Whats your favorite method of SPS Husbandry?

[KevinM]

Note to Self...
Read entire thread before replying.

 

[JB NY]

I think good husbandry goes a long way. Most of the successful tanks I've seen BB, DSB, zeovit, plenum, whatever, do almost the same thing. Skim heavily, lots of water flow, weekly water changes, and watch what you add to the tank (keep phosphates low).

As I stated I run a DSB and get good coloration and very strong growth, with little loss of corals.

I think if you follow those basics you can be successful with SPS.

Which is also why I think you can have a successful tank with almost any method as long as you practice good husbandry.

Using phosphate removers is only one step to getting to a low nutrient system, and I don't think they are the end all be all of SPS keeping. But I do use them and feel they help to catch that little bit extra PO4 that is not being removed through other methods.

 

[joefish]

I've recieved a PM on the dosing of the zeovit . This person wanted to stay out of the conversation but gave me permission to qoute them .

The dosing is different for different tanks. Or I should say, can be different. Most people follow the recommendations and that works for them. At some point they learn what each product is doing and see if the corals need more or less of it. Overdosing is not much of a concern. With the media, you can use too much or too less but generally it's easy to find the correct amount for your tank (1 liter of zeovit per 100 gallons of net volume). If you are overdosing the other products you will notice a film on the glass that can be either brown or green. That is the first sign to overdosing. if you continue to overdose you will notice tissue loss mostly in the tips but it can happen from the base. When this occurs users stop dosing all zeovit for 5-7 days then lower their dosages accordingly. It's really only one product (zeostart) that has the concern of tissue loss and the dosing instructions we provide are on the "safe" side. Most people never experience tissue loss but if they do, it's usually because they dosed too much zeostart.

So if the dosage for your tank is 1 ml of ZEOstart and you are dosing 1.5 ml then you will notice the green/brown film after several days of doing this overdose, then you will notice thinning tissue near the tips of the corals. Like I said, it usually doesn't get that far. If you are underdosing, algae might be present or the corals may darken up. Hope that is the kind of info you were looking for.

Thank you for the help .

 

[boobookitty]

Sounds very accurate...I think I know who sent that.

Generally, dosing of zeostart is the biggest concern; going lower is better, because it just takes longer to get to the nutrient-poor environment (as opposed to potential tissue loss, etc. with an OD). As I mentioned, however, after a period of time, dosing of zeostart either drops very low, or goes away entirely. OD of zeobac and zeofood is of much lower concern.

Arthur

 

[JB NY]

I have seen many times over, negative effects on corals when the water is changed weekly. Corals close up for a day or two which in my opion isn't healthy. Stable environment is the goal to shot for.
Erik

I'd look at the salt being used or the methods used for mixing it prior to the water change. I do 10% weekly and the polyps on my sps stay out the whole time. I can go and look at the polyps 5 minutes after I turn the main pump back on and they look just like they did before I shut down to do the water change.

 

[kev apsley]

I guess there are several different methods for sucess with sps, everybody has their ways of doing husbandry but I firmly believe, as it has been stated on this site thousands of times, stablility is the key for lasting sucess with sps. Keep it stable and you'll be able to have your corals thrive.

 

[Whaledriver]

5% weekly water changes
Regular testing
Strong flow to prevent detritus buildup
Good skimmer on the wet side
Calcium reactor
Some type of Alk doser
Refuge
Detritus settling tank
Remote sandbed

All of this leads me to a multiple tank system of about 4-5 tanks.

 

[joefish]

I think good husbandry goes a long way. Most of the successful tanks I've seen BB, DSB, zeovit, plenum, whatever, do almost the same thing. Skim heavily, lots of water flow, weekly water changes, and watch what you add to the tank (keep phosphates low).

As I stated I run a DSB and get good coloration and very strong growth, with little loss of corals.

I think if you follow those basics you can be successful with SPS.

Which is also why I think you can have a successful tank with almost any method as long as you practice good husbandry.

Using phosphate removers is only one step to getting to a low nutrient system, and I don't think they are the end all be all of SPS keeping. But I do use them and feel they help to catch that little bit extra PO4 that is not being removed through other methods.

I agree , but The whole Idea of this thread for me is to discuss how to make the methods work . Let people know whats behind the curtain . So they can decied which way best suites them not guess at which way is better .

How about some talk about the DSB's ?

what's the logic?
what's the setup?
what's the maintenance ?
Pros and cons?

 

[kev apsley]

I'd look at the salt being used or the methods used for mixing it prior to the water change. I do 10% weekly and the polyps on my sps stay out the whole time. I can go and look at the polyps 5 minutes after I turn the main pump back on and they look just like they did before I shut down to do the water change.

I agree with JB...I match Temp/Salinity/Ca/Alk/Mag when I do my small weekly WC and it has become habit on how much salt and additives to mix for the WC so it stays stable and at close to display tank levels...stabilty!!!

