My SPS keeping plan

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Hellow all, I have had many dificulties keeping sps in the past and have decided to make a plan and keep a log of my parameters to help obtain constructive criticism and advice.

First off is the issue of flow. Previousely when keeping sps I do not feel that my flow was adequite with only about a 15x turnover rate in a 75 gallon. I have since hopefully solved that issue by adding 3 Korila # wich each push around 800 GPH and I now have around a 35x turnover rate.

Next is my issue with parameters. In the past I had not been a consistant tester and I feel that some of my main issues have come from not keeping constant parameters. To help solve this problem I have ordered a LaMotte calcium, alkalinity, and phosphate test to help keep these parameters in line. Also tommorow I plan on ordering the Two Part starter package to keep my Alkalinity and Calcium in check


If you have any advice or see flaws in my plan please post! :D
 
You should also include magnesium testing/correction to your plan. What are your current levels for Ca,Alk,Mg, Nitrate, Phosphates/silicates. Keep in mind that even if you don't get a reading for phosphates, it could be getting bound up by microslgae or nuisance algae so running a phosphate remover along with carbon is recommended. You also need to figure your daily Ph and temp swings and get those under control is needed.

Cheers,
 
I picked up a few spray bars from Neptunes 2nd hand room and I love them. I put the in the corners of my 140g aiming towards the center and I get great flow along with the standard returns.
 
Thanks for the advice guys 8) When I order my two part I'll tag along and grab a magnesium test. My current PH is at 8.2 and temp runs from 78-80 threw the day. Also my nitrates have been hovering at a steady 10ppm
 
Any chance you can throw in some photos as well? I find it best way to see progress is to take regular shots monthly of each coral.
 
Nick - Im sorry to hear about your troubles with sps. Could you elaborate on what your corals are doing? The big things for me are: cal/mag/phos/temp/Kh/flow. My temp is maintained by an Aqualogic 1/3hp chiller so I dont worry about that very much. but as for the other items I myself only check Kh on a day by bases and usually only ever second or third day. I have a deltec 601S reactor that I run "almost" full open so I dont worry at all about my cal/mag. I run Rowaphos on a 24/7 bases and run super activated carbon 1 week/month. My Kh stays up around 12-13. I "try" to do monthly water changes and do around 35g. My tank is a 135g. I run a wavebox and 3 tunze powerheads and each are over 2000gph. With all the above stated Ive had much success. I know that some of the items mentioned are very expensive but on a positive note Korallia is coming out with models 5,6,7, and 8. The model 8 is over 3000gph and will only be $170. These lower prices should help out alot of hobbyists get alot more flow for 1/3 the price. Hope all goes well and if you need anymore help please dont hesitate to ask.
 
A lot of my problem I think is high alk and calcium. The tips of my more sensative SPS all start to erode and the frag soon starts to STN after that.

My less sensative SPS have all done very well for a few months but start to RTN out of nowhere.

When I get the two part and start to gradually lower alkalinity and raise calcium I think a lot of my problems will be solved. I only have about 2 degree temp swings from 78-80 a day so nothings really wrong there.

On a side note do you think that the 3 korila 3's will be enough flow? Thanks for all the help guys its really made a diffrence!
 
Nick I would have to say that 3 korallia 3's arent enough flow for sps in a 75g (but this isnt necessarily your problem). I would have at least a 2000gph pump on each side of that tank. do you have a top off system working for you or are you manually adding water.

I seriously have so much flow in my tank the top of my water moves almost like the ocean. I will try to take a video of it and maybe post it if i can
 
I don't have many sps left as of now. I have a tri color vilida that I got from Ryan (servo) a green slimer from ryan and the pink montipora you gave me. I suffered heavey losses when I went down to A&M for 3 weeks to go take classes at the vet college.
 
Ouch! Once you feel that you have your tank in balance let me know and I will replace most if not all of the coral you got from me.
 
