Looking for some advice from an sps reefer

Nohva · Nov 1, 2013

Hello everyone,
I've missed out on a lot of reef club meetings in the last few months because I was getting married and hope to jump back in soon. I thought I would send out a not so urgent call for help in regards to my main reef tank. I haven't had any luck with sps coral at all. I've only tried putting a few in my tank over the last year but each one has slowly died. I can easily grow softies and LPS and most look great aside from the occasional zoa melt. My equipment should definitely be able to handle SPS growth, so I think it might just be the way I have things set up. I do regular water changes and will dose if needed. Just kinda bummed out that I cant grow ANY sps.

So on to the call for help. Is there anyone in the Murfreesboro area that is a "Veteran" of SPS and could swing by my apartment and give me a few pointers. Any help at all would be great. I was thinking that maybe someone would see something I'm doing that's silly or not quite right.

Thanks for your time guys (and ladies),
Thomas

pickupman66 · Nov 1, 2013

well, for one, there are alot of our members in your area, so that should not be an issue. For those of us that are not, Can you list some details of your lights, filtration, additives, and most importantly test results for your Alkalinity, Calcium, Nitrates and Phosphates. How much flow do you have in your tank? SPS in general like ALOT of flow. most of those that are successful with them have them in tanks with 50X turnover or greater.

lastly, please keep in mind there is more than 1 way to skin a cat. Same goes for growing Corals. we all will have different opinions and methods of getting our sticks to grow.

Dowtish · Nov 1, 2013

PM Sent

Nohva · Nov 7, 2013

Alright here we go!

I have 2 Kessil A360w over my 75g tank. For filtration my overflow is ran through a filter sock first thing in my sump. I have an Eshopps S-120 protein skimmer and also run biopellets, GFO, and Carbon in separate reactors.

Additives right now are the BRS Cal,Alk, and Mag. I haven't really need to dose to much other than Mag. I'm not sure if its because my tank isn't really pulling the stuff out of the water or if my water changes are replenishing the little that is getting depleted.

For flow I have a Mag 7 return pump and 2 Tunze 6055s.

Here are my test results from tonight just to give an example of where everything usually is.

CAL: 420
ALK: 9 dkh
MAG: 1120
Amm: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phospate: 0.00 (only hannah checker I have)

MAG is low to me but everything else looks ok?

I understand that everyone has had success in different ways but I'm just looking for some general observations from people that have more experience than myself. Any advice I can get would be very much appreciated. I'm also dealing with the largest diatom bloom I've ever had and its driving me nuts!

Thanks again!
[h=1][/h]

bct15 · Nov 7, 2013

Mag should not be getting used faster then alk and cal. If you are only having to dose mag I would verify your test kit with a friends, mag test kits go bad fast. How much flow does a tunze 6055 make?

Nohva · Nov 8, 2013

Its a controllable flow rate 250-1450 GPH each. I've got them and the lights controlled thru an apex.

Dowtish · Nov 8, 2013

What salt are you using?

Nohva · Nov 8, 2013

I've just been using premixed water from AC. I've been thinking about getting an RODI system soon and mixing my own. Living in an apartment has put me off on it so far.

Dowtish · Nov 8, 2013

Nohva said:
I've just been using premixed water from AC. I've been thinking about getting an RODI system soon and mixing my own. Living in an apartment has put me off on it so far.

When I come by I will show you how to do it very easily under the sink. You will get your money back on the investment in 2 weeks considering what you spend to drive up there and all the things you buy by default of just being there. haha

Tennsquire · Nov 8, 2013

You can get an adapter at HD or Lowe's and run it in your sink. When I was in grad school and living an an apt, I ran it off of my bathroom sink with the unit and the collection bucket in the shower in case I forgot about it and it overflowed (which happened from time to time). I've run the RO off of the cold water outlet from the washer before as well (during the colder months). There are options, and Chris is right; you'll recoup your investment quickly and you'll know the quality of the water you're using.

cee · Nov 8, 2013

I'm not knocking any LFS but my experience with LFS-produced saltwater has been mediocre. I've seen systems without DI resins used and systems with pretty high TDS. Might explain why the nitrates are at 5 ppm. Also, I'm not a big believer in biopellets. Just doesn't seem to me like there's enough surface area to breed a large enough bacteria population and nitrate-reducing bacteria tend to favor anerobic conditions anyways. I'm sure that comment will start a debate LOL.

Dave