Will SPS be okay in these params?

[Zbutcher]

We could use a little more info on your system.
Flow
Lighting
Import/export
Tank size

Lots of flow not sure how to quantify that for you lol sorry
2 Neptune skies at 25%
Skimmer, CW-200 Algae scrubber, filter socks
6'x3'x12" essentially a coral flat

 

[Zbutcher]

Overall , numbers are good. High readings are already noted and chemipure blue will help with numbers. I would not add potions like noPox to remedy
You for SPS will need to fine tune both lighting and water flow, If there are softies in the tank, you are now or will be at a mixed reef type tank and will need to balance light and flow for needs of both type of coral.

Yeah I think it might be a bit better with lower nitrates possibly

 

[Zbutcher]

So are all of you telling the OP that acros and sps in general cannot survive in 50 ppm no3?

Have you seen SPS survive in that range? I'm fine bringing it down but I've noticed the trend going up and I'd like to get in top of it before it trends up out of control

 

[Zbutcher]

@90's reefer beat me to it. Pics of this “stn” would be helpful as well. There is something else going on. 50ppm no3 is not going cause consistent sps death. And stable doesn’t equal success. It’s helpful but it is not a cure all or guarantee

That's interesting thank you for that. Unfortunately I don't have anything alive currently STN the thing is I have been getting one frag at a time to see if I can keep it alive before I purchase more. I would like to minimize the death and financial loss. I feel like the only thing out is higher nitrates and even the ICP test I did was more less spot on.

 

[Zbutcher]

I’ve always thought stn and rtn were signs of fluctuations generally with alk cal , mag . And even temp .
something isn’t right for sure .

That's what I figured to but I have trident Neptune set up and its all fairly stable so I'd be a bit surprised of that. Though it's definitely more dialied in since the "STN"

 

[Zbutcher]

I think 9 months may be a bit too young especially if you started with dry rock. Coralline algae growth is a good indicator if you’re SPS ready.

I have a fair amount of coralline covering my coral racks and on the bottom glass. Many spots of coralline

 

[Zbutcher]

Nitrates and phosphates might be a bit too high, but the more important question...

What corals have you already successfully grown in the tank? If you have LPS or some non-beginner softies that are growing and spreading than you should be fine even with the high nitrates.

Just start with the easier stuff like montipora or birds nest and see if it grows while you work on a solution to get your nitrates and phosphates in check (refugium if you don't have one would work wonders). If those SPS grow well and you can get your nitrates below 20 and phosphate below 0.1, then you could try the more difficult stuff in the acropora families

I have 1 Duncan head that I've seen some new sprouts but I wouldn't say grown either and today it's been closed all day for whatever reason. I have just done a water change now.

I had a bird's nest and the whole shed all of its skin after being alive for like almost a month. Algae scrubber should work on nitrates and phosphate.i just got a pocillipora to try since it's been hardy for me back in the day when I used tap water. But now my system is all RODI

 

[Zbutcher]

I am repeating parts of what has been said already, but with some priority and context:

a) "High" nitrates. This is relative to what those SPS were accustomed to before, which is commonly 5-15. They can easily adjust to higher nitrates if gradually raised, but a quick shift can be stressful IMO.
b) "New" biome. This is a big factor with a dead rock start. Your biome is still a microorganism active battleground, with constantly shifting populations of bacteria, etc. It just makes for a lot of noise that acros don't always tolerate.
c) Ca is a little low.

I started with biobricks and dead rock but purchased some rock that I was told was alive for 20 yearss and thick coralline on a few pieces in some spots.

What do you think my cal should be at?

 

[Lavey29]

Wouldn't frozen also raise nitrates? Sorry I might be ignorant.

Of course if you really over feed but for me frozen keeps my number stabil. When I was adding pellets once daily to along with frozen my nitrates and phosphate rose.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Try calibrating Trident and then have a trusted LFS test those readings against trident readings with Non-Api test kits

 

[Lavey29]

Also PNS probio is a natural bacteria supplement that reduces nitrates. It works great in my tank. Keeps my filter socks clean for a week or longer.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hey everyone,

I have had this tank now for about 9 months now alk sits 9-9.3. calcium sits 400-450. Mag sit 1300-1350.

