Factors that explain why new tanks (<1yr) typically cannot support SPS

[markalot]

I've struggled in newer tanks but usually due to measurable stability issues.

My working assumption is that it's lack of food in the water puts additional stress on the acros. If everything else is stable then they will do ok, if you have a lot of fish they will do ok, if you feed heavy they will do ok. Any mistakes, not ok. As a tank ages the tolerance for small mistakes increases. Again, this has to do with the overall health of the acro.

New tank, sterile water, unstable parameters, stressed frags, new lighting ... that's a recipe for failure.

 

[Foothill Corals]

I've struggled in newer tanks but usually due to measurable stability issues.

My working assumption is that it's lack of food in the water puts additional stress on the acros. If everything else is stable then they will do ok, if you have a lot of fish they will do ok, if you feed heavy they will do ok. Any mistakes, not ok. As a tank ages the tolerance for small mistakes increases. Again, this has to do with the overall health of the acro.

New tank, sterile water, unstable parameters, stressed frags, new lighting ... that's a recipe for failure.

I do agree with all this but I think it has a lot more to do with the experience of the reefer than the age of the tank.

Give a new reefer a year old tank and they will probably still fail with acros.
Give an old reefer a new tank and they will more than likely make it work.

 

[Jaysushi]

I was one of the lucky few that started a new cube with dry rock. I decided to go bare bottom on this setup.
I cycled the tank with Fritz TurboStart and waited 3-4 weeks before I added my first fish which was a blue damsel. He is still alive and well to this very day.
I guess experience does play a factor in it to some degree. Shortly after, I added a Kessil H380 and a small ball of chaeto into my sump. The chaeto began to grow pretty quick. I only feed once a day during the middle of the day because it fits my work schedule. I also run BRS ROX 0.8 carbon in BRS' small reactor.
I currently have a few acros and sps in my tank. My Walt Disney is actually encrusting the frag plug pretty quick.

The one thing I did notice about this setup that is different than my previous ones is that I stopped messing with stuff and just tried my best to keep things stable and consistent. I do bi-weekly 7g water changes in a system that has roughly 75g overall volume. So far so good!

 

[Lasse]

I think a lot of problems are caused by overreacting to tests which may or not be as accurate as we think they are.

10000000000000 + on this

Sincerely Lasse

 

[MnFish1]

New tank, sterile water, unstable parameters, stressed frags, new lighting ... that's a recipe for failure.

BTW - to me - the key is not new tank, sterile water stressed frags or lighting - its unstable parameters. One thing I forgot to mention - A smaller tank - without the proper testing, etc - accuracy, frequency knowledge is far harder to keep than a large tank - which is more forgiving. If you mis-dose alkalinity one time based on an incorrect test - you can kill the tank. If the temperature rises or drops significantly - due to faulty equipment - it will drop far more quickly in a 10 gallon vs a 200 gallon tank. Similar problems with filtration/power failures, etc. To me keeping a 100gallon tank with acros after a month is far easier than doing the same with a 5 gallon tank.

Another quick comment - how do people set up tanks at aquarium shows? without everything dying? How do new aquarium LFS set up tanks they surely dont wait a year... This is where I agree with @brandon429 - cleaning sand/rocks, etc does not cause a disaster - maybe he can comment?

 

[acro-ed]

I recently set up a new 80g frag tank. I used some new rock, some old rock, and 75% of the water I took from my display tank to fill it. I put a couple easy acros in (mature colonies that were taking up too much space in another system) at about 6 weeks. I'm now at 10 weeks and they're growing like crazy already. I started getting coralline on the glass at about 6 weeks also, which is my personal indicator for a tank being "ready" for sps.

As to factors I think were important here: some amount of rock with stable/mature bacteria population, quality light/flow, stable parameters (temp, nutrients, chems). I don't think there is a definite timeline that is applicable across all systems. If you have the above they're going to grow. That timeline could be anywhere from "immediately" to 1 year. I felt comfortable at 6 weeks with this particular system and I guessed correctly.

 

[Reefmx]

I lost more than 10 frags trying to keep SPS. My tank is just 6 months old. And the cycle of algae is strong so I believe is not stability

 

[Jon Fishman]

I'm not quite sure, but I do have a picture that might show something about rock maturity.

I may not have the years of experience..... but thanks to a local fish shop I have rocks with the same beautiful coloration of the one on the right.



I think with the disposable resources available to some, you could start pretty much any size tank from scratch and put SPS in it within weeks without a problem. They make enough systems to pump in pretty much every beneficial nutrient, and filter out every problematic waste-product.... Nice established rock/substrate and good flow are certainly a cheaper alternative to having a NASA command center in your house to grow fancy underwater calcium deposits!

 

[Mark Novack]

Maturation of a closed system is a known fact but there is not a lot of hard research on what exactly is happening with the chemistry week to week.

Speculation? The deep interior of the rock and porous filter material takes many months to establish circulation and continues a slow change to a completely stable nitrifying environment. Rock density should directly effect the internal maturation time.

Other factors? Everyone is different. With a large choice of magic start up additives and ideas to speed up the initial cycle it gets even harder to make any sound assumptions. Chasing parameters and the constant adjusting to achieve the "ideal" PH and other more difficult balances are also going to make life difficult for needy species of coral. Once parameter chasing frustration subsides and the tank is just left alone save for water changes, things seem to improve quickly.

