Getting into sps

GHOSTLY · Sep 22, 2022

I have about a year of experience in reefing but recently had to shut down my tanks. Luckily some of the coral are still alive but I'm planning to shut it down and go for sps dominant. The tank is a fluval flex 15g (cause I'm not a fan of the evo) and I was wondering a few things.
-Does anyone have any nano sps tanks that they'd like to show
-does anyone have any advice for parameters
-what lighting do you use
Sorry for the long thread I just need to gather information fast

reefnfun · Sep 22, 2022

Welcome to SPS I cannot help you because my tank is a 240. The key is to keep the water stable and watch your Alk.

Good Luck

Lavey29 · Sep 22, 2022

A simple Google search or thread search here will provide you all the info you need but to give you a headstart it takes a tank 6 months to a year to be ready for SPS unless you are a very experienced reefer and know how to really manage parameters.

GHOSTLY · Sep 22, 2022

reefnfun said:
Welcome to SPS I cannot help you because my tank is a 240. The key is to keep the water stable and watch your Alk.

Good Luck

Do you use any special gear? Fuges, reactors, etc

GHOSTLY · Sep 22, 2022

Lavey29 said:
A simple Google search or thread search here will provide you all the info you need but to give you a headstart it takes a tank 6 months to a year to be ready for SPS unless you are a very experienced reefer and know how to really manage parameters.

The issue is I can't find too much on a specific method. I'm not sure if I should keep the tank with nothing in it till it stabizes or keep fish and easier stuff in it

Lavey29 · Sep 22, 2022

GHOSTLY said:
The issue is I can't find too much on a specific method. I'm not sure if I should keep the tank with nothing in it till it stabizes or keep fish and easier stuff in it

A fish tank is boring with out fish and if you start with some basic soft and LPS corals you will learn the hobby requirements so after a year then you can try some easier SPS corals.

GHOSTLY · Sep 22, 2022

Lavey29 said:
A fish tank is boring with out fish and if you start with some basic soft and LPS corals you will learn the hobby requirements so after a year then you can try some easier SPS corals.

I've kept salt water tanks before and coral for a year. Its just now I wanna go sps dominant so im not sure what I should do. This was 4m before I shut it down

Lavey29 · Sep 22, 2022

GHOSTLY said:
I've kept salt water tanks before and coral for a year. Its just now I wanna go sps dominant so im not sure what I should do. This was 4m before I shut it down

Going to be awhile before you can introduce SPS successfully unless you are a very advanced reefer. Patience is the name of the game in this hobby.

thatmanMIKEson · Sep 22, 2022

GHOSTLY said:
I've kept salt water tanks before and coral for a year. Its just now I wanna go sps dominant so im not sure what I should do. This was 4m before I shut it down

Is that a forest fire digitata? An sps, if you kept that tank stable and successful as the picture for any amount of time, Im Sure you could start having sps, just take it slow start with easy sps and build onto your collection as time goes on and things continue to be successful. It's not as difficult as many put it out to be, best thing to do is to do it. Experience waits for no one.

Lavey29 · Sep 22, 2022

GHOSTLY said:
I've kept salt water tanks before and coral for a year. Its just now I wanna go sps dominant so im not sure what I should do. This was 4m before I shut it down

Yea I remember your numerous posts before. You had one problem after another which is indicative of inexperience and probably why your tank was shut down GHA if I remember correctly. So diving straight into SPS with a new tank set up will most likely lead to another unsuccessful outing. Take it slow, get the tank up and running, add a couple fish and easy corals. Work on refining your skills and building your knowledge and experience. The tank will let you know when it's ready for SPS then you will be happy with your accomplishments.

HudsonReefer2.0 · Sep 22, 2022

Just do what u have been doing with that system. U have sps in there.

GHOSTLY · Sep 22, 2022

Lavey29 said:
Yea I remember your numerous posts before. You had one problem after another which is indicative of inexperience and probably why your tank was shut down GHA if I remember correctly. So diving straight into SPS with a new tank set up will most likely lead to another unsuccessful outing. Take it slow, get the tank up and running, add a couple fish and easy corals. Work on refining your skills and building your knowledge and experience. The tank will let you know when it's ready for SPS then you will be happy with your accomplishments.

Actually I got over those issues. I moved houses so I shut down my tank

Lavey29 · Sep 22, 2022

GHOSTLY said:
Actually I got over those issues. I moved houses so I shut down my tank

Best of luck with your new set up

jmichaelh7 · Sep 23, 2022

Set up a calcium reactor and the rest is history

GHOSTLY · Sep 23, 2022

jmichaelh7 said:
Set up a calcium reactor and the rest is history

What parameters do you keep in your tank?

jmichaelh7 · Sep 23, 2022

GHOSTLY said:
What parameters do you keep in your tank?

Carx is at around 45 bubbles per minute . Effluent is around 60ml

dkh 7.8- 8 dkh
Calcium 460- 500
Magnesium 1450- 1500
Ph 8.38- 8.4 constantly changing co2 scrubber media
salinity / specific gravity 1.026
Temperature 78 - 81 t5 shut off past 81

I test trace elements monthly : potassium, iron, and dose reef trace with iron supplement weekly because I have the h380 on 24/7

i religiously do 10% water change on 190g system weekly. Corals seem to like it and fish .

I wipe my UV sterilizer sleeve every 4-5 months to keep it working 100%.

I believe i have over 20k gph of flow . 2 mp40 and 2 Gyre xf350. It really helps with sps. I am mainly sps dominated with exception of goniopora and a torch and zoas. Everything else would not withstand so much flow

I can say I had 2 years with a tank manual dosing. I broke down and upgraded and the next 2 years was with calcium reactor. I can’t even compare the growth every sps I drop in the tank takes off. I am sure the stability plays a huge factor . My wife also notices that the carx is the main factor