after looking at some of our members tanks with sps corals in it, i think i fell in love..the wide array of colors just is awesome., i dont know any of there names, but what worries me is it seems to have them you have to have the best of the best in water quality, and equipment, calicum reactors ect...i have been able to keep most corals going nicely and spreading. i have two hard encrusting corals and they are growing and spreading. however when ever i tried to have any Moon corals ect..(i think they are called LPS) they have always died. My water quality is almost def the problem.as i dont do the 20% water changes a week im supposed to..its more like 10% every two weeks.. the tank is 180 gallons and its all i can keep up with right now. So my question is could i be successful with some SPS corals? I have some nice open spaces up toward the top of my tank. I have 3 250 watt 14.5k metal halides and 4 96 watt power compacts for lighting and i have great water flow in a 180 gallon tank.
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i want to try some sps
- Thread starter jtravapd
- Start date
Moon corals? Are you refering to favia? If so, these are LPS. What exactly went wrong? They usually prefer lower light and lower flow (but some prefer high light, medium flow).
What exactly is wrong with your water quality? Calcium? Nitrates? Your lighting definitely can support SPS. The equipment most people have is to make life easier on them and is not the requirement to housing SPS corals. You don't need a Ca reactor for instance and WHEN it is working right, it makes Ca addition easier. Why not try your hand at some generic acro and see how that goes?
What exactly is wrong with your water quality? Calcium? Nitrates? Your lighting definitely can support SPS. The equipment most people have is to make life easier on them and is not the requirement to housing SPS corals. You don't need a Ca reactor for instance and WHEN it is working right, it makes Ca addition easier. Why not try your hand at some generic acro and see how that goes?
I was under the impression those lps needed strong light so the one I had bleached out . I just orderd a frag pack from the guy from the post under this one for 100 bucks. I tested my water the other day and amonia was 0, ph was low at 8.0, but nitrate or nitrite I forget which one is super
High. One was zero the other was at like 60. I'm gonna do
Small water changes like 2 a week and see if that helps.
High. One was zero the other was at like 60. I'm gonna do
Small water changes like 2 a week and see if that helps.
Take it fron me I wouldnt put any sps in if your nitrates are off the charts I kept doing a 5 gallon water change every day until mine came down took about 5 days I run 2 bags of this http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4914 and Chemipure in my sump and everything has been at 0 for 6 months now and i havent done a water change since august :
Hirobo said:Take it fron me I wouldnt put any sps in if your nitrates are off the charts I kept doing a 5 gallon water change every day until mine came down took about 5 days I run 2 bags of this http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4914 and Chemipure in my sump and everything has been at 0 for 6 months now and i havent done a water change since august :
I was gonna take out some rubble rock and replace it with the stuff you stated above and some carbon . This way the water passes over it. The problem is my tank is 180 gallons, I think I gotta buy like 4 gallons of that stuff?
mott768 said:
no, im kinda strapped for room under the sump. would that help with the nitrates?..i have to admit i fell off with water changes over the summer...im trying to make up for it now..the weird thing is my clams, and corals never looked so good. everything is open and extended and spreading...makes me wonder what it would look like if my water wasn't crappy..
If you had a calcium reactor I was going to tell you to convert it into a nitrate reactor, it's very easily done. It will still add calcium to your tank and wipe out your nitrate in about a week without doing massive water changes. All you would do is remove the co2 tank replace the media in the reactor with LSM (sulfur) and ARM course(calcium) media, use a pad to separate the 2 media's and use 2 parts ARM to 1 part LSM, set the drip to a slow rate. Or supposedly you can us no-no3 insted of the LSM & ARM.
You do need to monitor your calcium levels either way as some people have overshot the norm.
Maybe you can pick up a cheap calcium reactor, I know a lot of people that use the coralife reactors as nitrate reactors.
You do need to monitor your calcium levels either way as some people have overshot the norm.
Maybe you can pick up a cheap calcium reactor, I know a lot of people that use the coralife reactors as nitrate reactors.
jtravapd said:
where is this rubble you are talking about? if its in your sump this could be adding to the nitrate problem. i would do large water changes twice a week until your nitrates are close to zero before putting anything else in your tank. the stuff in your tank has had a chance to get used to the slowly climbing nitrates but if you throw something new in there it will probably be shocked and die. do you have any macro algae? try adding some chaeto if you don't have any.
Corrected the quote
Some softies like nitrate (ie xenia). Clams naturally remove nitrate (debate whether they take the nitrate directly or indirectly). I think you should forgo the chemical solution if possible. Are you sure you have such high nitrates? Some kits are highly unreliable and will give false high/low readings. Step back for a second before making huge corrections. Can you start with a 25% water change? That will bring down your nitrates to 45ppm (assuming it really is at 60). Then perform another 25% water change soon after and you are down to roughly 34 which would be more manageable. I would begin by using a new test kit to validate your findings.
jtravapd said:
Some softies like nitrate (ie xenia). Clams naturally remove nitrate (debate whether they take the nitrate directly or indirectly). I think you should forgo the chemical solution if possible. Are you sure you have such high nitrates? Some kits are highly unreliable and will give false high/low readings. Step back for a second before making huge corrections. Can you start with a 25% water change? That will bring down your nitrates to 45ppm (assuming it really is at 60). Then perform another 25% water change soon after and you are down to roughly 34 which would be more manageable. I would begin by using a new test kit to validate your findings.
cmsurfr22 said:
yeah my sump is filling with rubble rock, im gonna take it out once my stuff comes to replace it, i ordered it last night. im gonna fill that area with media bags with carbon, phosphate and nitrate sponge stuff, and also do a water change..the only problem is when i dont have rock in the sump, it sounds like a water fall pouring into a bucket of water, how do u guys deal with that? im guessing if i have media bags there it will stop the water from just dropping into the sump causing the loud water noise..
you could try filter socks to cut down on the noise, but then that's one more thing you have to clean on a regular basis or that will start to be a nitrate factory too if left too long. how are the hoses positioned in your sump, maybe play around with their position and see if that helps.
noise- filter bags will definitely help, and maybe even try making a bubble box. RichT made me one in a sump design/build and it is q-u-i-e-t.....
nitrates- I would suggest shutting the main circulation pump off and siphon ANY and all detritus in the sump under the rubble rock. Then, take out the rubble rock and swish it aggressively in a bucket of your tank water to make sure ya aren't killing necessary/bacterial bacteria within the rubble rock. Do this until its clear, heck, even have 2 or three more buckets to make sure the water is not as turbid. This will help reduce nitrates in the sump and within the rocks.
feeding- reduce the feedings a little. Often rather than all at once is much better since all the food gets utilized. I keep my main circulation pump off for at least an hour. When possible, I feed them twice a day, same deal with the pumps off.
water changes- In my opinion, a 40%-50% water change will drastically reduce the nitrates in the tank. Please keep in mind that this is my opinion only, and be careful in attempting that. ALL your new water needs to be close, especially your temp, pH and dKH. These three could quite possibly have a negative impact on the tank inhabitants. When I had to do a massive water change like that, I started "culturing" my freshly made saltwater by adding about 1 gallon siphoned tank water to every 20 gallons of freshly made saltwater. This water was circulated in a holding tank for at least 24-48 hours to have some kind of bacterial colonization, I took this time to adjust pH, temp and dKH. BUT that was me. Again, careful with huge swings like that.
Maintenance- After you have the nitrates drop, make sure there is no detritus under, in between or IN your current display live rock. Blowing liverock with a Maxijet powerhead in the holes, nooks and crannies may create a dust storm, but getting all that crud out of there prevents accumulation in the long run. I do this every 8 months or so, or when I notice a small dirt pile has collected in a hole (I should be doing it more often). Oh yeah, try to minimize the dust storm by turning off powerheads in the tank. ALWAYS have "cultured" fresh saltwater on hand when doing this, just in case. Having a bag of Carbon handy at double the recommended tank "dosage" will also help as a preventative just in case (I've never had the need to use mine)
Finally, you can attempt the crazy....
http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=12664.0
nitrates- I would suggest shutting the main circulation pump off and siphon ANY and all detritus in the sump under the rubble rock. Then, take out the rubble rock and swish it aggressively in a bucket of your tank water to make sure ya aren't killing necessary/bacterial bacteria within the rubble rock. Do this until its clear, heck, even have 2 or three more buckets to make sure the water is not as turbid. This will help reduce nitrates in the sump and within the rocks.
feeding- reduce the feedings a little. Often rather than all at once is much better since all the food gets utilized. I keep my main circulation pump off for at least an hour. When possible, I feed them twice a day, same deal with the pumps off.
water changes- In my opinion, a 40%-50% water change will drastically reduce the nitrates in the tank. Please keep in mind that this is my opinion only, and be careful in attempting that. ALL your new water needs to be close, especially your temp, pH and dKH. These three could quite possibly have a negative impact on the tank inhabitants. When I had to do a massive water change like that, I started "culturing" my freshly made saltwater by adding about 1 gallon siphoned tank water to every 20 gallons of freshly made saltwater. This water was circulated in a holding tank for at least 24-48 hours to have some kind of bacterial colonization, I took this time to adjust pH, temp and dKH. BUT that was me. Again, careful with huge swings like that.
Maintenance- After you have the nitrates drop, make sure there is no detritus under, in between or IN your current display live rock. Blowing liverock with a Maxijet powerhead in the holes, nooks and crannies may create a dust storm, but getting all that crud out of there prevents accumulation in the long run. I do this every 8 months or so, or when I notice a small dirt pile has collected in a hole (I should be doing it more often). Oh yeah, try to minimize the dust storm by turning off powerheads in the tank. ALWAYS have "cultured" fresh saltwater on hand when doing this, just in case. Having a bag of Carbon handy at double the recommended tank "dosage" will also help as a preventative just in case (I've never had the need to use mine)
Finally, you can attempt the crazy....
http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=12664.0
http://www.aquasearch.net.au/aqua/clamculture.htm
here's a rather interesting link about Tridacnid clams, a little dated, but interesting.
Aquaculture facilities actually "feed" clams with a dilute solution of Ammonia in a raceway system. By the time the effluent reached the end, the nitrogen levels significantly decreased. <----I read this somewhere else.
here's a rather interesting link about Tridacnid clams, a little dated, but interesting.
Aquaculture facilities actually "feed" clams with a dilute solution of Ammonia in a raceway system. By the time the effluent reached the end, the nitrogen levels significantly decreased. <----I read this somewhere else.
Ok, all rubble rock is out of my sump....I still have to vacum the floor of it, but i will do that this weekend. I orderd the following items.. BUcket of PhosGuard which will be put into a large media bag, Carbon which will be put into a large media bag, and Nitrate Sponge which will be put into a large media bag. All three will be placed onto a shelf which is about 5 inches off the bottom of the sump and the return water will hit the first shelf which is filled with holes so the water distributes evenly, then the water will pass over the three media bags and into the sump. im hoping this will help knock down the nitrates since all the rubble rock is now out of the system. Then i will do a 20 gallon water change once a week for the next 4 weeks and see if there is any change in my testing. im hoping this helps alittle bit.
I just got my first SPS frags last Tuesday. I kept holding off because I was scared that my lighting was not strong enough but the fellow NJreefer has them under T5 and they were doing well. I got to admit the look really sharp. I still like my shrooms, and other softies I have but love the way my new SPS look. I got a blue tip acro and green tip acro, both very bright, I just moved them off the sand so am hoping they accept the change well. Good luck with your sps frags.....