Want to add sps soon

HawkeyeDJ · May 3, 2023

My 24g AIO cube is coming along nicely. I'm considering adding a couple of sps to the top rock in the back. I'm thinking a green slimer and a birds nest. Right now I'm dosing 5ml alkalinity daily to maintain a drop of 1DKh. Calcium and mag are holding steady with weekly 5 gallon water changes. I imagine that will change with the additional sps. Any thoughts regarding placement or other things I should consider?

dwest · May 3, 2023

I think you have a good plan. It looks like you already have a monti cap in there. Good luck.

Stephen Glover · May 3, 2023

those are two of the easiest sps. With a little luck they could outgrow your 24 gallon pretty quickly. Which is not a bad problem to have.

Mrtakeoff53 · May 3, 2023

As @dwest said, you already have that red cap monti growing. I have found that the red cap monti is the BEST indicator of a tank ready for SPS and I’ve been doing this for 20 years. It’s crazy cheap, you can find it everywhere in the hobby and if parameters aren’t correct for SPS, it will let you know long before a birds nest will. I added one 2 months ago with a green birds nest. Birds nest wasn’t fazed by my nitrates through the roof. The monti on the other hand, faded immediately. I just got my nitrates down from 100 to 10 and the monti is coming back. All this to say that monti growing is a sign you are ready for those SPS.

HawkeyeDJ · May 3, 2023

dwest said:
I think you have a good plan. It looks like you already have a monti cap in there. Good luck.

Yes, monti is still on his plug. Haven't decided just what I want to do with him. He's growing very well. I'm thinking I might frag him and place him in several locations in the tank to see where he does best.

TopShelfAquatics · Sep 15, 2023

Last night's video was all about perfect newcomer SPS reefers! Check it out, video linked in the thread!

Top Shelf Aquatic's Top Ten Beginner SPS!

In this video Blaine has a one on one with Kevin in the TSA Farm to learn what we at Top Shelf Aquatics think are the top ten BEST SPS for new aquarists or anyone looking for easier SPS species to care for! From montis to acros, we try to cover the basic info you need to know for what’s best...

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