!!!SPS SUCK! THE ACRO-FUGIUM WRITE UP!!! I guess I finally finished this thing, sort of

[BkReefBaby]

This was a great write up...Ive only been Reefing for a Yr now but I jumped in head first and bought some sps
I took advice from you Adam always reading what you write and being a minimalist in maintenance...I like to work on my tank but more than anything I like to sit back and enjoy it I don't want to have to be changing this swaping that pouring this on a daily basis seems pretty annoying

You and WWC have some of the best SPS out there and both of you guys keep nutrients in your tanks I told myself why fight it these guys have great colors...I was caught up with all the other article everything must be at 0 I ran GFO I did the balling method and all sorts of other stuff and when I did my sps would pale out...I said F it! Let my tank just run its self my sps have regained there color and have really bright colors now my nitrates are around .5ppm ...all I do is a weekly water change check my nitrates make sure they are stable and check my Alk daily which I picked up from you and Mike Paletta....THANKS AGAIN!!!!
PS it's also easier on the bank account when you're not spending money on media and chemical and all sorts of reactors

 

[Jay6363]

Love the write up, I agree, i too have had problems in the past as you know. Think I was keeper no my nutrients to Low. Taking your advice and keeping it as simple..... Seeing good results so far

 

[creefer]

It seems funny to me that to get killer colors out of SPS that you need enough nutrients that your tank is nearly on the edge of an algae explosion. All I know is that I had the best SPS color and growth in my old tank when the nutrients were at levels that are not considered good.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Seems it goes against everything you read on keeping SPS. LOL But I feel very true as you are walking a fine line.

 

[Mattrg02]

Back when I had little time for my tank, I had good growth and good color. I used ro water for top off and water changes. I did a water change once per month. Algae was terrible to where corals were being choked out. I'd kill the algae and the corals would grow back over the stn.

Now, I am back on rodi water with weekly water changes. I also use a skimmer now. Corals don't grow at all and are brown.

 

[robert]

Off topic - but I thought you might like this...

I was talking to someone who's opinion I trust...a zoa propagator about getting some sticks for the high flow end of my system...
He told me there were perhaps two on this board that he would buy from but only one that he could recommend - Battlecorals.
I don't know if this is because he's bought from you before or what, but he spoke highly of your corals.

Thought that was kind of weird as I don't normally post on sellers threads but this week Adam's caffinated post caught my attention so I remembered the name...

 

[reef80]

Off topic - but I thought you might like this...

I was talking to someone who's opinion I trust...a zoa propagator about getting some sticks for the high flow end of my system...
He told me there were perhaps two on this board that he would buy from but only one that he could recommend - Battlecorals.
I don't know if this is because he's bought from you before or what, but he spoke highly of your corals.

Thought that was kind of weird as I don't normally post on sellers threads but this week Adam's caffinated post caught my attention so I remembered the name...

There is actually only two vendors that i will now buy from now on...Battlecorals and Adam.. lol...but your reference is spot on....

 

[AcroNem]

So hypothetically, could the reason that three fourths of my sps are pretty pale be because my nitrate is always pegged at 0? I've tried a lot to make them color up (tank is a couple years old) but haven't thought about that yet.

 

[maidia]

I got STN from base when I run GFO and dosing vinegar and stop doing it for one month ago. Now My Nitrate around 0.2-0.4 and PO4 around 0.19-0.21, you guys think that is ok or not if I dose more Sodium Nitrate? Thanks for your help...

 

[Battlecorals]

So hypothetically, could the reason that three fourths of my sps are pretty pale be because my nitrate is always pegged at 0? I've tried a lot to make them color up (tank is a couple years old) but haven't thought about that yet.

definitely a possibility. id consider upping it at least to detectable levels. the slightest hint of pink, over no color at all seems to be a safe place to start

 

[AcroNem]

That's the issue with getting it go up, I can't get it to detectable levels even if I try. It seems to go against everything you hear about keeping sps but it makes sense. I just want that rich deep color I see while right now they're pretty pale.

 

[Battlecorals]

That's the issue with getting it go up, I can't get it to detectable levels even if I try. It seems to go against everything you hear about keeping sps but it makes sense. I just want that rich deep color I see while right now they're pretty pale.

you may be good candidate to dose then. I use lab grade sodium nitrate myself now going on well over a year. Pm me if you'd like some details on where to get it and dosages.

