So.. I got my first sps

[lejeune981]

New to r2r so I wanted to say hi..
I've got a 90 Dt with 49 gallon bow front xenia fuge that's been up and running bout 18 months now.. also building a 74 gallon tower tank by deep blue.. it's been running bout 2 months now... just rock.. some stamolla snails and limpets that hitchiked over from the 90 reef in it for now.. still undecided on what I want to do with it.. clownfish Harlem/ lps garden/ or take a stab at an sps tank. ..

Anyhow.. I picked up a tiny birdsnest coral today for the 90 reef..,

My perams are steady and as follows
Temp 79
Salinity 1.026
Alk 8.5
Cal 440
Mag 1420
N03 5
Po4 .07 consistently

I've always battled high phos.. it runs .07 w gfo. 0.1 without

I dose 2 part..trace..and iodine

Can list livestock if needed

I'm just wondering if anyone with sps experience can tell me if I should be good to go for the birdsnest and maybe some other beginner sps in my reef..

My reef has been through alot since I started it.. tap water mistake on start up.. tank breaking.. a tank crash.. 65 metric tons of gha.. and a learning curve.. all the hard way... for me lol..
I run nothing but rodi now.. that was the hardest lesson

I'm super proud where the tank is today.. I'll show yall
Thanks in advance

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Lets talk lights. And go for it. I lowered my PO4 by adding 40 SPS frags. Your tank is looking good. Remember to dip everything, and remove the plugs. It would be best if you had a QT for observation also. SPS pests are a whole other world of hurt.

 

[lejeune981]

I plan on popping it off the plug once it gets big enough I can't accidently lose it lol..its tiny!

I've got 3. 165 watt black boxes
Bout 4 inches above the water (canopy is a bit short)
Blues at 100 percent
Whites at about 60 percent

 

[hwntunda]

Welcome to r2r and nice looking tank! I would bring salinity down to 1.025 though as SPS are much pickier on water parameters.

 

[PatW]

Your nitrate and phosphate might be a tad bit high for acropora say, but birds nests are supposed to be forgiving. I have 5 birds nests. I have pretty high flow, a fair bit of light, and low nutrient levels of PO4 of .o15 and nitrates of about 2. I have quite a bit of nutrient export with ample skimming and running chaeto in the sump. I maintain nitrates and phosphates with dosing.

My birdsnests seem to do pretty well wherever I stick them, Mine seem to like a fair bit of light. The ones in fairly bright light seem to grow the fastest.

You have some nice looking corals already. You have grown them so you are obviously doing most things right.

 

[lejeune981]

The little birds neat seems happy.. from what I can tell all of its polyps are still out..

I've been carbon dosing for quite a while now.. and have been reducing the amount since I bottomed out my n03.. and calderpa took my fuge over.. 2 types I've never had in my system actually..

I run a small skimmer on this system.. an old hob red sea.. it pulls out some nasty stuff... but undersized.. I else run an upflow ats

And am fighting an aptasia take over.. if the berghia I added last month don't start showing some signs of winning I'm gonna have to add a coperband...


My 74 tower has an oversized skimmer.. so my goal will be a ulns system... eventually.. still saving for lights

And thank you for the complements..its deff been a journey..

Seemed like about 6 months ago.. everything changed in my tank.. it went from all coral being alive..but not really growing.. to a huge boom of life... and coral growth... a number of new species of pods and shrimp appeared from nowhere.. and coral started to grow and multiply pretty rapidly.. no complaints from me
Except the aptasia that showed up at the same time.. in force

 

[lejeune981]

Lets talk lights. And go for it. I lowered my PO4 by adding 40 SPS frags. Your tank is looking good. Remember to dip everything, and remove the plugs. It would be best if you had a QT for observation also. SPS pests are a whole other world of hurt.

I've heard of the dreaded red bugs..and flat worms and oh my..
I want to add a couple dragon face pipe fish to the system because they look awesome..and they eat red bugs too