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[MikeYasin]

Personally, I don't dip until I see signs of pests while in QT, and I usually remove the plug unless the frag has encrusted a decent amount.

Divers Den frags are usually encrusting to some point, making it hard to Remove plug. QT and watch - I've never had an issue from Divers Den, but I have always QT'd.

 

[Rakie]

Divers Den frags are usually encrusting to some point, making it hard to Remove plug. QT and watch - I've never had an issue from Divers Den, but I have always QT'd.

I remove the plug 100% of the time regardless, the only circumstances that might change that are if literally 100% of the plug is covered, or I'm extremely familiar with the person who I've gotten the frag from.

It's never worth keeping the pest plug. ever.

 

[sawdonkey]

How do you subscribe to a hashtag?

 

[Ashish Patel]

How effective is brushing the base of the coral with a tooth brush? does it work better with a electic or regular? haha - no but seriously?

 

[Salty1962]

I know enough to be dangerous:)

 

[Salty1962]

How effective is brushing the base of the coral with a tooth brush? does it work better with a electic or regular? haha - no but seriously?

I find scrapping algae off with a small knife better than brushing. You tend to damage the SPS base when brushing no matter how careful you are. Then you get algae on the base of your damaged SPS and the plug. JME

 

[Salty1962]

Well put Coronus - I plan on doing this to all frags and colonies regardless of where they came from. The main point here is to plug or concrete base even if its encrusted; have too many hiding places for eggs. Ultimately, the coral will heal itself and grow - introduce the AEFW and its game over.

Sometimes they'll start to grow faster after fragged.

 

[Constrictor6090]

Anyone use Dr. G's coral SPS dip? suppose to kill eggs as well.

 

[fabutahoun]

How do you subscribe to a hashtag?

just click on on the hash tag #SPSExperts and then click watch tag

 

[fabutahoun]

Not an expert but kept them successfully for 2 years :). I am tagging a long and ready for help If I can

 

[Ashish Patel]

Need some honest opinions for chemical and mechanical Filteration for primarily SPS corals. Looking for those amazing colors and low nutrients but it has to be low maintenance.

RO Skimmer
NP bio pellet reactor AIO
CO2 feed into skimmer (for PH maintenance)
Chemi-pure carbon in sump.


i've been in the hobby for 20 years and 10+ with reef tank. I've had my successes and failures but one thing I've never tried due the fact i've never had the setup is a refugium. So i made sure to have one in my sump - Now I'am learning that its not good for a low nutrient tank....Should I use it if I have it or just focus on nutrient export?

Give me your honest opinion and please recommend a better method -minus zeovit method.

 

[reeferbuddy215]

I am using a converted 40 gal filter into a dual refugium and my sps corals are growing like wild fire and colors are just breathtaking and I've grown with refugiums and without I think everyone's tank is different in some small way but for me I've have great success without having a low nutrient tank long as ur phosphates stay below 0.02 ppm and no nitrate spikes ur fine cuz sps corals feed off of fish poop so I just know I turned a $13.99 Acropora spathulata frag into one worth over $100 in less then a month so I test but I judge by how well my corals look and are eating growing coloring up. Hope that helps lol

 

[zhuisken]

In my opinion keeping sps successfully boils down to lighting, water quality and and flow. Those to me are the big three.

A calcium reactor is worth the investment in my opinion. Minimizes alkalinity fluctuations and will keep it at the desired levels.

I test calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium on a daily bases. I keep Alk at 10ppm, Ca at 500ppm, and Maggnesium at 1500 ppm. People keep them at different levels but keeping them as steady as possible is the key.

If you have the luxury of owning a par meter or have a friend who has one (much cheaper) map out your tank so you know what par your corals are getting or corals you may place in the future.

This topic literally could be a book. Hope there is something useful here.

 

[Salty1962]

Need some honest opinions for chemical and mechanical Filteration for primarily SPS corals. Looking for those amazing colors and low nutrients but it has to be low maintenance.

RO Skimmer
NP bio pellet reactor AIO
CO2 feed into skimmer (for PH maintenance)
Chemi-pure carbon in sump.


i've been in the hobby for 20 years and 10+ with reef tank. I've had my successes and failures but one thing I've never tried due the fact i've never had the setup is a refugium. So i made sure to have one in my sump - Now I'am learning that its not good for a low nutrient tank....Should I use it if I have it or just focus on nutrient export?

Give me your honest opinion and please recommend a better method -minus zeovit method.

IMHO a good PS and a BP reactor do an excellent job of reducing Po4 and No3. Be sure to let your BP reactor colonize for at least 8 weeks before looking for your No3 to come down. I until recently had both and the helped keep my No3 to 2ppm and Po4 to .02ppm.

 

[Ashish Patel]

IMHO a good PS and a BP reactor do an excellent job of reducing Po4 and No3. Be sure to let your BP reactor colonize for at least 8 weeks before looking for your No3 to come down. I until recently had both and the helped keep my No3 to 2ppm and Po4 to .02ppm.

Thanks for your reply.. I've setup my tank now and decided on the Refugium, Skimmer, and Carbon route. Was using Chemi pure elite for awhile not realizing how much damage the GFO was causing along with the 24-7 refugium LED light... I am going on 4 months now tank picture below...I thought I could just overlook Nutrients avoiding carbon dosing methods but its clear to me now.. This is by far the most important thing to find a good balance regardless of method for SPS tank - , refugium, carbon, GFO, zeovit, NP biopellets etc all work very well and depending on your system you can really do more damage than good. Luckily I have taken it fairly slow and managed to keep all animals i've purchased. But I hope that remains as my monti and stylos have faded color before i started making the adjustments. I ordered a Hanna ULR PO checker so I can maintain it around .02-0.3 range. Despite the tank not looking mature, I have 30LB of old sponge covered LR in my refugium and sump so this is causing constant snowing from pods and other inverts that I am assuming is keeping everything alive while I find the right balance

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Bumping this back up...