When is it ok to add SPS?

[+C Lo Slice]

Hey all,

I've had my tank set up since mid-april and have a few corals and fish. So far, my tank is LPS dominant (and by that, I mean every coral I own is LPS). That said, I obviously have no experience with SPS. I found an acropora at an online retailers site that I absolutely MUST have. Is there a certain amount of time that a tank should be running before adding an acro frag? What am I getting myself into by delving into the world of SPS? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks, guys.

Caleb

[jestep]

It's more about very clean water, stability (Salinity, PH, ALK, Ca, Mg, Temp, etc.) and ample lighting than specifically age. If a tank is well taken care of, stability often comes with age, but if a tank is neglected, age isn't going to be a huge benefit beyond the initial cycle and working through initial algae blooms.

There are some easier SPS, like montis, seriatopora, pocillopora, pavona, etc.. The acros and other branching and tabling SPS are generally much less tolerant of poor and unstable water conditions.

How often do you do water changes and what are your general parameters?

Whatever the case, I would start with easier SPS and then assuming they are thriving, move to more difficult ones.

[+C Lo Slice]

Well my water has actually been very stable. Ammonia is consistently at .25, nitrites at 0, nitrates at about 5... I know zeros across the board are ideal, but I have had a hard time achieving that. I have had PH around 8.3-8.4 and SG around 1.024. My LPS has been flourishing, and I dose daily with alk and calcium, with Kent's Essential Elements going in once a week. I do weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) 5-10 gallon water changes on my 60 gallon tank. Water clarity has been a very small issue lately. I did 3 water changes in 5 days two weeks ago, and I still had slight clarity issues.

I do have a thriving Superman Monti (I was under the impression this was an LPS?) that I bought from a fellow refer about 3 weeks ago. It was a bit dirty when I purchased it, but seems to be much cleaner and happier now.

[+C Lo Slice]

I might add that clarity was no issue until I purchased my Kole Tang. He's quite the messy eater

[pokerface31]

Another thing to remember is not to over feed I feed very little food every other day and I have a 210 gallontank. When I feed I give them smaller than a marble size piece of food.

[jestep]

What test are you using for ammonia?

Ammonia and nitrite (NO2) should never register on an established tank, not anything even detectable. Nitrate (NO3) is the final product in the nitrogen cycle, and will almost always be detectable to some extent, and it is only removed by anearobic bacteria which aquariums have very little of since it requires oxygen free zones. Water changes and or a nitrate removal method like a deep sand bed or sulfur de-nitrator, or carbon dosing and skimming are required to keep it in check. 5ppm is a fairly respectable NO3 level and should be ok for most sps and lps assuming it is fairly constant.

Based on your detected ammonia and the cloudy water, I would be hesitant to add any more coral at all until you can identify why the water is cloudy and confirm that there is zero ammonia. I'm assuming that your ammonia test is faulty because most coral would show severe signs of distress with any amount of ammonia in the tank. However, cloudy water is often a sign of ammonia, and not just overfeeding. If you did a fish-less cycle or did not cycle with something that would produce ammonia, it's possible that your tank is going to cycle further due to adding the messy tang to the tank.

As far as water changes go, I would get on a schedule. IMO, if you are sometimes doing 2 times per week and sometimes doing 1 time per week, it is not a stable system. Also, as far as dosing Ca, and Alk, make sure you are measuring the levels in the tank and adjusting the dosing accordingly.

As far as moving forward, once you can confirm that the ammonia is actually zero and you get on scheduled water changes, start with easier sps. Go with some monti caps' and some birdsnest, and maybe a pavona. These are all fairly expendable in a cost comparison to most higher end acros and other sps. Good that the superman is doing well. I would definitely add some more before jumping into acros.

[bige]

I agree with jestep. Why do you have ammonia? Buy a new kit or take it to the lfs. Ammonia should not show up. Once you get that sorted out you can get some new coral. But remember sps eat up calcium so you will have to monitor that. Also mg, and alk. Something to think about.

