Why do you like SPS?

[trinity1012]

There is a big difference between keeping Sps alive and keeping nice colored Sps and that's what I meant. Lets see pictures of how many people on this forum out of the 300k members can keep nice colored Sps. Maybe a couple hundred?

lol a couple hundred,ill post my pics shorty.count me as #1 to your couple hundred.you ever been in the sps forum? sure is quiet big for only 200 people.:twitch:

 

[Terrance]

My 120g has adequate flow and light for SPS, and people have asked me if I have tried SPS yet. I have not since I was never interested. Its hard to understand the hype, but maybe I won't understand completely it until I try it (just like drugs lol).

 

[karsseboom]

I'm not saying a few corals with nice colors. I'm talking a full blown amazing Sps reef. I have been doing this for a while now and it's not more then a few hundred members on here regularly that I would consider outstanding.

 

[chris1292]

One thing for me was being able to control where is grows better then softies, as in soft corals that can release and find other spots in your tank to grow where you may not want them.

 

[biggles]

Because it's like underwater bonzai that i can work on anytime i want without the need for sunlight

 

[dvanacker]

My 120g has adequate flow and light for SPS, and people have asked me if I have tried SPS yet. I have not since I was never interested. Its hard to understand the hype, but maybe I won't understand completely it until I try it (just like drugs lol).

Find the nicest, mature, local SPS tank there is and check it out. Make sure you ask to see it with actinics on as well.

You will know the answer after this experience.

 

[Ptyochromis]

I love my SPS. Once I added a few branching colonies, the behavior of my fish changed completely. They spend significantly more time out in the open.

Nothing beats watching an A. millepora's polyps dance in the flow.

Feeding them is also much less time consuming, pour some rotifers in the tank and call it a day

Not like they are all slow growing either. A few of my colonies outgrow the plants in my planted tank lol.

 

[Reef_Noob]

Why do we like Sps? Sps are the foundation for a thriving coral reef. Lps are not. They are harder to keep which makes it an expert area of this hobby. Any joe off the block can keep Lps and softies it takes patience and a keen eye to keep Sps. Sps are truly the pinnacle of this hobby.

You will notice almost all totm are mostly Sps tanks. Ever wonder why?

Well said mate and very true.

 

[Reef_Noob]

SPS corals are like women.
Beautiful, elegant, comes in different shapes and personality, no two are the same.
They let you know when they are happy and when they are unhappy
They require constant attention and care.
SPS "husbandry" is a constant challenge and requires dedication.
Expensive to maintain, give them what they want they will flourish, and keep you stress free.
Anybody can keep them short term but only the true masters can keep them flourishing long term.
You can love them or hate them...but you cannot ignore them.
And nobody truly knows "what they really want ?"....maybe thats why they are called "HARD" corals!! :crazy1:

 

[eyesinthedrk]

In my case it's the color pallet along with the shape. Take high end zoas for an example. In a macro shot a dearth maul play is amazing. But from my couch all that detail is gone. It's just a pinkish pally. Lps is similar they are bigger so it gives a better distance but the principal is the same. In my case im not building my tank so i can take great macro shots. Im buliding it so i Can sit on the couch and enjoy it in person. with an sps reef you can see it from the road the colors are large and well pronounced. Add to that the level of the challange and the sweetness of the reward. But in truth it's all about personal preference

 

[barry_keith]

I'm not saying a few corals with nice colors. I'm talking a full blown amazing Sps reef. I have been doing this for a while now and it's not more then a few hundred members on here regularly that I would consider outstanding.

I'm on here regularly enough to notice that you never post anything helpful, or even pleasant. Please post some pics of your amazing tank for all of us to see!

 

[NeilFox]

I think this is a bit derogatory. Keeping a thriving reef aquarium requires skill, dedication, and patience whether it contains SPS, LPS, or softies. Keeping acropora alive isn't terribly difficult. Creating conditions for them to thrive in is more difficult.

By your definition I would consider NPS to be the pinnacle.

