Setting up an NPS tank

[thebigfryfry]

Hi all. I am currently in the planning stages for setting up a complete NPS system. I would like a few tips on care recommendations and water parameters. I’m considering sponges, sea squirts, sea apple, gorgonians, carnations, dendrophyllia, tube anemones and tubastrea. Do they prefer a lower water temperature. How about filtration. And also I was thinking about automatic water changes. How about food. Should I target or broadcast. What foods anre best? Are fish needed? Is a smaller tank better so less food and cheaper to run?I’ve been in the hobby for about 6 years so I hope I know what I’m getting my self into. I don’t know a ton about NPS but absolutely adore the look of them. Thanks in advance for the advice : )

 

[dennis romano]

I ran a NPS tank for several years. The tank had been set up for close to twenty years, so it was well aged. Start with the easier animals, dendros, tube anemones and tubastrea. You can also try some feather dusters. If you can keep them alive, try Caribbean NPS gorgonians. The hard corals, I target fed rotifers and baby brine shrimp. Dusters and tube anemones can be broadcast fed. My tank gets fed at least three times a day. Bad things happen if you are gone for a few days. They go downhill rapidly. My sponges are several years old. To feed them, I stir the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column and they do well on that.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Do they prefer a lower water temperature.

Some would some wouldn't. Most would probably be fine at reef temps.

How about filtration. And also I was thinking about automatic water changes.

I know that maintaining good water quality is a big concern with a lot of NPS tanks, as they usually need fed pretty heavily; so, I'd imagine it would be good to follow the "heavy-in, heavy-out" mantra, but you do want to make sure the NPS specimens have time to feed before the filtration and/or water changes takes all of their food out of the tank.

Should I target or broadcast. What foods anre best?

It depends and it depends; some specimens are better off being target fed, while others are better off being broadcast fed (in some cases, I've heard of some NPS critters actually retracting/hiding when people try to target feed them). Similarly, some species need meaty foods (like rotifers, BBS, pods, etc.), and some species need phyto, microalgae, bacteria, etc.

Are fish needed?

Fish aren't necessary, but they may be helpful.

Is a smaller tank better so less food and cheaper to run?

Depending on how small and how you run the tank, it could potentially be easier (big water changes on a small tank helps keep parameters stable); it would definitely require less food to run a small tank, but it may make keeping things like sponges more difficult, as there wouldn't be as much room for cyano, bacteria, etc. to grow in the tank.

Some food for thought and more specific care tips (most tunicates and filter feeding sea cucumbers - like the sea apple - would probably be in the easier care category; critters like filter-feeding sand dollars would probably somewhat more difficult even with a similar diet):

As mentioned above, feather duster/fan worms seem to be the easiest to care for, then things like barnacles and a number of different bivalves (clams, mussels, oysters, etc. - some bivalves, such as flame scallops, seem to have very specific feeding needs, so I'd consider them more difficult); some people have had some success with NPS corals; sponges and certain specific NPS corals (like the chili corals mentioned above) seem to be the most difficult to keep long term, and I only know a couple of people who have had really any success with them at all.

For the easier care specimens like feather dusters and bivalves, you typically just need to position the specimen properly (meaning in an area with the right substrate, the right flow, sometimes the right lighting, etc.) and dose phytoplankton (from what I've seen, I'd recommend Isochrysis galbana [T-Iso], Chaetoceros sp. [and/or Thalassiosira sp.], and Tetraselmis sp. - a blend containing all of these with or without other phyto species would be ideal) in high enough quantities for them thrive. (I'd also put things like bryozoans in this category.)

For slightly more difficult specimens like barnacles and easier NPS corals, you need to position the specimen properly and feed meaty foods/pods (pods referring to copepods, rotifers, ostracods, amphipods, brine shrimp, etc.; basically any small, feeder crustacean) in high enough quantities for them thrive.

For difficult NPS corals, you need to position the specimen properly and feed some kind of meaty foods/pods (nobody seems to know exactly what meaty foods or pods though) in high enough quantities for them thrive. (I'd put NPS hydrocorals slightly below this category, but above the barnacles category at this point.)

For sponges, you need to position the specimen properly and feed the right kinds of foods in high enough quantities for them to survive (I don't know if I've heard of any non-invasive sponges actually thriving in a tank yet) - the main problem seems to be providing the right kinds of foods in sufficient quantities.

