The SPS Q&A Thread.

nanojosh · Sep 28, 2013

Isoprene said:
I have switched my 55 to a 75 and gone dominate sps in the whole tank other than some zoas. I am experiencing amazing stability in parameters and they are all in perfect range, have been for the four months or three months I switched over. I'm positive this is not the problem.

I have experienced better growth, faster, than I ever have in any tank or any coral in all my sps. They are going nuts! The problem is I feel like the color on most is more washed out then it was in my 55. It's just not as deep or vibrant as it used to be. I understand growth means good haha but I don't like the look of it necessarily.

The biggest change from the 55 to the 75 is that I have added 4x 58w T5 ho bulbs retrofitted with two pucks of 12 Cree LEDs for a total of 4 t5 bulbs and 24 Cree 3w chips. My rock work I'm worried is too high up, it's about 75% up the tank and the lights only sit 6 inches above the water level. Should I lower the seascape or is the coloration just due to lots of new growth? I'm running t5's for 5 hours, half the LEDs the white and blue for 5 hours, and the blue LEDs, for nine hours. Any ideas guys? Again everything healthy everything growing like freaking crazy! Just a little washed out. Color is there just not as deep as before

Here is the best photo I have.

What color bulbs are u using in the T5 fixture. And maybe the corals are just stressed fin the move.

55 gal mixed reef 10 gal SPS Dom.
10 gal nem tank 2 maxi minis 2 rock flower and one sunburst RBTA

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Isoprene · Sep 29, 2013

I have 3 T5 blue and 1 white bulb. 12 royal blue led, 6 blue led, 6 white led.

nanojosh · Oct 5, 2013

That color combo doesn't seem like it should be washing out the coral. I'm perplexed.

55 gal mixed reef 10 gal SPS Dom.
10 gal nem tank 2 maxi minis 2 rock flower and one sunburst RBTA

Sent from some device using some app

Isoprene · Oct 10, 2013

Little update on this, had some stray voltage that I think burnt out my ballast for the t5s, it was one of those crappy icecap so that might be why it died also, back on point tho...

It's been 1 week with just LEDs, my new t5 setup a very gracious shop owner has basically offered to donate me comes in later in the week, ballasts and all yay! My corals have deepened in color sognificantly, some have browned a little, which was expected with a sudden reduction in light but others have really gotten some great growth and most noticeably some color! Colors I haven't seen before, and not that deep green some get when they are in low light but some deep reds and purples that look great. My best guess is that I was putting too much light on them per day, I'm going to stagger my t5 more once they are back up and cut back a couple hours. I do think also I'm just not accounting for some sps liking moderate or even sometimes lower to some loving intense light. I just assumed, more light = gooood which is not always the case with some species when trying to get them colored up.

I'm going to rescape a little with some better looking rocks and reposition the corals that obviously need lower amounts or less intense light. I will post a pic when all is said and done, overall corals still growing and some are colored nice, others a tinge brown but still have growth and overall color. Wish me luck! Thanks guys

TinpanVA · Oct 11, 2013

I have a mixed reef and I'm always struggling with my SPS being on the 'brown' side of the color spectrum, some are completely browned out while others like my Cali tort are very colorful. For awhile I thought I was hitting them too hard with the LEDs, I kept thinking they needed more light (compared to what I was used to with MH's visually) so when I reached upwards of 60% power, some club members suggested going in the other direction (reducing power). I'm currently running them at 25% white and 30-35% on blues. Turned back the power approx 4-6weeks ago. Since then color HAS improved, but still a long way from where I bought them. Is there something else at play here or just a lot more waiting time at the reduced power?

I will list all the required information, but to simplify things like coral list and tank parameters, its best to look at my online journal (Log)

tinpanva's TinPan's Reef

A. Total water volume ( Please include sump, etc.) 29 gal biocube - no sump

B. What are your parameters? ( CA, ALK, PO4,Salinity, etc.) as of last sunday, PO4 .05, MG 1240, NO3 2, CA 390, KH 9.2 dkh, NO2 0, S 1.026, Temp 78.0, PH 8.26, I .06, FE 0, K 368, NH3 0

C. Type of lighting. Please include age, watts, and bulb/ballast name. AI Vega "Color" set at White 25%, Red & Green 15%, Blues 35%

D. Filtration method (Skimmer, GFO, DSB, etc.) In tank media kit, with filter pad changed weekly or sooner, chemi pure and purigen replace every other month - Aquamaxx HOB-1 skimmer - Fuge with ball chaeto

E. What types of corals do you keep other than SPS? approx 52 different corals, little bit of everything (see above link)

F. How long has the tank been running? 1 year 2 months

G. What are you dosing? Dosing schedule? Slowly increasing Calc and alk via Royal nature Calc and alk (dry powder)3g each mixed with 100ml RO water. I alternate calc one day and alk the next. I dose 5g's MG twice a week. I also add Reef Fuel 2x a week.

