Whats your favorite method of SPS Husbandry?

[flycut]

This stuff is good.

 

[Tom Berry]

I agree, excellent thread

I've just recently experienced the benefits of wet skimming.

If you have a Euroreef skimmer, and don't have the gate valve output assembly, I highly recommend buying or making one. The gate valve allows much finer control of the skimmer, and much wetter skimming, than the standard riser tube.

Tom:fish2:

 

[OUinLA]

One thing that I haven't seen talked about and might have missed it is stability. This goes hand in hand with good husbandry. I think having all the parameters (PH, Alk, Ca, Salinity, temp, etc) remain as constant as possible are very important in having a healthy reef.

 

[chadfarmer]

i run a 3 inch deep sand bed in my 29 gal--queen couch. 4 blue leg hermits (since i seen inland aquatics i am sold on the deep sand beds)

cpr 2r skimmer (heavy wet-skimming emptyed everyday)
cpr refug (5lbs miracle mud - running off 1200 maxi-jet)(nothing can settle in there)( lots of grape algea)

i have a total of 12 acro frags 4 digi frag

every parameter is dialed in right now

temp 78
cal 410
sal 1.025
dkh 9.0

Qty Description
1 Tablespoon Reef Plus twice a week
1 Tablespoon Reef Complete twice a week
1 Tablespoon Reef Calcium twice a week
1 Tablespoon Reef Advantage Calcium added to each gallon of makeup water during the 2nd and 4th weeks of the month.
1 Tablespoon Reef Builder added to each gallon of makeup water during the 3rd week of each month.
And a 10% water change a week

water movement is provided by 2- 1200 maxi-jet moded (tip cut off) with a wavemaster pro (used to use 820 seios but would stop running every few days)

sorry i dont own a digital camera right now it went for a swim last week.

tank has been running since 8-3-04


what is the average cost of the zeovit system

 

[mrpet]

hey joe i have a question re: ur refugium i have a 180 tank with a 5" dsb in it i alos have a 60 gal sump with a dsb in it with 2 types of macro in it. im not sure what type of caulerpa i think its called feather caulerpa? also have spaghetti in there. both are growing very fast also a few pieces of live rock. i have turbos and astrea snails in the fuge along with a brittle star and 2 urchins. after reading about ur bare bottom sump iom thinking about aceing the dsb in the sump. also should i ditch the feather caulerpa? oh i also run the lights on the fuge 24/7 i use to run them the opp of the tanks lights but the macro did not grow very well. what do u think about that as well? as far as my maint on my tank i algae it almost every day change 30 gallon every 2 weeks change my skimmer once a week and change out my filter socks once a week.
i would like to go the zeo route but i have no room in my sump for the zeo reactor so ...what about useing the zeo aminos and other products, without the zeo reactor? does anyone else just do that? if so what kind of diff and how long did it take?

scott

 

[JB NY]

One thing that I haven't seen talked about and might have missed it is stability. This goes hand in hand with good husbandry. I think having all the parameters (PH, Alk, Ca, Salinity, temp, etc) remain as constant as possible are very important in having a healthy reef.

I do bring it up but it was from the water quality thread I link to.

Let's talk about water quality in an SPS tank

IMO water quality is the factor when it come to health, growth and color in the tank.

So let me start with what I consider high quality water parameters.

Testing the water
SG: 1.024-1.026 Close to NSW levels.
Temp: 78-82
Ammonia: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0 or the absolute lowest level on the test kit.
PO4: 0 While you might have some phosphates in you water, they should never be high enough to register on a test kit.
Ca: aprox. 400
Alk: 8-12 dKH
Mg: aprox. 1300
pH: 8.0-8.3 should fluctuate as little as possible, typically no more than 0.2.

Very important. Those levels should never stray much at all. This is what we mean by a stable tank. Nitrates that go up and down, alk and ca the go up and down, all add stress to the corals. When we talk about keeping SPS only after the tank has matured, mostly it's about keeping things stable. New tanks and new reef keepers tend to have a learning curve that causes the parameters to fluctuate. After time, the tank settles down and the parameters should stay rock solid over a long period of time. That's what you need to achieve, stability.

Algae
You should have no nuisance hair type algae in your tank. Some cynobacteria, in small areas, seems to be prevalent in most tanks, I think that is ok.

Clear water.
What I mean is, you should be able to take a white piece of paper and looking at it through the long side of the tank and it should look white. Also, you should be able to read the paper even with small type.

RO/DI water for all water going into the tank.

 

[MiddletonMark]

Mostly it's about strong water movement and aggressive skimming.

Joe, this seems to be the universal, along with good stable water quality. There's so many folks that add this, that, or the other thing [food/suppliements] - or try the hot product this month - which counters the long-term stability we're looking for.

I'm very happy with the BB method, utilizing wet skimming and the above to produce a low-nutrient environment.

I'd also add that removing some fish from the display also appeared to have very positive effects on the corals ... overstocking is too easy and counter to what we are trying to attain.

