Why can’t I keep SPS?!

[blatherdrift]

I wouldn’t go with birds nest they are not great corals to get your sps feet wet. Get a miyagi tort, forest fire digitata and maybe a red planet.

also, don’t just blast them with such high par. 200-250 is better to start then slowly ramp up. You’re probably burning them.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I wouldn’t go with birds nest they are not great corals to get your sps feet wet. Get a miyagi tort, forest fire digitata and maybe a red planet.

also, don’t just blast them with such high par. 200-250 is better to start then slowly ramp up. You’re probably burning them.

Exactly. 200-350 par 8-9 hours is perfect

 

[Ancient Mariner]

I’m guessing more light , but…..

Your reef even 2 years might not have the biological “right stuff”. I’m all for trying again (and again and again!) as I did. I started with half old live rock from my previous reef, half a bucket of unwashed reef muck (my reefs start bare bottom), and half dry rock. I thought this mix would allow me to keep SPS immediately. Wrong. It took 1.5 years and many dead frags to get to a thriving reef. Granted some frags were OK from the beginning, but so many faded and died. Despite using old live rock and old live muck there still was a further biological/ecological progression/succession that needed to be undergone before SPS thrived. I did nothing different otherwise: no additives (eg nitrates/phosphate dosing), no light change, no flow change. Just time.

The fact that you have thriving LPS and softies is a great sign!

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I’m guessing more light , but…..

Your reef even 2 years might not have the biological “right stuff”. I’m all for trying again (and again and again!) as I did. I started with half old live rock from my previous reef, half a bucket of unwashed reef muck (my reefs start bare bottom), and half dry rock. I thought this mix would allow me to keep SPS immediately. Wrong. It took 1.5 years and many dead frags to get to a thriving reef. Granted some frags were OK from the beginning, but so many faded and died. Despite using old live rock and old live muck there still was a further biological/ecological progression/succession that needed to be undergone before SPS thrived. I did nothing different otherwise: no additives (eg nitrates/phosphate dosing), no light change, no flow change. Just time.

The fact that you have thriving LPS and softies is a great sign!

You don’t think 12 hours of 350-400 par is enough?

 

[kynan]

Good grief. Why not ask about the water supply? Heavy metals from a well? Chloramine? Etc.

 

[ASIN28]

Good grief. Why not ask about the water supply? Heavy metals from a well? Chloramine? Etc.

RODI 0 TDS. I got everything tested through ICP test nothing bad in the RODI water

 

[gbroadbridge]

Maybe I’m wrong here but isn’t it the opposite? The dry rock should be soaking up phosphates until it hit max saturation which would then make the soluble phosphate levels even higher since the amount getting bound drops. Older tanks are also generally higher in nutrients on average.

If you ignore the rock absorbing phosphate, eventually the bacteria will start eating phosphate and nitrate.

It takes a while for the tank to balance out like that, and the more you fiddle the longer it takes.

If you just count on One to Two years, it'll happen.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

RODI 0 TDS. I got everything tested through ICP test nothing bad in the RODI water

What are you doing for nutrient export? 0.02 po4 is too low for +8.0 alk on a newish tank imo

 

[Ancient Mariner]

You don’t think 12 hours of 350-400 par is enough?

Missed that!

 

[131696]

It don't matter if nitrates high ,phosphate high the corals will get used to it,the key is Stability if you can't do that you can't keep Acropora, some tanks I know 2 keep alk 1ppm difference but when they come back up it takes them 1 week they go extra slow they got prize pieces, if you don't have time ,don't try it anymore stop killing the animAl's. Par is good at 350-400 they will get used of it ,keep stable

 

[3429810]

If you ignore the rock absorbing phosphate, eventually the bacteria will start eating phosphate and nitrate.

It takes a while for the tank to balance out like that, and the more you fiddle the longer it takes.

If you just count on One to Two years, it'll happen.

Well you can’t ignore that because it becomes a crucial part in a potential large phosphate rise. Can you provide any source for what you are claiming? It seems completely contradictory to everything I have seen. There are plenty of new systems on here that struggle to get nutrients up until the tank matures a bit and plenty of old systems that struggle with high nutrients. I have not seen very many if any old systems struggling with nutrients unless the owner is doing something to drive them down. Are you doing some form of carbon dosing or something?

 

[inetjnky]

Send in an ATI ICP for your water to be tested. Everything else is guessing.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Dosing twice a day?
I spread my alk dose over 12 doses though 24 hours. I got a doser to avoid the daily swing.
My Calc/Alk has been stable at 420/8.4 for a few weeks now
My one acro I put in a few months ago never opened and only recently died/bleached over night.
My No3 has been high for months. No matter my efforts I can't keep it down.

This is a tank I set up in April 21, not my first because I've been doing this for years, 1976 was my first trop planted tank.

This tank was sterile, Marco and Real life rock plus a bottle or two of Seachem Bacteria and a lot of MB 7 . MB 7 rocks even though you have to dodge customs to get it in Australia. I'm pretty sure Continuum Aquatics Bacter MD will do the same job.

This tank EATS nitrate and phosphate. I've been dosing the stuff on a daily basis just to keep above zero.

I use DIY solutions (try explaining to customs why you're importing Sodium Nitrate which is prohibited lol) Do I look like a druggie?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Well you can’t ignore that because it becomes a crucial part in a potential large phosphate rise. Can you provide any source for what you are claiming? It seems completely contradictory to everything I have seen. There are plenty of new systems on here that struggle to get nutrients up until the tank matures a bit and plenty of old systems that struggle with high nutrients. I have not seen very many if any old systems struggling with nutrients unless the owner is doing something to drive them down. Are you doing some form of carbon dosing or something?

I can ignore it because the source of my post is quite simply experimental results over many years.

I worked as an engineer for many years, and pictures speak a lot louder than words.

 

[3429810]

I can ignore it because the source of my post is quite simply experimental results over many years.

I worked as an engineer for many years, and pictures speak a lot louder than words.

Ok then

 

[PeterEde]

This is a tank I set up in April 21, not my first because I've been doing this for years, 1976 was my first trop planted tank.

This tank was sterile, Marco and Real life rock plus a bottle or two of Seachem Bacteria and a lot of MB 7 . MB 7 rocks even though you have to dodge customs to get it in Australia. I'm pretty sure Continuum Aquatics Bacter MD will do the same job.

This tank EATS nitrate and phosphate. I've been dosing the stuff on a daily basis just to keep above zero.

I use DIY solutions (try explaining to customs why you're importing Sodium Nitrate which is prohibited lol) Do I look like a druggie?

Looks great. How big is the tank?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Looks great. How big is the tank?

Reefsys 326 from the magicians at Eastwood Aquariums.

Sunnie and Sam are magic.

 

[firechild]

Reefsys 326 from the magicians at Eastwood Aquariums.

Sunnie and Sam are magic.

I got my Reefsys from Eastwood too. Some of those corals looks pretty familiar, especially the various monti digitatas.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

RODI 0 TDS. I got everything tested through ICP test nothing bad in the RODI water

How is it going now? Any updates

 

[gbroadbridge]

I got my Reefsys from Eastwood too. Some of those corals looks pretty familiar, especially the various monti digitatas.

Sunnie just keeps fragging them

It just shows how professional they are, that these colonies just go on forever.

Their only prob was an ac failure a few months back, but even so the tanks have all recovered.

I trust them to be a backup when I travel away.
They are probably the best LFS in Sydney.