might be made by Hydor still, or licensed by Hydor or something. I'd be more hesitant to order from that company than to use the pump.

 

[devonjevon]

yeah it doesnt seem like a very good website

 

[devonjevon]

thanks wayne for the frags

 

[Pickupman66]

Devon,

seems your lights should be good and from my experience, you can never have enought flow or calcium. my cal is somewhere inteh 450+ range. I have stocked my tank almost exclusively with corals from local reefers. I have frags of monti digitatas, elkhorn and cap that would grow quite well in your tank. birdsnest could do well too. I have found that the greater the flow, the stronger the substructure of the coral. my birdsnest is a about hte size of a softball and just as solid too. it gets a very good ammt of flow. the milliporas I have that are in good flow are very thick and tend to grow in mass rather than wide spaced branches. I live between the boro and smyrna and have plenty of frags available for $10 each.