Tips for my first sps coral.

[JBNanoReefer]

Hey guys, my name is Jose. I’ve got a 10 gallon Nano that is about 6 months old now(first nano tanks) and doing great, I’ve got a marineland doublebright 10k LED matched with a 190 gph powerhead. I know I want to make this a primarily sps tank but need some tips or tricks on how to select my first coral (newbie to the coral world). What to look for, how and where to place drag in tank, etc. My lfs told me to buy a cheap frag first and watch to see if it’ll grow, if it did then I’d be fine to start selecting more. Thanks for the help in advance!

Ps. I will be adding another piece of dry rock to the scape today before I buy a frag. It’s a donut shaped pakani rock(if that makes a difference).

 

[Jason mack]

If you start adding dry rock now you will end up having a mini cycle again .. I’m far from being any sort of expert on anything let alone sps.. I struggled for 3-4 months trying too keep sps in a young tank .. but that’s just my experience..but a good starting sps coral I think would be a montipora plate coral.. nice color, grows fast , gives structure too a reef !

 

[JBNanoReefer]

If you start adding dry rock now you will end up having a mini cycle again .. I’m far from being any sort of expert on anything let alone sps.. I struggled for 3-4 months trying too keep sps in a young tank .. but that’s just my experience..but a good starting sps coral I think would be a montipora plate coral.. nice color, grows fast , gives structure too a reef !

Wouldn’t that just mean I’d have to watch out for a phosphate spike? Should I rinse the rock or soak it?

 

[Jason mack]

You can add it no problem.. but it will need time to colonize bacteria .. and yes it could leak phosphates .. but your tank is so young it needs time too stabilize .. take everything slowly .. let it mature .. and for me .. I wasn’t able too keep sps till I’d added more fish .. I now have 17 fish in my 90g .. sps need stable conditions .. it’s not easy .. and can be heartbreaking losing corals all the time ..( and I don’t mean the money . Although that also ) and this can come because we want so much so fast .. a tank won’t mature until at least 12 months .. if your an advanced aquarist who knows his water, flow, light , and know your corals and what they need then yes they could set up a young tank with good filtration and make it look fantastic .. if not .. well the path is long with many hills too climb and obstacles too over come .. don’t rush it .. take your time and enjoy the journey .. take small steps .. do your research..

 

[Jason mack]

Wouldn’t that just mean I’d have to watch out for a phosphate spike? Should I rinse the rock or soak it?

Seeing as you don’t have any corals in there at the moment a phosphate spike is nothing too worry about .. it will rise and fall quite a bit until your tank stabilizes and matures a bit as you add live stock and corals

 

[GonçaloS]

Hi Jose,
Keeping SPS in nano tanks is indeed possible, with quite good results, but it requires some attention to details.. First of all you have to make sure you have good quality water with low nutrient levels like phosphates and nitrates. Weekly water changes of around 20% will be required to keep those levels stable, without adding to much food to the fishes. Then, once you start adding corals you will have to make sure that calcium, magnesium and KH keep stable and supplement those elements if needed.
From my experience in keeping sps in a 15 gal, I would recommend you to start with some montiporas and pocilloporas. You can have amazing results in growing them. It’s possible to keep some acroporas but it can be frustrating some times because parameters tend to fluctuate a lot in nano tanks and any small mistake can have big impact on acroporas.
Also, it’s better if you go on a sps only tank. If you choose to make a mixed tank, that will be more difficult because you rather almost starve the LPS to keep a low nutrient level for the SPS or you feed well the LPS and the SPS can suffer from nitrate or phosphate accumulation.

Sorry if I’m being to basic, just trying to keep you away from the mistakes I’ve made in the past when I first started.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Your lfs was correct. Start off with some inexpensive corals. Many of them are hardier that stony corals. They can survive more stress than a lot of sps can.

And yup. Plating monti are a good starter sps. Green birds nest is another good one.

 

[JBNanoReefer]

Thank you to all that have given me tips! Happy reefing

 

[Steven Garland]

Its definitely possible,check out my old sps pico thread,I had a 2 gallon slapped full of sps (title is Who Wants To See a SPS Pico in the nano forums).

Main things are:

1.STABILITY,STABILITY,STABILITY !!!!
2. Good random flow.
3. Good spectrum and intensity.
4. Good nutrient export.
5. Keep your hands of of the tank as much as possible.
6.No dead spots so detrius doesn't settle and cause spikes in Nitrates,Phosphates.
7.Make sure Calc,Mag,Alk are sturdy and test test test.
So good starter pieces would be a Digi,Monti,Green Birdsnest. I wouldn't suggest any Acropora,Millepora,Anacropora or anything of that nature. I spent close to $200-$300 on sps before I was able to even keep them alive. Then once I was ablw to get good color,growth and thriving not just surviving,I dove in head first and loved keeping sps. Got my tank looking amazing and my Coralux temp probe rusted and crashed my whole tank before I could catch it,and lost 2 years of growth and close to $700-$800 of sps,I could have cried lol.

I would invest in a Jebao RW4,SW2 seeming they are about the cheapest controllable pumps. I have had mine for over 2 years with no problems whatsoever using a 500 and 200maH power supply,they stock 1A power supply was way too powerful for my nano. I would definitely upgrade your lighting. Idk what your budget is but Maybe:

- 2 RapidLed par38 bulbs $170ish shipped

-Coral compulsion Par38 55w 18k,which is dimmable which are about $130 shipped

-Or id you want a half way decent Chinese Black Box led light with a half way decent selection of leds (warm white or neutral whites for good color rendition)

-You could also build a DIY light,RapidLed offers solderless leds if you can't solder. You coukd build somewhat that you need for about $180-$200 with dimmers/drivers,heatsink,leds,thermal adhesive,power supply.Rapidled,Stevesleds,LedGroupBuy,Reefledlights,BlueAcro,Reefll all have stuff you would need. I would think about:

-2x BlueAcro Half Mega's (18k) from BlueAcro 2 channel ($60 -/+ shipped) [BlueAcro]
-2x Interveronic 700maH drivers with pot's (no power supply needed $80 shipped -/+ you'll have 2 channels of control) [LedGroupBuy]
-1x MakersLed 12" Slim heatsink and hanging kit ($50 -/+ shipped) [LedGroupBuy]
-1x thermal paste (best buy carries this for like $5)

I hope this helps.