Without a doubt! You can't throw money at NPS. NPS requires far more dedication than anything else in this hobby. I am not anti SPS by any stretch but the level of dedication to a NPS tank goes way above and beyond anything in the SPS world. An NPS tank is my retirement goal. Once I can afford the time to setting up the feeding resources. I also feel that any full on thriving mixed reef requires a high level of understanding of the organisms that are being dealt with. Not just maintaining but seeing growth in a mixed reef is really something. A few guys in the best tanks in the world thread have pulled it off but this is very rare indeed.

One of the big advances in the hobby has been propegation. When I started in this hobby all the SPS were from wild stocks. I got a few colonies from a well known authority and about maybe 30% survived. Today some of those mother colonies (not neccesarily mine) have become SPS staples. They are quite hardy and easy to grow. They still require a significant investment in time and money but I recon that a hobbyist with average skills and a careful approach could achieve a 90% success rate and put together a beautiful system. You also need alot of patience. A dedicated SPS system is a beautiful thing, I love to see corals encrusting and growing out. I don't knock anyone for having something like this they are really cool. I don't think for a minute that an SPS dominated tank is the pinnical though.

 

[karsseboom]

I'm on here regularly enough to notice that you never post anything helpful, or even pleasant. Please post some pics of your amazing tank for all of us to see!

My tank has been taken down. I have recently started a new tank here is a link to my build thread. As for the tanks I aspire to...like I said only a couple hundred that I have seen.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2269723

 

[franklypre]

Click on the stickied thread of all the best tanks from around the world, bet there is over 300 on there alone. That said it does take some knowledge/time/effort and $$$ to be extremely successful with any type of aquarium. IMO cold water tanks would be the most difficult do to the lack of aquacultured livestock and general lack of data on them.

 

[karsseboom]

Click on the stickied thread of all the best tanks from around the world, bet there is over 300 on there alone. That said it does take some knowledge/time/effort and $$$ to be extremely successful with any type of aquarium. IMO cold water tanks would be the most difficult do to the lack of aquacultured livestock and general lack of data on them.

Sorry I think people are misunderstanding what I was trying to point out. As a regular on this forum it seems the number of really really top notch tanks is a samll percentage of the people trying to attempt that level me being included.

Here is a quote from Jpmaygor that I thought was right on the money

My first disagreement is in your characterization of SPS as being easy to keep. In logic the first lesson you learn is that just because you caught a bass next to a log doesn't mean that bass like to live near logs. What I mean is your personal success with a finite sample of SPS is not a clear indication of universal truths. The fact is a large percentage of SPS die each year, and we often have no idea as to why. I am glad that you are finding your skills sufficient to keep lots of SPS healthy, but I don't think it's fair to say that keeping SPS is easy and by allegory implying that people who don't find it easy are inferior.


Just because you have been maintaining a successful reef and feel confident does not mean they are easy. Your tank could crash at any point for no apprent reason. Thousand dollar colonies can up and stn for no reason at all. There is so much money surrounding these stunning tanks it's like playinh with fire sometimes and risk involved also adds to the tricky part of keeping Sps. I think the people with the most invested in there systems will understand the point I'm trying to make.

 

[PeTe PoLyP]

I like SPS because of the colors and growth formations. Yes I do have some LPS and zoa that have "knock your socks off color" but they dont have the same look as the SPS. When I look at an SPS it reminds me of how a pearl is colored. Just simply something you dont get with any other coral. I like the way each kind of SPS grows differently and contrasts each other. Watching them grow is really exciting to me becuase of their known "difficulty to keep" It makes me feel accomplished when i have a frag that grows 1" in under 3 months. I don't know if thats normal growth or not, and i really don't care, because I'm pleased by this.

 

[Prochef176]

The challenge...

Totally the challenge... for me anyway

 

[afernandez]

SPS corals are like women.
Beautiful, elegant, comes in different shapes and personality, no two are the same.
They let you know when they are happy and when they are unhappy
They require constant attention and care.
SPS "husbandry" is a constant challenge and requires dedication.
Expensive to maintain, give them what they want they will flourish, and keep you stress free.
Anybody can keep them short term but only the true masters can keep them flourishing long term.
You can love them or hate them...but you cannot ignore them.
And nobody truly knows "what they really want ?"....maybe thats why they are called "HARD" corals!! :crazy1:

This had me craking up but absolutely true ..

 

[Prochef176]

Hilarious!

 

[Denadai]

Because in just 6 months you can see a huge transformation :