H. Which brand of salt are you using? Royal Nature

I. What brand of test kits are you employing? Hanna for PO4 and KH, Red Sea Pro for everything else but I also have RS for PO4 and KH to double check the hanna's. Not 100% confident in them yet.

J. What are you using for CA/ALK supplementation? ROYAL CALCIUM CHLORIDE & ROYAL SODIUM BICARBONATE

K. What are you using for flow? (Pump names, how many, placement, etc.) MJ1200 main return pump with hydro flow thing on the end, MP10 for cross flow.

joeyhatch11 · Nov 3, 2013

I'm looking to raise my magnesium and need some help. I'm currently at 1240 (using a Red Sea kit) and would like to boost that to 1400. I was just on BRS's website and calculated it and it was 645ml that needs to be added. My question is, how much could I add daily without topping 100ppm's a day? Also if I start dosing say, 20ml a day, and continue with my normal 5ml of alk and calcium, the dosing of the magnesium shouldn't throw that off right? Or will I need to up that? Thanks Joe

joeyhatch11 · Nov 4, 2013

paintballer768 · Dec 6, 2013

Hi Joey, sorry I can't be much of a help, but I wanted to give you a word of caution. I've heard BRS's calculator can be a bit off. 645ml seems like an awful lot of additive, when you only dose 5 ml daily. I would experiment on a smaller scale.. Try adding 10 ml and retest, etc. Show and steady is best. You could start with more ml if you tank is larger. Best luck to you

joeyhatch11 · Dec 6, 2013

I started adding 20m?l a day since that last post. took over a week but got my mag up to 1300. Thanks for the reply though. I don't know how well those BRS calculators work either. That did seem like a bit much just to raise the mag the little bit I needed to go.

Tankster101 · Mar 18, 2014

[QUOTconstruction yX;529556]Oh, and please fill out this form when asking questions. it will help us solve your issues much quicker and with greater accuracy.

thanks,

Sonny

My tank has been setup for 3 years and the first 2.5 I had hair algae issues. Corals have never really taken off and SPS have always been pastel. My last attempt to combat algae before starting the change bleached all my SPS to almost white. I did what everybody says not to do and took a toothbrush to my rock to clean off the algae. Don't know if the algae released a toxin or phosphates or what but my coral did not like it. About 6 months ago I started the process of changing out my rock and half or more of my sand. My rock was the first rock I purchased getting into the hobby about 14 years ago. When setting up this tank I was ignorant to the fact that rock accumulates phosphates and sometimes bonds if not taken care of or cleaned. Pretty sure that was my issue as far as algae goes. Completed the change 3 months ago and things started to improve almost immediately. Within a month my SPS went from almost white back to pastel colors. Since then they may have colored a little more but definitely staying pastel, especially greens. I know stability and algae have been a big part of my issues and am looking for critique and suggestions on how to improve my tank. Also, my nitrates and phosphates are extremely low but I'm nervous about raising and having another outbreak. What is the best, safest way of doing this.

A. Total water volume ( Please include sump, etc.)
About 115 gallons with rock. 90 gallon display and 30 gallon sump. About 100lbs of Rock.

B. What are your parameters? ( CA, ALK, PO4,Salinity, etc.)
Ca 430, Alk 8.4, Mg 1340, Ph ?, Sal 1.025-26, Temp 79(JBJ chiller)

C. Type of lighting. Please include age, watts, and bulb/ballast name.
8X54 watt Tek Elite T5. 3yr old fixture. 3 blue plus, 2 purple plus, 2 coral plus, 1 aqua sun. 5-6 months old bulbs. 7" from water. About a 12-14k look IMO. 10 hour total photoperiod, 7 hours with all 8 on. Dusk/Dawn are blue plus and purple plus.

