Experienced Acropora SPS Keepers 1+ Year Help Needed

[Ashish Patel]

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE RESPONSES. Quick update, I used a Seneye to check my par settings today. There is no way that my SPS are getting more than 200 par at my current light settings. So perhaps the Nutrient-Chemical issue is they key one.

If you have good nutrients SPS sweet spot is 250-350PAR range at 6-7 hrs. If your low nutrients then they will be safer at 200-250. BRS posted a good video on PAR by dana riddle. Big eye opener but this study did not factor in natural food source in the wild which can not be measured in our tanks. I am sure corals in our tanks get most of their nutrients from our light source. In the wild I imagine they get more constant food particles then light.. Just my thoughts.

 

[Zagreus]

If you have good nutrients SPS sweet spot is 250-350PAR range at 6-7 hrs. If your low nutrients then they will be safer at 200-250. BRS posted a good video on PAR by dana riddle. Big eye opener but this study did not factor in natural food source in the wild which can not be measured in our tanks. I am sure corals in our tanks get most of their nutrients form light source. In the wild they likely get more food then light.. Just my thoughts.

I watched Dana's Macna talk on light and flow and it influenced me to retrofit by LED with a t5 and increase my flow pumps from 1 mp10 to 2 mp10 to max flow without sandstorm. Thank you for the reference and feedback. Also your tank and story is incredible.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Thanks!

 

[Scorpius]

You gotta get your chemistry stable. If that means a 0.5 dkh swing throughout the week that's okay as long as it's always a 0.5 dkh swing. Coral can adjust to that. The key is consistency in your parameter swings. See what I'm saying?

 

[Holy_makerel]

Thank you I am running 2 - MP10 at 50% on Nutrient Transport, Reef crest, Tidel Swell & Lagoon from 7:30am to 12:00am then Gyre at 25% from 12:00am to 7:30am

Just for example i have a 60 cube that i run 2 mp10s at 90% reefcrest and 2 pp8s in the back on 80% wave mode, plus my return for my SPS tank. You may need more flow soon. Good luck! You have some killer pieces!

 

[sullyman]

How warm did the tank get from Irma?

 

[Larry L]

All very good advice coming from good sources. I worry about this:

7+ months old and started with Marco Dry Rock Reef Saver

@Mike Paletta and @sanjay have some interesting anecdotal evidence about starting tanks with exclusively dry rock, and having corals fade and die over the course of a few weeks, even though all water params look fine: https://reefbuilders.com/2017/07/08/revisiting-my-elos-tank-after-18-months/

 

[Scorpius]

^ Read that article awhile back. Explained some of my early issues with Acropora as I started my system with 100% dry rock.

 

[Ashish Patel]

If your gonna wait 12+ months before adding SPS then dry rock is the way to go - Softies and LPS seem to survive in both sterile and mature tanks equally as well.. If your going to start adding SPS after 1-2 months with the hopes your parameters will get you by your dead wrong.. SPS produce slime and filter feed from all those microfauna only present on LR or aged tanks. I used LR in my sump and dry rock in the tank! Won't do it any other way..Besides I just don't have the patients in a new tank!

 

[Zagreus]

All very good advice coming from good sources. I worry about this:



@Mike Paletta and @sanjay have some interesting anecdotal evidence about starting tanks with exclusively dry rock, and having corals fade and die over the course of a few weeks, even though all water params look fine: https://reefbuilders.com/2017/07/08/revisiting-my-elos-tank-after-18-months/

Thank you Larry. This is helpful. Describes my tank.I just did a fresh round of tests and while my nutrients are low...they are in the range everyone describes as ideal. I also feed my tank daily both Mysis and Reef Energy A & B Aminos by Red Sea and twice a week reef roids (switching PE Mysis and PE Colanis). I have 5 fish now in my 45 and lost 3 others because of low 02 courtesy of a 24 hour broken fuel line on my diesel generator. So i had and will get back a decent bioload as well. For now i am dropping my NoPox from 3ml to 2ml daily and cutting out 1/2 the GFO even though my phosphates are testing at .o4. Lastly i am going to skip my 10% water change this week and see if i can get my nitrates up to between 1 and no more than 10 ppm. I am hoping that and consistency will help color up my corals and get them kicking again.