The parameter that swings the most seems to be the KH of the system when new. That is the one parameter so easy to test and correct that directly effects calcium availability. Also, Magnesium must be established and checked until it remains in the desired range. 1300-1400 mg, 400-450 ca, 12-14 on KH. This KH range is what I have observed working very well causing coraline to erupt and good all around growth.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

This is such a loaded question, it’s like what came first the chicken or the egg? When I started My 240 I used 90% live rock and all live sand. I let it cycle for 90 days and I then put in one of my fish from my old tank.
The tanks success has so many variables that one possibly can’t answer. If a brand new reefer does everything right then he has no issues. But for example I did most things the old way and was patient. I have had pretty good success with my tank only being roughly 15-16 months old. The whole top section is mostly sps and yes I lost a few, but I the ones that have survived have grown like crazy. Now with that said st this point in stage I’m having more issues with lps and softies because I do have a mixed reef.

If an individual wants the tank to be successful then they will do what it takes to do that. It’s not an easy hobby, and some have to ask for help. I still have to ask for help on some things and my undergrad is marine biology. Do I know everything, not even close. But I have learned from my mistakes pretty quickly. We also have to determine upon each person what is the definition of success in growing sps? Does it have to look like the Jason fox signature corals, or wwc corals? As long as I love coming home to my tank every night and being able to enjoy it, then it’s a success to me.

People should not look at these failures in a negative way, instead learn from them because they provide invaluable knowledge. It opens a new door to become even more successful in the art of and science of keeping a reef.

 

[Stigigemla]

I believe very much in tests. But there is 1 more important rule: If it aint broken - dont fix it.

Test. Very important: Repeat the test. I you get different values You know that You need to exercise more. Dont use outdated tests.
Think. Is this value impacting the tank. If yes:
Think. What can I do to correct this. If You dont know dont do anything before You have learned it.

And for every beginner: Use the Kiss method. Do everything in an as simple way as possible.
Dont use use the fancy stuff as computer before You know Your tests and Your tank perfectly.
Wait a month before You change the light settings.

 

[jda]

Not to diverge from the topic, but I'd still be very curious to know why the aged rock grows Coraline so much better than new rock.

Most dry/dead rock has higher terrestrial phosphate levels and also even sometimes bound organics. Calcification of any coral is inhibited by higher N and P levels, but it differs for each organism. For coralline, the best growth is from very low N and P levels. Since the rocks tend to release P, this inhibits the coralline growth on them. This is similar to the people who experience only hair algae growth on these same rocks where the P is more abundant in proximity.

 

[RajV]

From my personal journey, being totally new to this hobby i will add a qualifier
Factors that explain why new tanks (<1yr) typically cannot support SPS for NOOBS

I did a lot of video watching and reading before even buying my tank. Honestly i got myself wired wrong on sps vs lps , that took a while to be rectified. My understanding was to maintain ca mg ph . Didn't understand there was ph and then there was dKH. I thought chaeto and skimmer was an essential element but never understood what nutrient export really meant. Prayed and Prayed for coraline algae but never understood the science of water. Watched my sps being happy and got some expensive ones only to realize my sps was indeed lps. I kept eyeballing one resilient coral and thought nothing is wrong with my water parameters therefore the others not doing well has to do with lights and flow . Tinkered with lights and flow for a while before realizing its the water. Learnt phosphate and nitrate are needed but had zero nitrates. Manual dosing from time to time was causing swings that are not a recipe for the long run. Added a doser and accidentally overdosed trying to calibrate a wrong channel . I needed to do a 50 percent water change and realised im ill prepared for a sudden water change. All of these mistakes took a good part of the year to commit and eventually start grasping the science. I know can eyeball my tank and feel the corals are healthy or I need to run my tests .Im still learning. And yes Ive started to frag and sell some of it, and gift a few to my LFS which has given me a lot of joy

 

[DesertReefT4r]

There is so much that comes into play here I think. When I started reef keeping real Fiji, Tong, Kalini, Pukani live rock was the rule. Real live rock shipped wet or dampish from a reef in the ocean was readily available at the time. Dry rock and man made rock was around but still a newer idea and the only people I saw using it at the time where experienced reefers who got sick of pests that can come on live rock. Success with sps was not really an issue but these were experienced hobbiest and in some cases clean pest free live rock was used to seed the dry rock. Algae and bacterial issues are pretty common with newer dry rock tanks. An experienced reefer would know how to deal with problems like this and a new reefer would have no clue what to do and many make things worst just due to lack of knowledge. I started my current tank 10 months ago with what was live rock but was removed from a reef tank and cooked in an unlit bin for several months, so it was bacterial heavy but showed little to no life and was very clean. I cycle the tank long and slow with no lights for 3 months, adding some fish at 2 months. First corals went in at 4-5 months and first sps a month after that. I have had a 99% coral survival rate, lost a few zoa polyps and 2 acan heads off multi polyp frags and 0 sps losses, knock on wood. The whole time I kept the tank stable, temp, salinty, alk, cal and mg, took my time and just watched the tank. The 1 year to keeping sps is no accurate at all and every tank is different and develops different as well as each person has a different experience level and method to reef keeping.
My tank at the beginning and most current as of a few weeks ago. And a pic of the rock up close right after itmwas put in the tank.

 

[danreefman]

It all depends on how much of a enthusiast you are as well (are we talking birds nest, monti's, and pocci's? Or milli's, turaki's, echinata's, ect?) Tanks go through cycles. Especially starting with all dead rock. The longer you wait, the better off you'll be. I love this hobby for teaching me patience. Sometimes you just need to hurry up and slow down!!!