Are Vegas strong enough for SPS?

[johnacharles93]

According to local fish store, no they are not. Which is the reason this is brown?

It wasn't opened up on the top of my reef so I moved it lower. It's supposed to be a green tip birds nest.

What are your guys opinions?
Are my Vegas too weak?
Can my dream of owning SPS not be possible?

 

[Hypnotize]

it looks dead or near to death. Maybe it was lightshocked so to much light? The Vega has a lot of power don´t underestimate them.

 

[johnacharles93]

I took that piece back to the LFS and he told me I'd like that because my lights wernt as strong as theirs. What can I do to bring it back

 

[GHill762]

more details.. what size tank is the vega on? specifically how deep? what % are they running? how far off the tank?

vegas are plenty powerful, I'd be more inclined to say nutrient or parameter shock..

 

[johnacharles93]

The tank is a 46 gallon bow front. It is 24 inches deep.
The lights are suspended 12 inches above the tank, and have been running at 80 percent.

Calcium: between 400-420
Alkalinity: between 9 and 11

Recently have had an algae bloom. But it's beginning to go away.
All of my other corals are looking perfect.

 

[will2629]

I agree with ghill I have vegas and grow all kinds of sps and run my blues at 75 whites 35 r25 g25 and haven't had a problem

 

[johnacharles93]

Really? I'm running all of them at 50 percent now.

 

[ritter6788]

Alk between 9 and 11 is no good. It can be 9 or 11 but not swinging between the 2 especially with montipora.

Are you dosing anything at all?

 

[CKI]

If your local fish store claims vegas arent string enough to keep SPS, I would find another store that has more knowledge.

 

[johnacharles93]

Yeah I'm dosing but only when the levels get low

 

[ritter6788]

Yeah I'm dosing but only when the levels get low

Sps will fare much better if levels are rock solid. Alk swings up and down can be hard on sps.

 

[johnacharles93]

Okay should I dose everyday

 

[ritter6788]

Make sure to test often to make sure you aren't overdosing too. I'd look into some type of dosing method. Kalkwasser, 2 part dosing or calcium reactor if you want to keep sps.

 

[johnacharles93]

Could you explain what the two reactors do?

 

[RedReefer]

Yeah I'm dosing but only when the levels get low

You need to dose equal amounts of the two part daily. So test for a week or so figure out the ml and dose both equal. If alk drops cal only drops a little but you still need to dose equal amounts. I think stability is causing your birdsnest to rtn. I can guarantee its not your lights. Its possible to they burned at first under your vegas. It really depends on what lights they were under before you purchased it. If it was the lights it should be healing by now so it points to swings in parameters.