I tested my light using a Seneye and while it is strong it isnt above 250 PAR where the SPS are. So i am not sure bleaching is the issue from light.

The good news is while not lookig as perfect as when i got them, the WWC Universal Tenius still looking good along with a CC Cali Tort and some Plutonium Tenuis. My LPS all appear great accept my Trachy that with he second MP10 and the flow set high below sandstorm, is not happy.

Anyway cheers and I appreciate all the feedback. Best part of this is you are not alone.

 

[Zagreus]

^ Read that article awhile back. Explained some of my early issues with Acropora as I started my system with 100% dry rock.

Once these rocks get good and live I hope i can keep them pest free enough to use them for the rest of my days and future tank builds. I have resisted putting in other live rock. Still do not feel like i have any purple coraline. Thought about shaving off some from a store live rock to seed my tank. But at this point after i broke the bank, i think i will just keep at it and stop buying acros until things turn.

I hope to stay in touch with you guys and chart progress. Also to see and learn about yours.

Thank you,

Zag

 

[Zagreus]

How warm did the tank get from Irma?

Like 83-84 for 24 hours then i got it back down to a range of 78-82. Main thing was i lost 02 and flow for 24 houres as my generator broke. But all is good now.

 

[Rakie]

Here is the problem;

NoPox 3ml daily
BRS Carbon and Iron GFO

Your tank is sterile.

 

[najer]

Just my opinion and in my experience, you seem to have not given the tank time to become a system, let it get a bit grubby, let your sps drop colour a bit (not bleach), a very young tank.

 

[Rakie]

Just my opinion and in my experience, you seem to have not given the tank time to become a system, let it get a bit grubby, let your sps drop colour a bit (not bleach), a very young tank.

Honestly, I put SPS in my tank immediately after cycle and had zero issues. Color and growth was fine. I perpetually find the issue to be sterile tanks. While I do agree that a mature system offers *something* that a brand new system does not, I will adamantly argue that will not be the end of SPS, but rather that nutrients can make up that difference in the interim.

Lots of people have taken brand new tanks and had no issue with SPS.

 

[najer]

Here is the problem;



Your tank is sterile.

Agreed, with experience we can do lots of things, op appears to be someone trying to be too clean without experience.

 

[Zagreus]

Gosh I hope you guys are right and it's not the phenomenon that Sanjay and Mike went through using dead rock. Anyway I'm cutting back on the nopox to try to get my nitrates up below 10 but I need to be careful on my phosphate as it is between .04 in point .08 now. So I'm taking half the GFO out. Thank you!

 

[Potatohead]

Honestly, I put SPS in my tank immediately after cycle and had zero issues. Color and growth was fine. I perpetually find the issue to be sterile tanks. While I do agree that a mature system offers *something* that a brand new system does not, I will adamantly argue that will not be the end of SPS, but rather that nutrients can make up that difference in the interim.

Lots of people have taken brand new tanks and had no issue with SPS.

Did you start with dry rock? Meaning, Marco rock?

I did, and the difference in acros after the tank being six months old and eighteen months old is massive.

 

[Zagreus]

Did you start with dry rock? Meaning, Marco rock?

I did, and the difference in acros after the tank being six months old and eighteen months old is massive.

Yes i started with dry dead Marco rock only. Mark

 

[Rakie]

Did you start with dry rock? Meaning, Marco rock?

I did, and the difference in acros after the tank being six months old and eighteen months old is massive.

Yes I started with dry rock, but not Marco rock -- BRS. Zero issues whatsoever. No difference.