 

[kev apsley]

high flow and very high intensity lighting along with stable levels of Ca/Alkare the most important aspects for sucess with sps corals... imho

 

[reefer44]

I like the ssb aproach with strong skimming, high flow, and high light.......I feel that with a shallow sandbed i get the look i want and (with a little more effort) can limit build up of waste. Here is the way i run a ssb reef:

Flow: I have around 7,000 gph in my tank (2 tunze on multicontroller and an iwaki 70 on a non-working sea swirl) right now and i have a very "open" aquascape that allows flow to get to corals (i did this because i love tables and needed to be able to get flow through them and around the tank). I also have a maxi jet blowing into the rocks to get any waste of them and have really zero dead spots. I also stir the sand every 2 weeks (would do it more often but it bothers corals) to keep any pockets of waste/bacteria to accumulate

Lighting: My lighting is a bit overdone i think. I have 6x250w DE HQI (3 10k, 3 20k). This is very strong which the corals like, but i which i had the 10k's 150w to help save money with electricity (also it is a little blinding when i work on the tank around noon when all lights are on). Photoperiod: 20k's 9:00-8:00, 10ks 11:00-3:00

Waste/Nutrients: I have 2 skimmers; a tunze and a euroreef. Both of these i run very wet and get alot of junk out with. I also run 150-250g of rowaphos a month (i rinse before use) and that helps to control disolved nutrients. To keep the water clean i use 100mg/hr of ozone 2 hours (at noon to sorta help the small pH swing i have). I also run chaeto in my baffles (algae runway), but i have 2 pumps (700gph) in my sump that keep any waste in suspension.

Levels:
12 dKH
440 Ca
7.95-8.7 pH
1500-1600 Mg
77.5-79.5 degrees F

pics (tank is 4 months old and is 180g, around 240g with sump)

 

[joefish]

In that SSB ,

How old is it ?
what clean up crew do you use?

Please state pros and cons .

Share the dirt guys , or should I say sand .

 

[JB NY]

4-5" of Southdown sand. The DSB due to the surface area allows for very high removal of nitrates. With a DSB nitrates are always at zero. So it just one parameter that is always kept very stable. As for DSB maintenance, I add (from a local supplier) 1-2 pounds of new live sand once a year. Cost is about $10. I have two fighting conchs and a tiger tail cucumber that keep the sand almost as white as when it is brand new.

Refugium for nutrient export (mostly excess PO4) 20% main tank water volume.

I've tried a few different types of refugium designs, the one I'm using now works the best. Keep it BB and siphon any detritus that collects once a week. Keep it high flow to prevent the refugium from becoming a nutrient soup and causing problems. Use Cheatomorpha for macro algae export, do not use Caulerpa. Caulerpa has been show in many studies to release toxins that can affect in some cases acropora.

I switched to this method in my refugium a little over a year ago and have had nothing but great success with it. Prior to that I had a refugium with Caulerpa and a shallow sand bed. I had nothing but problems with it. So much so that I was seriously debating the use of a refugium in ones system. After re-doing it I find no problems with it at all. The only maintenance in it is to siphon detritus and remove extra macro algae once every few months.

I use carbon, 1 cup per 100 gallons, changed out monthly. And rowaphose, 60ml for the tank (280 total system gallons) to remove any extra PO4 the refugium misses. I've found rowaphos work very well in smaller amount than the package recommends.

I skim heavily, and do weekly 10% water changes.

I dose strontium, iodine and Salifert Amino Acids. I have been doing this for the last few years.

I find the cost of this system to be next to nothing, and the time I spend on a weekly basis is about 1 hour, and most of that is for the water change.

The biggest drawback I find with the DSB is getting enough flow in the main tank. The fine Southdown can blow around if the current is too much. That said you can still get a ton of flow if you play around with things.

I think the biggest mistake people make with a DSB is not to recognize it will accumulate nutrient if methods are not employed to remove them. In my case refugium, rowaphos and water changes.

I'm not sure what else I am leaving out but please ask me any questions on thing I may have left out.

 

[John Brancheau]

I agree whole heartidly with Joe, (JBNY), I think that a proper maintenance routine will go a long way to promote a healthier environment.

I also run a SSB, with strong flow and lots of skimming, I do however do my best to make sure that the bed is turned over quite regularly, ( turkey baster ), just to make sure there are no little nasties bulding up with the bed.....


I have gotten pretty good sucess with weekly water changes also,in fact, it seems that levels are easier to maintain this way........I have recently finding out exactly what some have said about growth being overrrated...............



John

 

[joefish]

Thanks John and Joe for checking in .

John,

What size grain do you think works best for a SSB ?
Do you siphon?
How often do you do a water change with this method ?

Any cons for it ?

 

[John Brancheau]

Joe,

I use the reef sand, I think is what it is, Carib Sea, I have used a siphon prior to adding my secon Tunze, but with the additional flow, it has not been necessary.....

I do about 30 gallons weekly on my tank system, 180 with 100 gallon sump/fuge.....

As I said, I think it helps keep the parameters from getting too far out of whack, maybe it is just a safety net for me, but it seems to be working...

One last thing, I also started using Aminos about two months ago, it seemed to help color up a few of the corals that didn't seem to want to respond to my other methods.........

 

[reefer44]

Joe: sand bed is 1/2".......tank is 4 months old...clean up grew is about 5 snails and 1 hermit crab ......don't feel like they really do much

cons- can't get all the waste....so next tank is bb
-sand gets blownn around sometimes
-get some diatoms on glass, but no other algae


Brad

 

[PUGroyale]

Use Cheatomorpha for macro algae export, do not use Caulerpa. Caulerpa has been show in many studies to release toxins that can affect in some cases acropora.

What, if anything, do you think about halimeda in the refugium?

 

[JB NY]

Oh yeah another thing is I feel most peoples tanks do not have a good cleanup crew.

I have about 80-100 snails and about 10 scarlet hermits. I tell people if you don't notice that you have a lot a snails when looking at the tank, you don't have enough.

 

[JB NY]

What, if anything, do you think about halimeda in the refugium?

I don't think it pulls out a lot of nutrients, it mostly grows from good conditions and good calcium levels.

Besides I pull out so much of it from my display tank and curse it every day that I could never recommend it.

I hate halimeda, it grows like a weed, nothing eats it... and it supposed to be a sign of a healthy reef. :lol: