Reef Discussion

[Adam_w]

Hey guys feel like I've been spamming the forums lately, I'm really struggling to moving to SPS corals from LPS

I've been keeping my LPS fine for ages now and managed to keep a birdsnest and some other stylophora coral for maybe 6-8months (they died in summer before i realised i needed a chiller)

Recently decided to try again and added a small frag of the strawberry shortcake acro and it was doing great for again a few months and now it's gone down hill again.

I have an AI prime over the side where i want the SPS to grow and a coralbox moon LED over the other side which i want to just keep lps.

The coral at the moment is still kicking, base is very green and the stalks are pink but there's some algae growing on the very tips and with my others as soon as that started it was all over.

Params have been very stable recently slowly I've been upgrading bits and pieces on the tank to try stay ahead of the game. Had a few alc swings when I first added this piece from the clam going through a bit of a growth spurt, I've started adding half a teaspoon of kalk to the ATO and it seems to be enough to keep up with demand at the moment.

Long post TL;DR, any pro tips on upgrading from a tank that can keep LPS and Clams happy but unable to move on to the harder SPS.

 

[RobbieMVFC]

Hi Adam,
Welcome to the Dark side ,the world of SPS.
Don't be concerned about the long/frequent post. we all secretly love them and look forward to them.

My first concerns are that SPS consume ALK, Calcium & Magnesium amongst other parameters.
If you continue to keep them you may have to look into a dosing system.
From my experience with SPS , is that you must keep all parameters stable especially ALK and the tanks temperature.
I test ALK at the very least every second day,
I would recommend testing Cal & MAG once a week when starting out.

SPSs will look for excuses to die so don't give them one .
IMO once you can establish an SPS tank and watch the flourish there is no grater satisfaction in this hobbie.
Also along side birds nest try get a hold of a Dallas Acro they are one of the most hardiest SPS.
Here are a few more

I Cannot comment on your lights I don't know much about them but most SPS like strong lighting.
Hopefully someone else can chime in about them

PS Sorry to say but I find strawberry shortcakes one of the hardest to keep coloured up. Its not impossible, i have one now that coloured up however they will test your skills.
Good luck

 

[Adam_w]

I've been dosing the Randys 2 part from this forums for a while now, calcium and mag always seem to be fine. It's just the damn Alk that seems to move. I think the Kalk in the ATO has stabilized it now.

In my head I've always been like I don't want green in my tank I've got too much, then i realised I don't actually have any green... I'll look into a dallas frag.

Are they harder to keep as small frags or as larger pieces? The fish shop near me tends to sell pretty large pieces their coral tanks aren't the best though but it's local so not sure if I should go with them or one of the online sellers who have heaps of frags

Just trying to get all my ducks lined up I go on holiday next month and want to start adding more stuff once I'm back in mid Sept

 

[slin1977]

It's a dark side indeed, consider each and every day lucky if you manage to get through unscathed by some form of necrosis. Never pick a favourite SPS as it will most certainly die the next day....
Go with the flow and good luck.
:D
I found that keeping a good healthy colony of nitrifying bacteria will contribute to your ultimate success.

 

[Adam_w]

Been reading up on carbon dosing, is this still a good way to handle things? And is vinegar or vodka the go? alcohol prices in Australia might make vinegar more appealing...

 

[RobbieMVFC]

Been reading up on carbon dosing, is this still a good way to handle things? And is vinegar or vodka the go? alcohol prices in Australia might make vinegar more appealing...

I guess what ever works. I run zeovit products for carbon dosing. I did use vodka on the tank years ago and it served me well.
What's your readings for nitrates and phosphates?

 

[slin1977]

Zeovit Bac and Start would be the best option on the market.

 

[Adam_w]

The Zeovit stuff looks crazy confusing, can I just use those parts?

I've got a bottle of acropower ready for aminos, alk/cal seems to stable at the moment from the 2 part and kalk in the ato. Temperature is stable now, have 2x heaters running, got the weirpro titanium heater from fishstreet with the external controller. Chiller is ready for summer to roll around again, recently upgraded skimmer to the D500, I've had to remove a baffle in my sump and looking to replace it to drop the water level down for the skimmer to work better.

So as far as hardware goes I have everything I need (i think) just need to get my discipline up on the water changes to get it all happening

I'm in the middle of a huge cyano bloom at the moment and can't really work out why, reading few things on various forums say its likely because my nitrate to phosphate ratio is out so my bacteria is unable to remove the phosphates which has left me with this cyano bloom. That's what I get from reading anyway, could be as easy a fix as just doing a water change this weekend and ill siphon as much out as possible I've finally got around to mixing up 40ltr of water

For the past year or longer I've had undetectable nitrate and phosphate on the API kits, upgrading these is my next thing for the SPS. They've served their purpose getting me this far along

Could be wrong but thats the theory I'm working on at the moment.

 

[slin1977]

The Zeovit stuff looks crazy confusing, can I just use those parts?
Yes you can use those two they go hand in hand.
I've got a bottle of acropower ready for aminos, alk/cal seems to stable at the moment from the 2 part and kalk in the ato. Temperature is stable now, have 2x heaters running, got the weirpro titanium heater from fishstreet with the external controller. Chiller is ready for summer to roll around again, recently upgraded skimmer to the D500, I've had to remove a baffle in my sump and looking to replace it to drop the water level down for the skimmer to work better.
I run the same skimmer.

So as far as hardware goes I have everything I need (i think) just need to get my discipline up on the water changes to get it all happening
Weekly 10-15 percent with good quality salt is good husbandry, I use RedSea blue bucket.

I'm in the middle of a huge cyano bloom at the moment and can't really work out why, reading few things on various forums say its likely because my nitrate to phosphate ratio is out so my bacteria is unable to remove the phosphates which has left me with this cyano bloom. That's what I get from reading anyway, could be as easy a fix as just doing a water change this weekend and ill siphon as much out as possible I've finally got around to mixing up 40ltr of water
Go easy on the acro power and other nutrient rich food if you have low coral density.
For the past year or longer I've had undetectable nitrate and phosphate on the API kits, upgrading these is my next thing for the SPS. They've served their purpose getting me this far along
Invest in a hanna phosphate test kit and use salifert for your others, you will need kh, iodide, potassium ,magnesium, calcium and Nitrate test kits, use a refractometer and keep salinity stable.
Could be wrong but thats the theory I'm working on at the moment.

 

[Adam_w]

Yea the water changes has always been my let down, think I just need to find an easier way to do it. Is the Red Sea blue bucket easy to mix up? I've been using the Ultimate Aquacare and it feels like it takes a different amount of salt every time to get the SG right (could just be an idiot though) but this really kills my water change vibes going into the shed daily to add more salt and check the water to get it right.

I've only used 1-2ml of acropower per week at the moment because I've only got the one SPS in there. Still have 2 hammers and a torch as well as a clam so figure it's going somewhere.

So those Hanna kits are the best for phosphate, are they worth the $150?

I've already got Salifert for MG and have been watching that every couple of weeks, NYOS for calcium test kit check that weekly as well. ALK on the API kit, has been stable at 8-9 for a while now even if the kits inaccurate it's still been stable. Also have refractometer for salt levels.


I read the other day a bit more on Carbon dosing, found the Melevs reef article that people keep quoting on the other forums. One guy was dosing a mix of 15ml vodka 15ml vinegar 1 tbsp of sugar. Started dose at .1ml per day, would you see any benefit to a mixture of the 3 or should I just stick to one?

 

[slin1977]

The formula to make you a guru .
Red Sea blue bucket.
Not too much acro power. As you have too much nutrients.
Hanna all the way.
Chase the number of 6.5 kh
Refractometer 1.025
Add zeo bac and start to keep phos and nitrate zero and add more power if the sps are fading. Easy as !!!!!

 

[Adam_w]

Sounds like a plan haha (ill stop trying to weasel out of your advice :P)

 

[Adam_w]

Commitment to the cause! Hanna checker ordered this morning, water change and new baffle install is planned for tonight.

How long should I leave the silicone to cure before restarted the sump?

 

[slin1977]

Commitment to the cause! Hanna checker ordered this morning, water change and new baffle install is planned for tonight.

How long should I leave the silicone to cure before restarted the sump?

24 hours will be good