 

[bklynreef]

Im curious as to what number in PO4 would you consider to be ok, or high or just about right. I cant just say throw those NO3 and PO4 test kits away as some here have mentioned because there are issues when those numbers climb to a level where you can your sps getting overtaken by algae or just not react well to the amount of PO4 in the tank. I used to be of the mind set that my number should be .03 -.06 but these numbers are almost impossible for me to keep in my tank and i did have success with those numbers although some sps werent perfect with it so it was either to high or too low which i couldnt figure out which. It might have been the GFO as well stripping the water or the carbon reactor stripping as well. So, fast forward to today I had started biopellets around alittle over three weeks ago to reduce NO3, help with PO4 but mainly for carbon dosing so i dont have to deal with vinigar sugar or vodka any longer. I never saw the tank looking so good with growth and color like never before, it was truly amazing to watch. My PO4 numbers started at .06 when i started pellets but slowly rose but i wont change the GFO since its only 2 1/2 weeks since it was replaced and im sure its not exhausted so fast but that wasnt what was interesting. I left it alone and said ill let it be untill i see my corals starting to react negatively to the PO4 in the tank. As the number rose to .11 all i saw was more growth and more color. im not saying its only the PO4 or the biopellets but the are other factors that are at play here. Now i am just playing things out to see when or what the PO4 number will be when i will need to replace the GFO. I even stopped feeding my fish everyday sparingly to every other day sparingly and the corals once a week. My goal is to get away from GFO and Carbon reactors all together. This thread gives me confidence in the direction im taking and im glad to have seen this as im going through it myself.
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[TUSI]

Great write up Adam. You are so right on the dot with this info.. I have been keeping my phos at around.15 and.18 for a while and found out that sps corals behave better. I think as you said the key is how mature and what is the coral load percentage to water and fish. Sometimes I think we generate our own problems in this hobby. Thank you for taking the time to write this up

 

[Battlecorals]

Great write up Adam. You are so right on the dot with this info.. I have been keeping my phos at around.15 and.18 for a while and found out that sps corals behave better. I think as you said the key is how mature and what is the coral load percentage to water and fish. Sometimes I think we generate our own problems in this hobby. Thank you for taking the time to write this up

Hey thank you for taking the time to read it and respond. Always great to hear things are going well This iOS all based on my own observations really. I dont think I'm ever just there and content with my systems. Always tweaking something in some way as minute as it may be.

 

[TUSI]

Adam you are a caring hobbyist and that's what makes you a bench mark in the hobby. Not to many other venders come out and write their experiences which is very sad. Example: if I purchase a coral from a vender and he is keeping it in an invirnment different than my tank then what are the chances of that coral survival or maintaining the colors when it was purchased unless I know what the vender is keeping it in. Hobbyist should be more carefully who they buy from and you are certainty doing the right thing by putting up all this info.

 

[watchguy123]

So Adam are you dosing nitrates rather than adding more food to limit phosphates in your tank. Otherwise why not just throw more fish or coral food in, why just nitrate dosing.

 

[Battlecorals]

So Adam are you dosing nitrates rather than adding more food to limit phosphates in your tank. Otherwise why not just throw more fish or coral food in, why just nitrate dosing.

I have found its much easier to maintain the small amount i am wanting by dosing directly. Less ambiguous i think. I just test a lot more than i used to which was basically never. I have a friend that actually experienced a dramatic drop in phos after extended dosing. Cant remember his screen name so I can't tag him but Pete, if you see this feel free to chime in.

 

[volivier]

Adam, what size is your t-5 tank and what fish are in it? Curious about the quantity of fish and feeding related to your sps tank....
Does that question make sense?

 

[tigé21v]

I think your right - it maybe a form of allopathy. Its been suggested that macroalgaes "bend" the bacterial enviroment to gain an advantage over adjacent corals through the production of carbon compounds. I've also read that the mucus corals produce have long chains of carbons, which last for months and which are not readily consumed by other organisms. Some of these have antibiotic properties an possibly give their particular species an advantage over other encroaching organisms.

I think you're right. I ran an ATS for some time, and although it grew algae like mad and helped drop the tank's nutrients, most of the corals didn't look that great. The day I pulled it off, I also changed the GAC. By that evening, sps that had been having little or no PE had PE like I hadn't seen for months. I know many aquarists have success with ATS's but it didn't seem to be for my system.

Totally agree. I have had algae take an early hold in a new tank and subsequently could not eliminate it. In contrast, I have had tanks with a ton of sps right after cycling and never observed any algae. It seems whatever organisms consume the nutrient out of the gate become dominate. The hypothesis would allow for both the reported success of a macro algae refugium and the idea presented above.

This is kind of where I am now. After a long period of neglect , I cannot seem to get the algae in check. In particular, the on tank one my system is growing some sort of crazy algae. Mostly seems to start on the rocks or sand and grow up in masses. Produces huge amounts of gas(es), so much so that it will literally lift some soft corals, smaller pieces of rubble and frag plugs off the tank floor. Trying to get through it with running GAC. Not really wanting to run GFO since the PO4 isn't too far out of line.