Knoxville Area SPS Experts?

[Salt1972]

My daughter and I run a 125g mixed reef. We've been exploring SPS frags for the last year with so - so success, but we're getting better. One area where we continue to struggle is proper mounting of the frags in the tank. The super glue or kneadable epoxy just doesn't seem to stick. In addition, the layout and placement just doesn't come natural for us.

We just ordered 14 frags that will be here early January and we're hoping to ask for some help from someone with SPS experience to place and mount them for success.

 

[Rob.D]

A combination of superglue gel and epoxy is best, if the frags are grown into the plugs, place a dab of glue to the base, then epoxy, and another dab of glue. Essentially making a glue sandwich, make sure to dry the plug off before applying the glue. If the frag is a fresh cut or you choose to remove it from the plug, dry the bottom of the frag with a paper towel, mend the epoxy, make a divot in the epoxy, apply glue into the divot, place the frag in the glue, mend the epoxy to close the divot against the glue, apply glue to the bottom of the epoxy and place the frag in its chosen spot. Hope this helps! As far as placement in your tank, high up and in direct light is best. Also keep flow in mind, you don't want to put small frags in direct flow or in a dead zone. Hope this helps.

 

[Salt1972]

A combination of superglue gel and epoxy is best, if the frags are grown into the plugs, place a dab of glue to the base, then epoxy, and another dab of glue. Essentially making a glue sandwich, make sure to dry the plug off before applying the glue. If the frag is a fresh cut or you choose to remove it from the plug, dry the bottom of the frag with a paper towel, mend the epoxy, make a divot in the epoxy, apply glue into the divot, place the frag in the glue, mend the epoxy to close the divot against the glue, apply glue to the bottom of the epoxy and place the frag in its chosen spot. Hope this helps! As far as placement in your tank, high up and in direct light is best. Also keep flow in mind, you don't want to put small frags in direct flow or in a dead zone. Hope this helps.

Rob- Thanks for the suggestions on the glue. Based on your advice, I've probably been shorting the glue a bit. I worry about drying the plug without drying the frag, but we'll feel our way along. We didn't go too crazy with the new frags-- qty maybe, but we stayed conservative on the cost side until we have a more proven track record. I never know how close to mount frags, but with that many, we'll have to go closer than in the past. Whenever I see a nicely populated tank, they look so dense.

Thanks for the tips.

Matt

 

[Daniel Waters]

My daughter and I run a 125g mixed reef. We've been exploring SPS frags for the last year with so - so success, but we're getting better. One area where we continue to struggle is proper mounting of the frags in the tank. The super glue or kneadable epoxy just doesn't seem to stick. In addition, the layout and placement just doesn't come natural for us.

We just ordered 14 frags that will be here early January and we're hoping to ask for some help from someone with SPS experience to place and mount them for success.

@Rob.D gave great advice on mounting your frags. In regards to only having so so success, I was in that same boat about 18 months ago. I had always been very successful with softies and LPS but never SPS. For me, it was a combination of issues. One issue was I did not have adequate par. I just assumed I was running enough. I use kessil lights also, and while they are great at providing wide, even coverage, they are not necessarily power houses. You should borrow a par meter to measure your levels in your tank if you haven't done so. Softies and LPS don't require near tge intensity that some SPS need to thrive.

My second area of change that improved my sps success is increasing internal flow within the tank. This will be harder for you to do if you are keeping a mixed tank, as it can be difficult balancing lps and sps flow needs. I run around 40 to 50 times tank volume of internal flow within my tank, which is probably 2 to 3 times higher than I ran when i didn't keep sps corals.

Lastly, maintaining stable water chemistry is very important for sps. Maintaining a stable alkalinity level is key. I think appropriate nutrient levels such as nitrate and phosphate levels are important but less so than a tank with large alkalinity swings. I've had my nitrates as high as 20 ppm and my phosphates as high as 0.30 ppm and my acros are just fine. But I try to keep my alkalinity level absolutely as stable as I can via testing and adjusting my dosing levels.

As far as spacing, I wish I had given more room for my frags to grow out. But the ones I placed close together seem to be fine. I just appreciate the colonies that look more full grown. I'd say leave at least 3" spacing but 5 to 6" might be better. If you have a playing montipora, you may want to leave even more spacing. If you are placing stags, place them towards the back. Otherwise when they grow tall, they will block your viewing if placed towards front of your tank.