[MasonHoff]

dont use trace elements if you haveing water quality issues~ it will make algae blooms worse, and will cause it to grow. keep alk high and calcium high. and you should be ok! run some carbon media! and youll be doing great for sps! if you lighting is good! Plus one i have some sour apple birdsnest that grows crazy fast. LMK

Well my water has actually been very stable. Ammonia is consistently at .25, nitrites at 0, nitrates at about 5... I know zeros across the board are ideal, but I have had a hard time achieving that. I have had PH around 8.3-8.4 and SG around 1.024. My LPS has been flourishing, and I dose daily with alk and calcium, with Kent's Essential Elements going in once a week. I do weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) 5-10 gallon water changes on my 60 gallon tank. Water clarity has been a very small issue lately. I did 3 water changes in 5 days two weeks ago, and I still had slight clarity issues.

I do have a thriving Superman Monti (I was under the impression this was an LPS?) that I bought from a fellow refer about 3 weeks ago. It was a bit dirty when I purchased it, but seems to be much cleaner and happier now.

[Timfish]

I'd echo the same concerns about your ammonia. If it really is staying at .25 and isn't a bad test reading I would add live sand or live bacteria from some source, maybe do 10 gal water change with water from a friends tank. The ammonia that is left in the water after being treated with dechlorinator or from an R.O. filter should be taken up by the corals and bacteria in just a few hours. It should certainly be gone by the next day. (And I never add trace elements.)

[bige]

Do you use tap water? I was wondering because aquatek had a sign up saying that "because of drought conditions, austin city water was containing higher than normal amounts of ammonia".

[DerrickH]

What test are you using for ammonia?

Ammonia and nitrite (NO2) should never register on an established tank, not anything even detectable. Nitrate (NO3) is the final product in the nitrogen cycle, and will almost always be detectable to some extent, and it is only removed by anearobic bacteria which aquariums have very little of since it requires oxygen free zones. Water changes and or a nitrate removal method like a deep sand bed or sulfur de-nitrator, or carbon dosing and skimming are required to keep it in check. 5ppm is a fairly respectable NO3 level and should be ok for most sps and lps assuming it is fairly constant.

Based on your detected ammonia and the cloudy water, I would be hesitant to add any more coral at all until you can identify why the water is cloudy and confirm that there is zero ammonia. I'm assuming that your ammonia test is faulty because most coral would show severe signs of distress with any amount of ammonia in the tank. However, cloudy water is often a sign of ammonia, and not just overfeeding. If you did a fish-less cycle or did not cycle with something that would produce ammonia, it's possible that your tank is going to cycle further due to adding the messy tang to the tank.

As far as water changes go, I would get on a schedule. IMO, if you are sometimes doing 2 times per week and sometimes doing 1 time per week, it is not a stable system. Also, as far as dosing Ca, and Alk, make sure you are measuring the levels in the tank and adjusting the dosing accordingly.

As far as moving forward, once you can confirm that the ammonia is actually zero and you get on scheduled water changes, start with easier sps. Go with some monti caps' and some birdsnest, and maybe a pavona. These are all fairly expendable in a cost comparison to most higher end acros and other sps. Good that the superman is doing well. I would definitely add some more before jumping into acros.

+1

I think this is a case of slow cycling if the amo test is reading accurate. How many fish? LPS favor dirty water but with that amo I would think they would not be doing so well. What lights do you have?

[+C Lo Slice]

I have 3 fish: pair of clowns and a kole tang. I'm using a 4-bulb T5HO fixture made by Coralife

[MasonHoff]

Go get your self some TLC its actually called TLC for saltwater! add 1ml per gallon of water to tank with water changes, when you add fish! I swear youll hug me is you start using this additve! its live bacteria that eats aways at ammonia, nitrates. is god's gift to reefers! plus where did you get you LR from! i heard some people live rock (wont say who) has rumored to be phosphate factorys. are you skimming? and are you using carbon?