New SPS owner, tips please!

[Reefbuds]

Ok guys, tmrw I will be receiving my first sps and am looking for any tips on care for them. If course I have read up but just looking for any insider tips on care as I will be new to this. I have lps and a carpet anemone atm with a few shrooms, 2 yr old tank.
Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[Ludders]

What have you bought?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Ok guys, tmrw I will be receiving my first sps and am looking for any tips on care for them. If course I have read up but just looking for any insider tips on care as I will be new to this. I have lps and a carpet anemone atm with a few shrooms, 2 yr old tank.
Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

My first and best tip would be to acclimate the sps to your lighting. Turn it down low, and slowly ramp it up over the course of a couple weeks. Or if your lights come with an acclimation program, run it. Also, if you're not already doing it, dip your corals before adding them to the tank :) Also try as best as possible to maintain stable water parameters. Sps cannot handle swings as well as lps and soft corals can.

 

[tdileo]

Agree what type of coral you got is important to know.. You may struggle with an acropora but something like a monti, birdnsest, or pavona should be quite easy.

 

[erky]

tip: get a alk/ca/no3 test kit (I use salifert) read on how to maintain proper water chemistry, expect to lost some coral (everyone does), water stability is your goal. The trick about SPS or really any coral, is keeping your water in the proper conditions to encourage them to do their thing, lighting has a key role here but I really think water quality plays a bigger role than lighting. Speaking of lighting once you get the lights how you want (assuming led) don't mess with them, the constantly moving around the controls/intensity of these lights will do more harm than good!

 

[Ludders]

My first and best tip would be to acclimate the sps to your lighting. Turn it down low, and slowly ramp it up over the course of a couple weeks. Or if your lights come with an acclimation program, run it. Also, if you're not already doing it, dip your corals before adding them to the tank :) Also try as best as possible to maintain stable water parameters. Sps cannot handle swings as well as lps and soft corals can.

When he say's dip, he means in tank water and a dip, not RO water like someone else did the other week on here and asked us why they had stripped all their tissue within a couple of days.

 

[erky]

When he say's dip, he means in tank water and a dip, not RO water like someone else did the other week on here and asked us why they had stripped all their tissue within a couple of days.

lol I guess that is part of the learning curve

 

[Crabs McJones]

When he say's dip, he means in tank water and a dip, not RO water like someone else did the other week on here and asked us why they had stripped all their tissue within a couple of days.

Guess I should have clarified...Thanks :)

 

[Ludders]

Guess I should have clarified...Thanks :)

lol did you see that thread?

 

[Crabs McJones]

lol did you see that thread?

Sadly I missed it. But that's ok. Don't need to see it. No need to shame the OP :)

 

[Ludders]

Poor guy, I felt sorry for him, he was just doing what he thought was best.

 

[erky]

Poor guy, I felt sorry for him, he was just doing what he thought was best.

hope it wasnt a high end piece, but i assume it wasnt.

 

[Ludders]

hope it wasnt a high end piece, but i assume it wasnt.

He had about 7 frags, some nice stuff. I think a few pieces recovered, so wasn't a complete loss. I wouldn't recommend doing RO dips though.

 

[Reefbuds]

Two 3 inch branching and bushy acros

 

[Ludders]

Two 3 inch branching and bushy acros

Sorry I went off on a tangent, back on topic.

Acro's require good lighting, so make sure placement is in the top 1/3 of your aquarium.

What lights do you have?

Also usual flow and stable water chemistry are required.

 

[Reefbuds]

Sorry I went off on a tangent, back on topic.

Acro's require good lighting, so make sure placement is in the top 1/3 of your aquarium.

What lights do you have?

Also usual flow and stable water chemistry are required.

They will be placed at the top in a high flow area, I have LED currently but am thinking of adding my T5 HO on top of that if required. I also have 2 acro crabs comimg with to help the acclamation process.

 

[ndrwater]

Here is something that hasn't been brought up yet. Allow plenty of room for them to grow. Many a reefer has run into the problem of chemical coral warfare (myself included) if placing frags to close together.
High flow is always a good idea, although you might check with whomever you bought your frags from as to the flow in the tank they came from.

 

[Reefbuds]

What will be some signs that they need the T5 added? Polyps not extended? And what about too much lighting, or is this even possible lol

 

[Reefbuds]

Explain this topic. In addition to the slow initial acclamation before introducing into the tank I should dip the corals during this or what?

 

[ndrwater]

Any and all corals need to be dipped before being added to the display. Coral dips can be things like Revive, Coral Rx, Bayer (a specific type). The dip is done prior to adding, but preferably after acclimation. Acclimation can be done in a bucket or other container of appropriate size.
Follow the directions on the package (except for Bayer) then rinse in tank water before adding.