D. Filtration method (Skimmer, GFO, DSB, etc.)
DIY 3 chamber sump with 50lbs fiji live rock, filter sock, chaeto, Hydor 505 Rec. Skimmer, carbon, gfo.

E. What types of corals do you keep other than SPS?
A few zoas, sm. Colt coral, white pulsing xenia, hammer, acan.

F. How long has the tank been running?
3 yrs

G. What are you dosing? Dosing schedule?
Feeding: Alternate evenings between PE Mysis and Rods Food. Feed 2ml of liquefied oyster,shrimp,clam,squid,seaweed, and garlic power every night after lights out. Going to start Acropower next week.
H. Which brand of salt are you using?
Red Sea coral pro.

I. What brand of test kits are you employing?
Red Sea and Salifert. No phosphate kit but looking into Hanna.

J. What are you using for CA/ALK supplementation?
TLF Kalk-10tsp per 6 gallons RO water.

K. What are you using for flow? (Pump names, how many, placement, etc.) [/QUOTE]
1 Jaebo WP 40 placed on right side of tank blowing longways set on wave mode. 1/3 of flow hits the center square overflow which make for sufficient flow on the pump side as well as opposite side. Used to have 4 Hydor 1450's and have more flow now with the one pump. Using Hydor 17HF for return. Think I have about a 3-4X turnover rate.

Any constructive criticism welcome........

Tankster101 · Mar 18, 2014

Also, I do a little over 10% water change every week. I also change out my carbon and gfo every week. 1 cup of TLF lignite, 1/4 cup ROX, 2 tbs BRS gfo.

Fishlee · Mar 19, 2014

How do you get good polyp extension ?

newlyreefd · Mar 28, 2014

I'm just starting out with a 40B and it was going to only be LPS and Softies. Now I'm not so sure. I'm really loving the SPS' now. I think I want to give it a try. A serious try.
Like I said:
40gal Breeder with 20L sump
Vertex Omega 130 skimmer
Vortech MP10
Lumentek Pro 180 LED
Being new to SPS and my tank in the cycling stage, I can't answer all the questions that you asked in the beginning of the thread. I'm here to gain advice and knowledge on where to go and what to do, once I get up and running. Thanks

prsnlty · Apr 20, 2014

Help, how to lower kh?

My Kh is up to 10.5 today from 9.8 yesterday and up from 8.4 a week ago where it was holding steady. The only thing that I did was a water change. I have brand new rodi media too. What brought my kh in check was a month ago I added a jbj ato and tlf kalk reactor with mrs wages. There is kalk in the reactor, fresh ro etc... the only thing else that's been fluctuating is ph. Good (8.2-8.3) when the house is open but 2 days ago it was near 90 so I had it closed with AC on.Which will be the norm after today. But the ph dropped to 7.4 the day the house was closed.

Some of my sps frags are showing signs of stress. Mainly the stylo and branching monti. Little pe... how can I lower the alk?

Thank you
Jackie

prsnlty · Apr 20, 2014

Parameters are
Ca 460
Mg 1360
Kh 10.5
Ph 8.3 (today, house is open)
Temp 78
No3 0
Po4 .002

Wc 1 week ago
125g dt with 30g sum and 20g fresh ro/di top off, tlf kalk reactor, wp40 ph 2800+ gph flow, 2 ati t5 (coral+ & purple+), 2 24" pc and 2 AI Sol Blue Leds running 100% blues and at highest midday 80 white.

prsnlty · Apr 20, 2014

prsnlty · Apr 20, 2014

I forgot to mention this tank has been running for 2 years. SPs besides Monte cap have only been in here for 2 months. I do run BRS carbon and BRS GFO in tlf 150 reactors. The 7 sps frags are scripts, branching monti, stylo, purple garf bonsai, 2 millies and a green slimer. Everything else are lps, branching hammers and frogspawns, leather, branching duncan. Some zoas and palys and 2 acan 2 head frags.

Water clarity is quite clear.

Edited for fix error

Sleeperr34 · May 13, 2014

Sorry. I know this is a little off topic. But was about to start another big build. And wanted to try t5 over an sps tank. Tank will be 6ft long. 3ft tall. 2ft deep. But dont know what would be a good amount of t5 bulbs and what kinds. 8 36w. 6 54w. 4 80w. Were the ones i was thinking about doing.