How to know when you're SPS ready?

[Kmore1219]

It's a goal many of us reefers have, to own this great tank with all our parameters, lighting, and flow so perfect that we can grow SPS of all varieties. One question that is burning my mind, and probably the minds of many other new reefers is just how can we be sure that we are ready for SPS? Ive heard many different things from many different reefers of all levels, and it seems there is no general consensus on when a tank is good for SPS. Is it when your tank has been established for a year? Is it when you can maintain LPS corals easily? Or is it when you have all the right equipment in your tank that can maintain the corals on its own? Please anyone, feel free to share your knowledge, opinions, possible made up facts, and let me know, when did you get your first SPS? Was your tank actually ready for this SPS? What SPS advice would you have for any new reefers our there? All ideas and thoughts are welcome.

 

[surfnsalt]

 

[surfnsalt]

Just adding a little humor to a good topic. Following to hear from the sps yodas out there.[emoji2][emoji41]

 

[Kmore1219]

Just adding a little humor to a good topic. Following to hear from the sps yodas out there.[emoji2][emoji41]

Haha, yeah I'm definitely looking to get a good group of yodas in here to share the knowledge.

 

[surfnsalt]

Haha, yeah I'm definitely looking to get a good group of yodas in here to share the knowledge.

I have an sps tank but I'm just getting them to grow and color up. I did a ton research on keeping sps as well and was reefing for 3 years before I really gave it a go.

 

[Cary Meredith]

in my honest opinion lighting is biggest thing, if you don't have correct lighting you can't do it.

 

[andrew james]

I dint think the tanks age matters after the first three months or so. You can totally see when a tank stabilizes and thats when its ready. It really just depends on the setup how long that takes.

 

[mcarroll]

It's a total myth that "SPS" need anything special.

I plan to start my next tank with stony corals first.

If you set up a tank with sable S.G., alk, ca and Mg....don't overstock it with fish...light it with at least 20,000 lux.....and have any kind of respectable flow, you really can't go too wrong.

People who have trouble try to get away without testing their water or their lights....so there's usually not as much mystery behind the failures as there may seem at first blush.

SPS is even kind of a bullpuckey term, especially in context of your question. It means nothing biologically and speaks nothing about an individual coral's needs or requirements. "SPS" is mostly useful during coral shopping as it's a "look" more than anything.

Rerferring to "stony corals" is a bit more descriptive as there is at least a distinction made about the growth habits of the corals you're referring to, differentiating them from leather corals and soft corals, etc.

And getting back to the original question, most stony corals do grow well under the same general conditions as one another, BTW.

 

[dave57]

I threw in sps in my tank the minute fish were able to swim in there.. just have to maintain your parameters in range (ca/alk/mg and careful not to strip your tank from nutrients as the tank is really clean.. I would suggest keeping them stable or try to.. you'll need to be testing daily. As far as lighting low par. Try not to move corals around so much they will die.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

#spsexperts help us out! @Diesel @d2mini @TUSI @hybridazn @watchguy123 @CoralNerd @Battlecorals @Acro76 @Reef Pets #reefsquad (Hey I'm trying to get eyes on this thing!)

 

[Kmore1219]

Definitely seems theres a general consensus that as long as you've got the parameters all together and maintaining them, you can keep SPS corals.

 

[GnarleyMarley]

S.P.S=Stability Promotes Success. So long as you have proper lighting, flow, and stable Params u should be good to go

 

[mcarroll]

Parameters including lighting......forgot to mention the critical tool: the lux meter. (Or PAR meter if you can afford one.)

I use a very simple "LX-1010B" lux meter. I wouldn't reef without at least a lux meter.

 

[Higher Thinking]

The only consideration is whether you can maintain your alkalinity and calcium. Stony corals will start to deplete that and if you aren't replenishing with water changes (works in the beginning when your don't have many hard corals), calcium reactor, or dosing, you're going to have a bad time.

