Losing Battle with SPS

[Justfebreezeit]

I will have to kindly disagree. I have two prime HD’s on a reefer 170 running Saxby at 35% reduction and my couple acros are growing like crazy as well as my montipora and birds nest. They do a lot more than people think. Granted I have much more LPS than SPS but up top they are killing it and I don’t have anything too light hungry but everything is far from starving. I think the OP has other issues.

I agree light isn't his only problem but you have 2 primes over a 24x20 area. That's 12x10 each light. He's trying to cover a lot more area.

 

[Crustaceon]

I will have to kindly disagree. I have two prime HD’s on a reefer 170 running Saxby at 35% reduction and my couple acros are growing like crazy as well as my montipora and birds nest. They do a lot more than people think. Granted I have much more LPS than SPS but up top they are killing it and I don’t have anything too light hungry but everything is far from starving. I think the OP has other issues.

Second this. I used to instal AI’s on customer tanks and then return to periodically maintain those same tanks. They absolutely grow acros.

 

[Crustaceon]

I will have to kindly disagree. I have two prime HD’s on a reefer 170 running Saxby at 35% reduction and my couple acros are growing like crazy as well as my montipora and birds nest. They do a lot more than people think. Granted I have much more LPS than SPS but up top they are killing it and I don’t have anything too light hungry but everything is far from starving. I think the OP has other issues.

Second this. I used to install AI’s on customer tanks and then returned to periodically maintain those same tanks. They absolutely grow acros.

 

[golfman99]

I will have to kindly disagree. I have two prime HD’s on a reefer 170 running Saxby at 35% reduction and my couple acros are growing like crazy as well as my montipora and birds nest. They do a lot more than people think. Granted I have much more LPS than SPS but up top they are killing it and I don’t have anything too light hungry but everything is far from starving. I think the OP has other issues.

You only have a few acros which when most people talk about primes and sps most are wanting to grow acros which need the most light out of sps. Good luck though your one of few who’s doing good with sps them! I talked to a ai guy awhile back and he said the primes were designed with frag tanks for swaps and nano tanks in mind.

 

[Duffer]

here's my light schedule after ramp up

 

[Duffer]

i have chalise, lps, muchrooms,blasto's that all are doing great

 

[Hemmdog]

LTC sucks for acros. I had stn isssues as well. Changed my settings to pulse. Nothing has died since. 70% 0.8s ramp up. On my 90. 2 gyres & a mp10 80% short pulse as well.

 

[Sumo Reef]

Params sound good - maybe lower phos a little but dont think that would be your issue. Can we get a Front Tank Shot picture of your tank?

 

[Duffer]

This was a while ago, another gyre pump installed and the SPS corals are dead

 

[Johnson556]

No where near enough light, Alk could be viewed as a little high for those nutrient levels. I run my alk at 7.5dKH with 5ppm nitrate and 0.02 po4.

It would certainly help to get a doser to keep things steady. Also, maybe I missed it but what are you using for test kits and salt? Also any temp swings?

 

[Duffer]

LTC sucks for acros. I had stn isssues as well. Changed my settings to pulse. Nothing has died since. 70% 0.8s ramp up. On my 90. 2 gyres & a mp10 80% short pulse as well.

i would love to change the schedule to pulse on my gyre's, but i found i need a degree from NASA...lol..the controller is hard to follow to me, hence i took the easy way out

 

[Duffer]

No where near enough light, Alk could be viewed as a little high for those nutrient levels. I run my alk at 7.5dKH with 5ppm nitrate and 0.02 po4.

It would certainly help to get a doser to keep things steady. Also, maybe I missed it but what are you using for test kits and salt? Also any temp swings?

Hanna for phos and alk
salfiert for cal and mag... i have double check my parameters with 2 LFS and they are in line with them.

 

[Duffer]

Would a 26hd in the middle help, or 2 26 hd's?

 

[Johnson556]

Would a 26hd in the middle help, or 2 26 hd's?

Add a T5 hybrid rig and throw the primes in it. LED/T5 is foolproof IMO as long as youre not constantly fiddling with settings.

Solid test kits, what salt do you use?

 

[Waynerock]

You only have a few acros which when most people talk about primes and sps most are wanting to grow acros which need the most light out of sps. Good luck though your one of few who’s doing good with sps them! I talked to a ai guy awhile back and he said the primes were designed with frag tanks for swaps and nano tanks in mind.

Well I guess it’s considered a nano still maybe? I must be lucky I guess but I keep my water crystal clear maybe that helps with my par. I have had a derasa on the sand for a while and it’s gotten at least a quarter larger than when I got it, even though it’s a derasa which don’t need much light it is pretty happy and growing. When the new mounts are available on the ATI Hybrids There is a good chance of adding one or both of the primes to that. Idk why mess with a good thing right.

 

[Duffer]

Add a T5 hybrid rig and throw the primes in it. LED/T5 is foolproof IMO as long as youre not constantly fiddling with settings.

Solid test kits, what salt do you use?

Red sea blue bucket...

salinty is 1.26

 

[Sumo Reef]

You should have enough light to start with frags. Get more flow though. You may be in a tough spot since you have so much LPS - but try to work on your flow to get a 30x-50x turnover.

Sit down one evening and schedule your gyres to a 3-4 part daily schedule. Have one gyre run constant at +80% while the other gyre does some random stuff with intensities between -50% to +50%. Then set each gye to do the opposite during the next schedule.

 

[FlyPenFly]

It's not the light, it's the Alk swings (aim for less than 1dkh a day) and the more you touch corals the worse it does.

Also run carbon with all the LPS you have, they might be releasing some toxins.

Most importantly, I hope you have a high quality doser. It's the best investment you can make into a SPS system.

 

[Duffer]

You should have enough light to start with frags. Get more flow though. You may be in a tough spot since you have so much LPS - but try to work on your flow to get a 30x-50x turnover.

Sit down one evening and schedule your gyres to a 3-4 part daily schedule. Have one gyre run constant at +80% while the other gyre does some random stuff with intensities between -50% to +50%. Then set each gye to do the opposite during the next schedule.

Would love to do this but how? I look into videos and google and could not find help with putting a schedule into the controller...can you help?

 

[Gtank171]

Have you checked your TDS of your water ? You should have a separate TDS meter.