Equipment checklist?

Boboe77 · Nov 2, 2013

Hello everyone,
I have a 38 gallon reef tank with SPS LPS. I feel like I might be missing some equipment because my SPS aren't growing as fast as I think they should. I have a fan and heater connected to my tank controller so my temp is always perfect. I don't have any power heads. I have LED's for a while that have gotten some growth from my SPS corals. I have a bio pellet reactor and skimmer. Am I missing anything? Also when say my calcium gets low I just pour some liquid calcium in the tank to adjust it, same for ALK and magnesium.

Reefing Madness · Nov 2, 2013

SPS need huge flow. What kind of power and wattage is the LED unit?

Boboe77 · Nov 2, 2013

I have a JBJ unibody LED, it's 54w and I'm running it at about 65 percent, it's about seven inches from the surface of the water.

Reefing Madness · Nov 2, 2013

Enough power, not sure its the right spectrum though.
Need tons of flow, need to add powerheads, or external pumps.
Do you have a Nitrate and Phosphate reading?

Boboe77 · Nov 2, 2013

Ya my nitrate is 0ppm and my phosphate is 0 also. Can I just put a power head pointing strait at the SPS corals? I'm afraid I might have too Much flow.

Reefing Madness · Nov 2, 2013

You'll never have to much flow with SPS.

Flatbrook · Nov 2, 2013

I would be careful with just dumping calcium, Alk, and Mag into your tank.

Boboe77 · Nov 2, 2013

I've considered dosing pumps but my corals cant consume as fast as the dosing pumps put in.

Flameback Pair · Nov 2, 2013

According to Advanced Aquarists Online, lighting is the most important input for corals. Then circulation is second.

cromag27 · Nov 3, 2013

Yikes. Test all parameters - salinity, nitrates, phosphates, magnesium, alkalinity and calcium. As already mentioned, they love high flow. Probably around 30x tank volume for circulation and 10x for turnover. Come back with full water parameters first, that will give us more to go on. Not sure why/how you are dosing for elements if you aren't testing them?

Boboe77 · Nov 3, 2013

Oh I'm testing them and they are all perfect, when say my calcium gets low I just pour a little liquid calcium to bring it up (same for ALK,MAG). I don't think a dosing pump will work cuz my corals don't consume as fast as a dosing pump feeds. Is there any way I can add the calcium in a better way?

cromag27 · Nov 3, 2013

Sorry, need more details first. What does 'perfect' mean?

Boboe77 · Nov 3, 2013

My salinity is 1.030
ALK 8.0 dkh
PH 8.0
Ammonia is 0
Phosphate is 0
Nitrate is 0
Temp stays at 79.0 - 78.2
Magnesium is 1460

I think my magnesium might be a little high.

cromag27 · Nov 3, 2013

Salinity should be 1.026 sg. Mag is not too high imo. What is your ca?

Boboe77 · Nov 3, 2013

Oh and my ca is 440 ppm

cromag27 · Nov 3, 2013

I would raise that to 500, just to give you a little cushion. stability is key. Don't let the levels fluctuate too much.

Next to look at would be flow and lighting. what are you using for these?

Boboe77 · Nov 3, 2013

I have a JBJ 54w LED and it's running at about 65% intensity. I've had it for a year now and it's doing pretty well. I have only the pump that spits out water from the back filtration section for flow

cromag27 · Nov 3, 2013

What return pump are you using and what is the head height?

Boboe77 · Nov 3, 2013

Well it's the one that came with the innovative marine tank.

cromag27 · Nov 3, 2013

As mentioned, you still need circulation in the tank itself. This comes in the form of pumps or a closed loop system. For your setup it would be easiest to buy a couple powerheads. For your tank size tou want at least 1000gph total for circulation.

Ime, sps love metal halide or even t5 or a combo of both. Getting them to grow under leds seems to be a little more tricky and it's only something you can judge on your end.