Beyond keeping Ca/Alk/Mag in line with NSW and feeding the fish ... I don't do more than change water, siphon from time to time, and clean the skimmer once a month or more if I feel like it.

As it's managed to make every last trace of algae disappear in the last few months, and increased growth and coloration on my SPS, I could not be happier. Best of all, it doesn't require chemical media [phosphate, etc] nor any special foods beyond what my fish eat.

Set up and running right, it's the easiest tank to care for I've had yet.

 

[JB NY]

hey joe i have a question re: ur refugium i have a 180 tank with a 5" dsb in it i alos have a 60 gal sump with a dsb in it with 2 types of macro in it. im not sure what type of caulerpa i think its called feather caulerpa? also have spaghetti in there. both are growing very fast also a few pieces of live rock. i have turbos and astrea snails in the fuge along with a brittle star and 2 urchins. after reading about ur bare bottom sump iom thinking about aceing the dsb in the sump. also should i ditch the feather caulerpa? oh i also run the lights on the fuge 24/7 i use to run them the opp of the tanks lights but the macro did not grow very well. what do u think about that as well? as far as my maint on my tank i algae it almost every day change 30 gallon every 2 weeks change my skimmer once a week and change out my filter socks once a week.
i would like to go the zeo route but i have no room in my sump for the zeo reactor so ...what about useing the zeo aminos and other products, without the zeo reactor? does anyone else just do that? if so what kind of diff and how long did it take?

scott

Hey Scott,

I would ditch the remote DSB in the refugium. IME, they tend to create more problems than they solve. I find people, myself included, tend to not care for the remote DSB the way we would if it were in the main tank.

BB in the refugium allows any detritus to collect on the bottom so it can be easily siphoned out.

Get rid of the caulerpa. I really think it is a problem why so many people have problem as time goes on with there acros. The caulerpa releases toxins in the water column, even more so if it goes sexual. This all adds stress to the corals that over time can hurt growth and color. Personally with so many better algae out there I don't know why we would put caulerpa in our tanks anymore. Get it out, you will be much happier in the long run.

IMO, I really think the combination BB, high flow, no caulerpa refugium for nutrient export is the way to go if you are going the refugium route.

You could use the zeovit amino acids. I've had good success with the Salifert so I haven't really felt a need to switch the zeovit one. Zeo AA is also much more expensive.

Since you don't have room for the zeo reactor, why don't you try all the things recommended by zeovit minus the additives and see what kind of results you get. I would bet you will see a dramatic improvement just by the husbandry methods it forces you to employ (the same that are recommended here BTW).

 

[JB NY]

Mark, what time zone are you in? I though I was up early at 6 AM... but at least I'm in NY.

 

[MiddletonMark]

Joe, while my body might be in the states, my mind [and internal clock] are in Bali right now

How long have you used Aminos?
What changes/results would you attribute to them?
What are the negatives?


---
To add above - I missed any negatives to my BB system.
No system is without negatives, though most folks gloss over them or like to believe they don't exist.

1. Aesthetics. Some won't like BB because of this, though I found it quick to overlook [and handy for maintenance].
2. Flow + skimming. You can't BB and half-donkey the flow and skimming. I do need to clean the skimmer regularly to continue to get lots of particulate removed with wet skimming - and flow IME was tricky to make sure everything goes `up and over' to the skimmer.
3. No cushion. Without substrate, you will grow algae if you are overfeeding or have things out-of-whack.
4. It's as hard as most SPS husbandry. While most here wouldn't say it's terribly hard - I wouldn't call this method a good one for someone who doesn't want to keep on top of their tank, or go through the process to get it running right. IMO, it's easier to get a SPS tank running other methods - though once `going', this is probably easier if you'll keep up on it.

Having said all that, I don't have a trace of nuisance algaes after 6+ months of BB ... even the red hair I got on a frag over a year and half ago [and refused to fully die] is long gone. When I tried Phosban, it didn't affect it - but once BB + with the rocks cleaned up ... it just bleached and died

 

[JB NY]

Some pictures from my tank.

 

[JB NY]

Joe, while my body might be in the states, my mind [and internal clock] are in Bali right now

 

[Dk Coral]

Get rid of the caulerpa. I really think it is a problem why so many people have problem as time goes on with there acros. The caulerpa releases toxins in the water column, even more so if it goes sexual. This all adds stress to the corals that over time can hurt growth and color. Personally with so many better algae out there I don't know why we would put caulerpa in our tanks anymore.

Hi JB NY

I trust you when your saying that but are you alone on that belief ?? Is there any articles or other threads on that subject out there ??

 

[newmoon]

Not too much to add from what was already well said.
Keeping water parameters as close as NSW as possible is my goal, doesn't matter what takes to achive that. I use XR, very high flow, Phophate Reactor, siphoning/replacement of SB parts from time to time, agressive skimming , 24/7 kalk adition, water changes and try to keep detritus in suspension, so it can be removed by skimming/mechanical filters and removed from the system.