 

[Salt1972]

@Rob.D gave great advice on mounting your frags. In regards to only having so so success, I was in that same boat about 18 months ago. I had always been very successful with softies and LPS but never SPS. For me, it was a combination of issues. One issue was I did not have adequate par. I just assumed I was running enough. I use kessil lights also, and while they are great at providing wide, even coverage, they are not necessarily power houses. You should borrow a par meter to measure your levels in your tank if you haven't done so. Softies and LPS don't require near tge intensity that some SPS need to thrive.

I recently took PAR readings and was surprised. We have (4) Kessil 360's over a 6' tank and thought we had AMPLE lighting. What we found was far less PAR than we thought. We've been adjusting intensity up by 5% weekly. We were at 50% peak and now we're at 85% on a 13 hour cycle. We also lowered the lights 2" to 5" above the water. We've considered T5 supplements, but really don't want to get into bulb changes, etc. that we thought we were getting away from when we went from MH to LED. Hopefully, driving the intensity up on the Kessils will provide what our corals need.

My second area of change that improved my sps success is increasing internal flow within the tank. This will be harder for you to do if you are keeping a mixed tank, as it can be difficult balancing lps and sps flow needs. I run around 40 to 50 times tank volume of internal flow within my tank, which is probably 2 to 3 times higher than I ran when i didn't keep sps corals.

We have 1200gph turn through the drip trays / filter media and we have been running (2) Jebao PP8 wave makers for 15 months. We added a gyre type pump (Jebao CP-150) about 3 weeks ago. If the specs are to be believed, that would equate to 93.6 times internal volume and 9.6 times 'sump' flow. ALL corals responded very positively within a week.

Lastly, maintaining stable water chemistry is very important for sps. Maintaining a stable alkalinity level is key. I think appropriate nutrient levels such as nitrate and phosphate levels are important but less so than a tank with large alkalinity swings. I've had my nitrates as high as 20 ppm and my phosphates as high as 0.30 ppm and my acros are just fine. But I try to keep my alkalinity level absolutely as stable as I can via testing and adjusting my dosing levels.

We started dosing BRS 2 part January 2018. Initially, we were targeting 10dKH, but found our corals didn't like those levels with low nutrients and were advised to target 8-8.5. We've been there since April. One change we're considering is either going from Reef Crystals to Instant Ocean or, at least, mixing IO & RC 50/50. RC mixes to 11dKH. So, our water changes equate to an Alk spike and we have to turn off the doser for 2 days. If we use IO or the combo, we're hoping to eliminate the spike.

Our nitrates stayed at ~5ppm until Sept. We bought a new test kit because our last one was depleted. Same brand (NYOS), but the results went to 20-25. We verified the result with API, Red Sea, & Salifert. They were 20... oops. We started dosing Iron (because that tends to ramp up macro algae growth in our refugium) and began vinegar dosing. Our nitrates remain a little high, but today they are 12ppm.

Phosphates are controlled partially by our refugium and also by GFO. We target and maintain .03-.06.

We do have some cyano bacteria that shows up in a few areas. I usually brush it off with a toothbrush 2-3 times per week. It's not widespread and seems to be resolving as we gradually increase vinegar dose.

As far as spacing, I wish I had given more room for my frags to grow out. But the ones I placed close together seem to be fine. I just appreciate the colonies that look more full grown. I'd say leave at least 3" spacing but 5 to 6" might be better. If you have a playing montipora, you may want to leave even more spacing. If you are placing stags, place them towards the back. Otherwise when they grow tall, they will block your viewing if placed towards front of your tank.

Thanks for your advice and consideration. We are open and appreciative of any and all advice. We've been at reefing a while, but don't necessarily pursue it as 'vigorously' as some. To be sure, we'd like to mimic the success or others. Though we've seen many systems on forums / videos that accomplish a healthy mix of SPS, LPS, & fish, I've not seen any tanks live that achieve what we're hoping to do. Hope our sights aren't too high.

 

[Daniel Waters]

Thanks for your advice and consideration. We are open and appreciative of any and all advice. We've been at reefing a while, but don't necessarily pursue it as 'vigorously' as some. To be sure, we'd like to mimic the success or others. Though we've seen many systems on forums / videos that accomplish a healthy mix of SPS, LPS, & fish, I've not seen any tanks live that achieve what we're hoping to do. Hope our sights aren't too high.

It is certainly possible to have a mixed reef tank, although I think it is actually harder due to the varied coral preferences. With proper placement of corals, you can certainly have healthy lps, softies, sps, and fish all in one tank. I loved and miss my various lps corals such as frog spawn, acans, duncans, trachys, and torch corals. I always wanted a regal angel, so I gave up my zoas and lps to keep the regal. Otherwise, I probably could manage a mix in my tank with some minor adjustments. I think you can certainly do it!