I was given one mushroom when I started saltwater and the next week I only bought SPS and a few LPS. Some people try to make keeping SPS as some huge feat. There are countless SPS that will outlive the worse conditions. I keep trimming monti and birds nest and just throw chunks in the back of the tank behind the rocks. Guess what? Those corals are just laying back there growing into colonies (much to my displeasure). I also have digi and a Hollywood Stunner thrown back there that's grown out to about 3" across, from a tiny piece I tossed back there. Don't let people freak you out about keeping hard corals. Just put them in there and now they will consume your levels faster than you're used to. Start with some cheap ones and just have at it.

I'm not any kind of final authority, but dang. People are constantly scaring other reefers. My personal "Saltwater Yoda" has given me hard corals since the beginning.

Behind these walls there are long forgotten coral just doing their thing:

 

[Diesel]

It's a total myth that "SPS" need anything special.

I plan to start my next tank with stony corals first.

If you set up a tank with sable S.G., alk, ca and Mg....don't overstock it with fish...light it with at least 20,000 lux.....and have any kind of respectable flow, you really can't go too wrong.

People who have trouble try to get away without testing their water or their lights....so there's usually not as much mystery behind the failures as there may seem at first blush.

SPS is even kind of a bullpuckey term, especially in context of your question. It means nothing biologically and speaks nothing about an individual coral's needs or requirements. "SPS" is mostly useful during coral shopping as it's a "look" more than anything.

Rerferring to "stony corals" is a bit more descriptive as there is at least a distinction made about the growth habits of the corals you're referring to, differentiating them from leather corals and soft corals, etc.

And getting back to the original question, most stony corals do grow well under the same general conditions as one another, BTW.

Good luck with that!

 

[david p.]

It's a total myth that "SPS" need anything special.

I plan to start my next tank with stony corals first.

If you set up a tank with sable S.G., alk, ca and Mg....don't overstock it with fish...light it with at least 20,000 lux.....and have any kind of respectable flow, you really can't go too wrong.

People who have trouble try to get away without testing their water or their lights....so there's usually not as much mystery behind the failures as there may seem at first blush.

SPS is even kind of a bullpuckey term, especially in context of your question. It means nothing biologically and speaks nothing about an individual coral's needs or requirements. "SPS" is mostly useful during coral shopping as it's a "look" more than anything.

Rerferring to "stony corals" is a bit more descriptive as there is at least a distinction made about the growth habits of the corals you're referring to, differentiating them from leather corals and soft corals, etc.

And getting back to the original question, most stony corals do grow well under the same general conditions as one another, BTW.

i agree 100%. i started 8mo ago, now 100% SPS. need to taget stability on your big 3 (alk , ca, Mg). get good flow and sufficient light.
make sure N and P are good, meaning balance fish stock, feeding with nutrient export.

you should be fine

 

[d2mini]

Sticks went right in my tank. They might not grow fast at first but as long as you can provide the stability and correct parameters they should be fine. It's that stability and parameter issue that keeps newbs from having success with sps from the get go. Same reason why you usually see a 6 month recommendation for anemones too.

 

[Diesel]

The thing is that the SPS as with any other coral doesn't come with a hand book.
What I miss here is that every tank is different in its own way.
You just can't compare.
That said you just don't know and you just have to start out slow and build from there.
There is just a to fine line in the art of growing SPS.

 

[Kmore1219]

The thing is that the SPS as with any other coral doesn't come with a hand book.
What I miss here is that every tank is different in its own way.
You just can't compare.
That said you just don't know and you just have to start out slow and build from there.
There is just a to fine line in the art of growing SPS.

Definitely was going to see how long it would take for someone to come along and just say that the only way o know is to try. Looks like we have the same state of mind on the topic.

 

[hybridazn]

The thing is that the SPS as with any other coral doesn't come with a hand book.
What I miss here is that every tank is different in its own way.
You just can't compare.
That said you just don't know and you just have to start out slow and build from there.
There is just a to fine line in the art of growing SPS.

I like what diesel had to say here, there is really no set in stone way to keep sps. The 2 things that are most important is lighting and stable alk and cal. Keeping those 2 parameters in check and stable are vital in keeping sps successfully