SPS Frag vs SPS Dominant ?

[hqaquarium]

What kind of tank do I have according to Red Sea parameters?

My tank is mostly all SPS (18+ species) with some zoas, 1 frogspawn which is behind a rock to avoid some of the flow, rock flower and a few shrooms. I've been running it as SPS Dominant and I'm seeing growth. Looking at the specs. If most of my SPS corals are all the size of frags, do I turn up the parameters?

Red Sea suggested parameters:

Aquarium Type​	Salinity (ppt)​	Alkalinity (dkh)​	Ca (ppm)​	Mg (ppm)​
Mixed Reef​	34​	11.5​	450​	1350​
SPS Frag​	35​	12​	465​	1390​
SPS Dominant​	34​	8​	430​	1280​
Ultra Low nutrient SPS​	33​	7​	410​	1220​
Marine Fish​	30​	6.5-7​	360-380​	1060-1130​

Notice how there's a difference of 4 for dkh, 35 dif for CA, and 110 dif for MG.

 

[jblasi]

I have been running Red Sea for a few years now. My new tank is mostly frags (all SPS) but I have been running it as dominant. Everything has always worked great. However I do run my ALK at 8.3, CAL around 450 and MAG around 1380-1400.

 

[ScottB]

I know they have some science going on behind all this but I feel they are doing a disservice to reefers -- at least US reefers.

Because if you buy frags from WWC, SC, RR, UC, Chaotic, or almost any major US online vendor and drop it into 12 dks it will be dead within 4 weeks. Burnt to a crisp. They are all running pretty much 8.5 unless they've been shifting more recently.

I am exaggerating, but not by much. Sure, you can acclimate SPS to almost anything with steady increases over months in a QT I suppose, but even I don't have the time for that. That is my opinion.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

11.5 dkh for mixed reef? Really?

 

[Caseyoidae]

I run my tank at 11 dkh and have 0 problems dropping in Sps frags that come from other tanks with much lower alk. Mostly Acro and milli dominant. Many people do this....don’t chase numbers just keep it stable. 8 or 12 makes no difference in my tanks. I ran my last tank at 8.5. Now 11. Why the change? Because that’s where it started when I first tested lol it’s doing just as good if not better than my last Sps tank.imo you’re fine if you are between any of the top three parameter charts and stable