 

[tstone]

Hi JB NY

I trust you when your saying that but are you alone on that belief ?? Is there any articles or other threads on that subject out there ??

I agree with Joe on this. I run Chaeto with no caulerpa. After reading this thread I think I will increase the flow in my fuge.

I run my tank pretty much the same as JB NY. I run a DSB with as diverse a group of sandbed fauna as possible. I am always looking to increase diversity in the sandbed.

The important basics I feel are, as others have said, is proper water quality/peramiter with stability.

This tank has only been running a month so not much eye candy yet.

P.S. I do not know why the pic is so small. I have pic stress.



I put in the right URL to give the larger pic, to take your pic stress away. Hope you don't mind. - Habib

 

[chwattscaw]

JB NY, what lighting are you using on your tank?

 

[JB NY]

Hi JB NY

I trust you when your saying that but are you alone on that belief ?? Is there any articles or other threads on that subject out there ??

Both Eric Borneman and Anthony Calfo have written and talked about caulerpa toxicity.

Some general information

The worst in terms of toxicity is caulerpa racemosa.

Fish that continually eat unnatural amounts of caulerpa will die.

Stony Coral growth is inhibited by noxious emissions of caulerpa when in close proximity.

Caulerpa produce toxic metabolites that can be toxic in small concentrations to urchin larvae within 24 hours, some toxic to fish within 1 hour.

50% of conchs died within 6 days feeding on Caulerpa caulerpenyne at very high levels.

Most of the toxins are located in the tips of young growing plants and reproductive structures. So the more you prune it the higher levels of toxins get released due to the pruning.

If you can find them, check these studies

Meinesz, Alexandre and Simberloff, Daniel. 1999. Killer Algae.
University of Chicago Press, Chicago. pp. 295-304.

Littler, Diane Scullion and Littler, Mark Masterson. 2000. Caribbean Reef Plants.
OffShore Graphics Inc, Washington, D.C. pp. 356-380

Hashimoto Y, Fusetani N, Nozawa K.
Screening of the toxic algae on coral reefs. 569-572.

Anjaneyulu ASR, Prakash CVS, Raju KVS, Mallavadhani UV. 1992.
Isolation of new aromatic derivatives from a marine algal species Caulerpa racemosa.
J Natural Products 55(4): 496-499.

 

[JB NY]

JB NY, what lighting are you using on your tank?

I use 10K MH lighting with actinics.

XM10K on icecap electronic ballasts and spiderlight reflectors. URI VHO actinic lamps on icecap electronic ballasts.

 

[Hef]

Good Thread Here;

Originally posted by JB NY
**************************************
IMO water quality is the factor when it come to health, growth and color in the tank.

So let me start with what I consider high quality water parameters.

Testing the water
SG: 1.024-1.026 Close to NSW levels.
Temp: 78-82
Ammonia: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0 or the absolute lowest level on the test kit.
PO4: 0 While you might have some phosphates in you water, they should never be high enough to register on a test kit.
Ca: aprox. 400
Alk: 8-12 dKH
Mg: aprox. 1300
pH: 8.0-8.3 should fluctuate as little as possible, typically no more than 0.2.
**************************

All good info, but I dont like one thing. Alk 8-12 dKH. I'm sure most of us here understand that you can run a healthy tank within those parameters, but you might find a guy that posts, "my DKH is 8.3" and someone tells him to raise it to 11-12 DKH. He trusts whats written here so he dumps in a bunch of B-Ionic to raise it up, figuring anywhere between 8 - 12 will result in a healthy tank. He bleaches or rtn's everything.
In my opinion, Alk is one of the most critical components of a healthy tank. We've read a lot recently of lower alk readings in healthy tanks. I believe this is because a lower reading will result in more stability. You find a level between 8-9 or lower, and you dont need to add anything to keep it there. Maybe dose kalk or keep your reactor dialed in.
I shoot for Stability. I even started using NSW, not sure if I have the Stamina to continue that practice, but what could be more Stable than a 10 gallon NSW water change?

I run a DSB ( I get the brown sand cyno about once per year.) My tank is algae free most of the time. I run Phosban and Carbon in a reactor, (most of the time) I'm experimenting with Vodka Dosing (This is another story I dont want to comment on right now, but I've been doing it for about 6 months.)
120 gallon
30 gallon sump refugium
ER 8-2+ Run VERY WET.
Approx 4000 GPH (Ocean Motion 4-Way)
250 DE 14K Phoenix Lights (Actinic Supplement)
Chiller (Temp Stability is So Important) 80-82 for me.
Kalk Dosing
CA 440
Alk 9.0 Slowly Dropping

Low Feeding
Everything is Healthy, not as colorful as the Zeovit folks, but I'm working on it. I've got a couple of nice new SPS coming on Thursday.

Hef
One Quick Photo

 

[Bomber]

You find a level between 8-9 or lower, and you dont need to add anything to keep it there.

the main thing is you don't get the yo-yo bouncing up and down by trying to run high levels.