I did an ICP test and there is not anything alarming and Randy holmes-farley said there isn't anything outstanding.

I only use RODI water

I checked my nitrates and phosphate with the Hanna checkers and nitrate is 56 and phosphate is .09.

I have notoriously had STN with all SPS but I'm not sure why and that was why I did an ICP test. So I think at the time it was low nutrients but now I shouldn't have that problem

Do you think SPS would be okay now? Thoughts? Thanks.

The numbers are okay except for Nitrate, however that is only a small part of the story.

Chemical stability is important, but much more important is biological stability.

The only way to attain that is tank age along with adding Coral, Fish, inverts etc slowly over time.
There is no magic fix in a bottle either, patience is what results in healthy SPS tanks.

I would suggest that at 9 months you should wait a little longer, or try a couple of cheap frags.
If they don't survive, at least they will add to the biome.

 

[Zbutcher]

Of course if you really over feed but for me frozen keeps my number stabil. When I was adding pellets once daily to along with frozen my nitrates and phosphate rose.

That's interesting and good to know. Okay I will do frozen then every 2 days and then maybe Nori once a week with pellets and flakes. What you think?

 

[Zbutcher]

Try calibrating Trident and then have a trusted LFS test those readings against trident readings with Non-Api test kits

I've done that. Everything checks out

 

[Zbutcher]

Also PNS probio is a natural bacteria supplement that reduces nitrates. It works great in my tank. Keeps my filter socks clean for a week or longer.

Interesting. I have never heard of this. How much does it reduce nitrates though

 

[Zbutcher]

The numbers are okay except for Nitrate, however that is only a small part of the story.

Chemical stability is important, but much more important is biological stability.

The only way to attain that is tank age along with adding Coral, Fish, inverts etc slowly over time.
There is no magic fix in a bottle either, patience is what results in healthy SPS tanks.

I would suggest that at 9 months you should wait a little longer, or try a couple of cheap frags.
If they don't survive, at least they will add to the biome.

Yeah I'm at 9 months now and trying that exact thing. I guess we will see. I do think the nitrates could come down but I feel as if that wouldn't be causing all the issues. I have read tons of posts of people running high nitrates and sps grows like mad

 

[Rmckoy]

I have a fair amount of coralline covering my coral racks and on the bottom glass. Many spots of coralline

Spots are good .
I think it’s a sign of maturity but I can say a few years ago I have had the whole back glass covered in coralline along with every rock, snails crab shells , even every pump in the tank and still loss 90% of my sps . Chalice and acros were the first to go .
a huge plating monti started to lose colour and a short time after , it was completely gone .

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Have you seen SPS survive in that range? I'm fine bringing it down but I've noticed the trend going up and I'd like to get in top of it before it trends up out of control

Yes
I had +50 no3 and 0.55 po4 in my back up/qt system a couple years ago and acros, montis and zoas grew like crazy. I had an urchin bite into a power head cord and nuked all the sps overnight. The corals were much darker (not brown) in that system compared to my main tank.

How many fish do you have?
What size tank?
Lighting?

 

[JAC-]

Wouldn't frozen also raise nitrates? Sorry I might be ignorant.

Sorry for the late reply and don't think of your self as ignorant, just seeing things a different way.

Yes, anything your fish digest and even them breathing will add to nitrates and/or phosphate. Some things lower the amount of free nutrients in your system though. Perhaps it's a case of the fish digesting it more thoroughly. I'm not smart enough to do more then speculate on the cause, but I have witnessed the effects.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Wouldn't frozen also raise nitrates? Sorry I might be ignorant.

Frozen and pellets will have the same amount of nitrates assuming you feed them the same amount of calories.

Frozen adds less phosphates than pellets/flake for the same amount of calories to the fish because pellets often include fish bone meal which is extremely high in phosphates.

Overall will make little difference to your problem. I prefer frozen more because the fish seem to like it a lot better.