Beginner with sps

[Hilltopreef90]

I have a 90 gallon aquarium that’s about a month past cycling, currently there’s fish inverts and some soft and lps coral, all doing well.
I’d like to try adding sps and I’m wondering what is a good one for a beginner and is the tank old enough to begin adding a few sps coral.
I have 2 xr30 radions and 2 MP40’s I’m waiting on delivery of a par meter to check par levels in tank so I’m placing corals in the best locations.
Can I get suggestions on sps ?

 

[dcal1985]

I have a 90 gallon aquarium that’s about a month past cycling, currently there’s fish inverts and some soft and lps coral, all doing well.
I’d like to try adding sps and I’m wondering what is a good one for a beginner and is the tank old enough to begin adding a few sps coral.
I have 2 xr30 radions and 2 MP40’s I’m waiting on delivery of a par meter to check par levels in tank so I’m placing corals in the best locations.
Can I get suggestions on sps ?

I’m not plugging any specific retailer, and I’m sure you can find something similar elsewhere, but WWC has a good beginner section that includes SPS.

Easy Beginner Corals

Looking to start your own coral aquarium? World Wide Corals has you covered with our collection of easy to care for beginner corals for sale.

worldwidecorals.com

I started with a monti cap and green birdsnest from them but there are plenty of options. Best of luck!

 

[i cant think]

I have a 90 gallon aquarium that’s about a month past cycling, currently there’s fish inverts and some soft and lps coral, all doing well.
I’d like to try adding sps and I’m wondering what is a good one for a beginner and is the tank old enough to begin adding a few sps coral.
I have 2 xr30 radions and 2 MP40’s I’m waiting on delivery of a par meter to check par levels in tank so I’m placing corals in the best locations.
Can I get suggestions on sps ?

I would say 6 months minimum (My 4’ tank was Atleast 18 months through being up before it could grow sps) I would say for beginner SPS look at:
- Montipora capricornis,
- Montipora digitata,
- Montipora crassituberculata,
(Basically any of the common Montipora corals),
- Seriatopora hystrix,
- Seriatopora guttatus,
(Essentially any birds nest corals)
I’ll add more onto the list in a few minutes

 

[jhuntstl]

Stylophora, Seriatopora, Pocillopora, and many of the Montipora are good ones to start with.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

I would say 6 months minimum (My 4’ tank was Atleast 18 months through being up before it could grow sps) I would say for beginner SPS look at:
- Montipora capricornis,
- Montipora digitata,
- Montipora crassituberculata,
(Basically any of the common Montipora corals),
- Seriatopora hystrix,
- Seriatopora guttatus,
(Essentially any birds nest corals)
I’ll add more onto the list in a few minutes

So it’s best to wait 6 months before trying to add sps ? In the beginning of my start in the hobby I never headed advice about waiting and the importance of waiting and having an established tank. I learned the hard way and this time around I’m listening

 

[i cant think]

So it’s best to wait 6 months before trying to add sps ? In the beginning of my start in the hobby I never headed advice about waiting and the importance of waiting and having an established tank. I learned the hard way and this time around I’m listening

If you want acros then yes it is best to wait a minimum of 4 but 6 is better
Some of the corals I mentioned can go into tank 1 week old - I don’t recommend it though but it is possible

 

[jhuntstl]

So it’s best to wait 6 months before trying to add sps ? In the beginning of my start in the hobby I never headed advice about waiting and the importance of waiting and having an established tank. I learned the hard way and this time around I’m listening

I don't think its necessary to wait on the hardier stuff. That doesn't mean it's easy, though. You can't get too comfortable with stonies in a cycling tank. It will die or look like crap for a while if you're not making an effort to keep some stability.

 

[dcal1985]

So it’s best to wait 6 months before trying to add sps ? In the beginning of my start in the hobby I never headed advice about waiting and the importance of waiting and having an established tank. I learned the hard way and this time around I’m listening

My understanding is that the recommendation to wait that long is based on the fact that beginners often make mistakes that lead to algae outbreaks, stability issues, etc. I’m fairly new to this as well but I’m working from home and pretty much monitoring my tank 24/7 so I feel ok about adding some hardier SPS.

 

[i cant think]

My understanding is that the recommendation to wait that long is based on the fact that beginners often make mistakes that lead to algae outbreaks, stability issues, etc. I’m fairly new to this as well but I’m working from home and pretty much monitoring my tank 24/7 so I feel ok about adding some hardier SPS.

Most of it is based on the algae out breaks yes but also trying to keep slightly dirtier water (It’s surprising but a lot of the harder sps need dirtier water then people think, an example of this is the strawberry shortcake). Then you have the other side of highend sps which need pristine water and when trying to mix both it becomes probably more difficult than trying to keep a moorish idol

 

[i cant think]

For birdsnest corals, Seriatopora hystrix and seriatopora calliendrum are the most common ones to be found in captivity, poccilopora is another easy going SPS coral (As mentioned above), Acropora formosa, Acropora nobilis, and Acropora yongei are the weeds of acropora, they can grow in almost any condition - I have owned A. formosa I’m pretty sure and that was a 5” tall frag at 2 months old (The tank was 18 months at the time I bought it but I have a bet one would survive in a 1 month old tank since these a true weeds in the right conditions, and the conditions aren’t hard to match either). A lot of the Planet and ORA available acroporas are suited for beginners but these need closer to 4 month old tanks.

 

[PatW]

If you have coralline algae growth that is a good sign. For me, the easiest SPS has been montipora. Mine have gone wild.

I have found pocillipora to be hardy and fast growing. You get big colonies with them.

Birds nests are really fast growing and are pretty hardy but a big swing can and will kill them (and the pocillipora and montipora don’t even notice.

Oddly enough, some acropora are more hardy to swings than birds nests but they all seem to grow slower.

So I would suggest a montipora, a pocillipora, a birdsnest to start. Do not buy anything that is expensive. I don’t know where you want to go as an end point.

If you get to where you want to get into Acropora - Randy at Battlecorals can make up a nice starter pack of hardy acropora for you.

 

[KevinC]

i do not suggest acropora. Any other sps is acceptable, but acropora really should not be added before 6 months, expecially with dry rock (if that’s what you started with)