Nick - why dont you pm frank with frank's tanks or robert with fish2morrow and see if they can take a sample of your water and make sure your chemistry is ok. Im sure they can help you and get you back on the right track.
 
I've met both Frank and Robert and they are awesome people. Once I get my LaMotte and Salifert kits in I'll bring a sample down to Roberts store as they are much closer and have them double check my tests.

I know my levels aren't off by a lot because all of my anemones, acans and other LPS are doing fine.

Also thankyou so much for your offer to replace my corals that would mean a lot... and once my chemistry is back in place you can bet that I will be buying some more frag packs from you. :D
 
Hmmm have you ordered the LaMotte tests yet??? If not, I would go with the Elos instead. I used LaMotte ca, alk, nitrate and PO4 and the only one I liked was the Nitrate test. The ca was a pain to read, the alk was off by as much as 1.5dkh at times and the PO4 takes forever to do.

Here is my story on my difficulty getting SPS to thrive.... versions may vary depending on how much I drink but here it is.

I had a heck of a time for about 6 months. I lost more than I kept happy. I drove people crazy trying to figure out what the issues were. I very nearly cried on Franks shoulder telling him I was going to give it up at one point....

So here is what I did.... I nailed the test kit issue. Bam. I got kits that I trusted and ones that were easy to read. I verified them with any number of other kits and sources etc.

I got my alk stable at 9-9.5 dkh.
I got my ca stable at 460ppm
I got my mg stable at 1350+.

I pulled my Kalk reactor offline to avoid any 'powder' residue getting into the tank.

I purchased a reliable and accurate dosing system (LiterMeter III) and spent 2 weeks dialing the danged thing in. Now my parms flux very little.

I added 1.5 hours of MH.

I doubled almost tripled my feeding, pushing my DSB and Skimmer to the max.

I added a fuge with Macro.

I started doing more frequent, but smaller water changes. I am now doing weekly 30G. My main system is 260G total.

I lowered my temps to 78-79 instead of 78-80.

I slowly increased flow on the vortecs, they now run full on reef crest mode. I have 2 on my 140 (4x2x28") tank.

That's it..... I won't point my finger at one thing, though I did notice a huge improvement with the dosing and lighting/feeding changes.

So my advice to you is to focus on parameters being stable in the ranges you want. Don't focus on a perfect number, just a stable number you like.

If you start dosing daily... dose frequently in small quantities instead of once or twice a day if possible. If not, consider investing in a dosing system of some sort.

Feed your tank as much as your tank can handle and maintain low nitrates and PO4.
 
@8x8nhl wrote:
I know my levels aren't off by a lot because all of my anemones said:
All of the above are things that can live in "unclean" water. by this I mean that sps have to have very clean water that is low in phospates and nutrients. If I was you......for the next couple of months I would do a 10g water change per week. This should bring whatever problem you are having with nutrients back in check.
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Thanks for the advice DaveJ I still need a magnesium test kit and will get an elos instead of slaifert. Currently I am doing 10 gallon water changes per week so I will keep it up.
 
My lamotte calcium and alkalinity tests have arived and I testing as I write. As of now my alkalinity is on the low side (7 dkh) and the calcium tests is not done yet. On the brightside my nitrates are at 10 testes with a salifert kit.
 
@8x8nhl wrote:
My lamotte calcium and alkalinity tests have arived and I testing as I write. As of now my alkalinity is on the low side (7 dkh) and the calcium tests is not done yet. On the brightside my nitrates are at 10 testes with a salifert kit. said:
I would suggest not trying to bring these up until after mag is known and brought in-line first. :) So regrdless of where you are at with Ca/Alk you should test magnesium, if it's 1350-1400ppm then it's fine, you can then buffer up Ca/Alk. If mag is low, buffer it up(no more than 100ppm daily), then recheck Ca/Alk after 24hrs, if still low buffer accordingly....if high then let it come down naturally (which will also tell you the daily consumption rate). :D

Cheers,
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