SPS care

[chrisl1]

As the title says, who is doing what to keep your SPS corals, I am new to them, but my regiment is just using my pro buffer, turbo calcium and I just started to add strontium and molybdenum 1x a week. anyone use more or less, tell me about your success or failures.

Chris

[davejnz]

SPS is a vague term but generally Acropora spp. and Montipora spp. are the corals that most keep that get lumped into that SPS label.The single most important thing in having success with them is a stable alkalinity IMO/IME.I prefer a 9dKH level but others push it higher to 10-11dKH.IME,I've found Acropora to be more susceptible to "tissue sloughing/RTN" when kept at higher alk levels.Its purely anecdotal eveidence so take it as that.For supplements,I use kalk/lime water as auto-top-off 24/7/356.It keeps my params rock steady
PH-8.2-8.4
ALK-9dKH
Calc-420
I don't dose Strontium as i don't feel its needed.Although Strontium is incorporated in some skeletons,it is very similiar to calcium in its molecular structure and studies have shown that strontium might be used as a replacement for calcium by the coral.REptoreef has had tremendous growth/success with SPS type corals and hopefully he'll chime in here.

[jerryc]

I go along with Dave i just try to keep my calcium and alk stable.
With good water quality

[chrisl1]

What about water flow, direct aiming at them or just good general circulation?

[lReef lKeeper]

hey Dave, what happened to the other 9 days of the year ?? you do something different on those ?? just trying to get the facts here, as i will be keeping SPS's also. LOL LOL LOL. and i have to chime in do to the new "title". from what i have read Chris some will like more turbid water than others, so do some reading about the specific corals before the final placement. it will usually be just a good general circulation though.

i dose with marine essentials, coral vite, and iodine on teusdays and strontium, liquid calcium, and super buffer on thursdays. with a daily top off of 2 gallons of premixed saltwater with the same parameters) every day and a water change (with same water as top off) every other week (just to keep the water quality up).

[dsfdbutterfly]

Chris,

I'm not a seasoned keeper but I have been having success with my Acropora in a new tank. Flow is one blowing constant pretty close by and two other heads alternating back and forth. The one on all the time is a 620 and the other two are maxijets 600's. This is in a 30 gal so the flow is pretty high. I dose iron once a week (for the clam and xenia) and then I alternate zooplex, photoplex and chromoplex liquid foods for all inverts every couple of days. I feed my 4 fish flake in the morning and some type of frozen in the evening which I know that the rest of everything is getting some. Everything is growing really fast. Almost too fast in some cases. Lighting is one of importance in my opinion. They need high light. I have MH and the coral sits at the top of the tank. My skimmer runs 24/7 too.

The LFS that sold me the coral would have had me kill it if I had listened to them in my opinion. You have to feed these corals. They don't get enough in a closed system to survive. Lighting won't do it. Not to give you growth and success. I've since found that mine is not captive raised (even harder to keep alive). It is starting to encrust which is all great signs for me. You've got to bring all these things together to have success. Even if your not keeping such hard things as Acropora. Lighting, flow and feeding. Don't think you can ever over due on flow either.

Now that I've wrote a book someone else I'm sure that others have their opinions/success rates too. Good luck.

Angie

[chrisl1]

"i dose with marine essentials, coral vite, and iodine on teusdays and "strontium, liquid calcium, and super buffer on thursdays. with a daily top off of 2 gallons of premixed saltwater with the same parameters) every day and a water change (with same water as top off) every other week (just to keep the water quality up)."

Bobby~
ok more questions now, why use saltwater for topoff? doesn't that change your water parms, top off should be fresh ro/di or distilled. and dosing Iodine, if you are doing so many waterchanges and adding sw everyday to the tank isn't that too much? I know by doing waterchanges you are replenishing the lost elements , so isn't that overkill?

[chrisl1]

Im running a mag 18 for my returns and an ottoto power head, im not sure of the model, but it is really powerful, I have flow going in all directions in there, I just wasn't sure i'd need even more than that.

[lReef lKeeper]

you're probably going to be fine in the water flow. as for the top offs all of my tanks have the same water parameters so i just make it easier on my self and take some from the tank next to the main one for topping off.

[chrisl1]

But, by adding salt water even with the same parameters you are raising you salinity. With evaporation the water evaporates, not the salt, thats why you are supposed to add fresh water, adding salt water everday is raising your sg. I'm pretty sure thats not such a good thing to keep doing

Chris