What advice do you wish you were told?
- Thread starter iReef1234
- Start date
Limestone maker
New member
advice before hand ? LOL to a SPS keeper ? No way ...
the reason why we keep SPS corals and grow them is cause we refused to take the advice of others before us ... if we did we would all be keeping Xenia still ....
the reason why we keep SPS corals and grow them is cause we refused to take the advice of others before us ... if we did we would all be keeping Xenia still ....
Brieninsac
Member
Keep your lights low for new corals and don't let your alkalinity drop below 7dkh.
DivingTheWorld
Active member
Don't try difficult SPS in a tank younger than 1 year. Stick with Birdsnest, Montis and Zoas until then.
ULNS can keep corals alive, but you won't like the colors. A little Nitrate helps, so make sure you have enough fish. Don't bother with Carbon or GFO on a new tank (under 6 months).
With LED's, every tank is different so don't assume another program will work for yours. Start with a program from a tank as similar to yours as possible who is seeing success and adjust from there. Also, once acclimated, don't assume your sps won't like your LED's turned up high.
IMO, expensive reef salts are a waste of money. I use IO and it grows SPS well.
Take all advice with a grain of salt. Don't try dosing any chemical or food until you've read as many threads on here as possible from people who have used it before you.
ULNS can keep corals alive, but you won't like the colors. A little Nitrate helps, so make sure you have enough fish. Don't bother with Carbon or GFO on a new tank (under 6 months).
With LED's, every tank is different so don't assume another program will work for yours. Start with a program from a tank as similar to yours as possible who is seeing success and adjust from there. Also, once acclimated, don't assume your sps won't like your LED's turned up high.
IMO, expensive reef salts are a waste of money. I use IO and it grows SPS well.
Take all advice with a grain of salt. Don't try dosing any chemical or food until you've read as many threads on here as possible from people who have used it before you.
DubiousMaximus
New member
Mini colony and frag mean exactly what they are. A mature colony can take up quite a bit of space. Give them room to grow before meeting their neighbors
Know your growth forms too. Putting a branchig coral below a tabling acropora does not always work out well
Know your growth forms too. Putting a branchig coral below a tabling acropora does not always work out well
Give frags away to your local friends so that you can get frags back if need be.
Just because everybody can post equally does not mean that they should, or that you should give any consideration to what they type. Be selective to who you listen to. A company selling something, or a web site selling stuff should be last on your list of people to trust.
Online photos can show or hide anything. See as much as you can with your own eyes. ...and have soft eyes.
Success can be your worst enemy. If you are a really successful SPS'er, then expect your tank to be overgrown and nearly have to start over every 3-4 years. Pruning and fragging can be a real time consuming nightmare.
What worked 20 years ago still works very well today... there have been no real huge advances in reef tech in that time.
$30 temp sensor on a controller is not worth jack... be redundant. Have a spare on hand.
High end used equipment is better than so-so/bad new equipment.
Stuff from Germany or USA is better than stuff from China (generally).
When you get something new, don't get rid of your old stuff until you are really sure that you like the new. New is not always better.
Find a competent friend to tank-sit when you go out of town. Too much bad stuff happens when people are on vacation.
There are two types of ATO - those that have failed and those that will. Make sure that when yours fails that it does not fill the tank up with freshwater.
One person's success is another persons failure.
The Berlin Method is a good place to start any reef tank.
2 good skimmers can produce more than one of the very best at a fraction of the money cost, but does cost a bit more room in the sump and another ten cents a day in electricity.
...and I will think of some more later.
Just because everybody can post equally does not mean that they should, or that you should give any consideration to what they type. Be selective to who you listen to. A company selling something, or a web site selling stuff should be last on your list of people to trust.
Online photos can show or hide anything. See as much as you can with your own eyes. ...and have soft eyes.
Success can be your worst enemy. If you are a really successful SPS'er, then expect your tank to be overgrown and nearly have to start over every 3-4 years. Pruning and fragging can be a real time consuming nightmare.
What worked 20 years ago still works very well today... there have been no real huge advances in reef tech in that time.
$30 temp sensor on a controller is not worth jack... be redundant. Have a spare on hand.
High end used equipment is better than so-so/bad new equipment.
Stuff from Germany or USA is better than stuff from China (generally).
When you get something new, don't get rid of your old stuff until you are really sure that you like the new. New is not always better.
Find a competent friend to tank-sit when you go out of town. Too much bad stuff happens when people are on vacation.
There are two types of ATO - those that have failed and those that will. Make sure that when yours fails that it does not fill the tank up with freshwater.
One person's success is another persons failure.
The Berlin Method is a good place to start any reef tank.
2 good skimmers can produce more than one of the very best at a fraction of the money cost, but does cost a bit more room in the sump and another ten cents a day in electricity.
...and I will think of some more later.
...few more.
Dry rock will cost you more in the end that buying from-the-ocean live rock from the pacific.
Don't trust a suction cup for ANYTHING.
Most everything that you use in a reef tank can be sourced from somewhere with higher, or same, quality and cheaper. Baking Soda (Costco or Sams have the huge bags), Dowflake (ice melt), Al Oxide (moisture remover), Bulk GFO (fracking sites), etc. Do your homework and you can save some money and get a LOT more.
Dry rock will cost you more in the end that buying from-the-ocean live rock from the pacific.
Don't trust a suction cup for ANYTHING.
Most everything that you use in a reef tank can be sourced from somewhere with higher, or same, quality and cheaper. Baking Soda (Costco or Sams have the huge bags), Dowflake (ice melt), Al Oxide (moisture remover), Bulk GFO (fracking sites), etc. Do your homework and you can save some money and get a LOT more.
iReef1234
New member
Wow, thanks for the detailed info. I'm terrible with electricity/electrical equipment and make a lot of assumptions regarding their use. Good to know I should be a bit more critical.
Do you have a suggestion for a temp controller? Never used one, pardon the novice question.
iReef1234
New member
SPS keepers are boundary-pushers? I'm with the right crowd!
iReef1234
New member
Cool. Thanks for the lower limit suggestion. Do you dose Mg? I've read I should but am not prepared. Perhaps I should take the advice about starting with very low level SPS.
Right now I'm leaning towards birdsnest, cyphastrea, encrusting montis, digitata, palythoa (hoping they aren't as chemically aggressive as mushies...?), and micromussa.
iReef1234
New member
I've been thinking a lot about this. It's a small tank so I'm going to be severely limited in space. Concerned about having to fight the urge to buy buy buy. I want the hobby to be fun and exciting all the time, so having a tank set up and "full" doesn't sound very fun.
Anyway, I've been thinking of keeping encrusting types lower in the tank and stag-like types higher up. Maybe this isn't ideal? I just foresee the upward-growing coral to overgrow encrusting varieties if the placement is switched.
I've looked at TOTM threads but sometimes it's hard to tell/remember to look at placement!
Similar threads