Long story short, the only "success" stories I've seen with sponges either come from labs (one of which was able to keep the sponges alive and healthy enough to reaggregate while also being somewhat unhealthy and clearly lacking in color by feeding a bunch of phyto while the sponges likely also fed on bacteria, cyano, and possibly diatoms in the tank; the other managed to keep a known invasive species of sponge alive in a similarly mildly healthy/unhealthy state, but I don't remember the methodology off the top of my head) or from people regularly stirring their sandbeds and/or blowing detritus off their rocks - this is thought to help get the bacteria, microalgae (phytoplankton and similar), and appropriately sized organic matter pieces from the sandbed/rocks into the water column for the sponges to feed on (these seem to have similar levels of success as the labs mentioned above, with periods of both sponge growth and sponge deterioration).

For sponges:

Food/feeding:
-Isochrysis galbana (T-Iso) or a blend of phyto containing it is a good idea.
-Bacteria, Cyanobacteria, Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM), Particulate Organic Matter (POM), possibly Diatoms, etc. are good food for sponges, so things like stirring the sandbed and basting waste off of the rocks in the tank with the sponge may be helpful (I know this may not be possible depending on the tank, but finding ways to get bacteria into the water for the sponge to filter is a good idea).

Your sponges probably won't feed on Reef Roids, as the food in Reef Roids is too big (I've seen it stated at 150-200 microns, most of the food consumed by sponges is DOM, which is smaller than 1 micron; even the larger foods like the T-Iso are only like 6 microns at the largest).

Help Please: Orange Tree Sponge not doing well. Suggestions?

I have been keeping an orange tree sponge successfully for about 6 months. It was growing slowly but showing good color. Last week the sponge was knocked off its toothpick mount onto the sand bed. After being reset in the same spot it started to show white polyps and is now shrinking in size on...

www.reef2reef.com

Some gorgonians (multiple posts in this thread):

How much phyto should I feed a gorgonian?

I just blew 5ml of phyto at my little piece of blueberry sea fan that I got yesterday. Is that enough? should I feed more? Is there a ratio of phyto per polyp I should adhere to? Also, should I turn off flow when feeding or is it fine for phyto to blow past it?

www.reef2reef.com

Hydrocorals (Distichopora and Stylasterid; my post and the last few posts by the OP):

Going DEEP - The deep sea (stylasterid) concept tank experiment

(TLDR at bottom) Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any specifics about what feeds these corals need. However, knowing how these species work from an anatomical perspective, and knowing what some of their relatives eat may be helpful for figuring out exactly what to feed them. Basically...

www.reef2reef.com

Carnation:

Sps? Nps? Strawberry Carnation Coral

Hello, Ive recently starting buying corals as im happy with my fish now and tanks nice and stable. I bought this as a leather/soft coral: After researching and seeing its most likely a carnation coral and the apparent doom it comes with I’ve decided to try and keep it alive since it was...

www.reef2reef.com

Walking Dendros (not super useful info, but not bad regardless):

Walking dendros... what can you tell me about them?

I was just checking a wholesaler website and noticed that they got walking dendro in stock, did alittle research and found them interesting, my LFS sources coral from this particular supplier so thought I'd order it through them. Though before I do, does anyone know anything about them? First...

www.reef2reef.com

Sun Coral (again, not great info, but still may be helpful):

I haven't kept them myself (so hopefully someone who has will chime in for you here), but the one thing that I remember which I've seen recommended for sun corals by multiple different people who have kept them successfully at this point is to feed them daily.

Hope this helps!

 

[thebigfryfry]

I ran a NPS tank for several years. The tank had been set up for close to twenty years, so it was well aged. Start with the easier animals, dendros, tube anemones and tubastrea. You can also try some feather dusters. If you can keep them alive, try Caribbean NPS gorgonians. The hard corals, I target fed rotifers and baby brine shrimp. Dusters and tube anemones can be broadcast fed. My tank gets fed at least three times a day. Bad things happen if you are gone for a few days. They go downhill rapidly. My sponges are several years old. To feed them, I stir the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column and they do well on that.

Your tank looks amazing. What filtration do you use and how often do you water change?

 

[thebigfryfry]

I ran a NPS tank for several years. The tank had been set up for close to twenty years, so it was well aged. Start with the easier animals, dendros, tube anemones and tubastrea. You can also try some feather dusters. If you can keep them alive, try Caribbean NPS gorgonians. The hard corals, I target fed rotifers and baby brine shrimp. Dusters and tube anemones can be broadcast fed. My tank gets fed at least three times a day. Bad things happen if you are gone for a few days. They go downhill rapidly. My sponges are several years old. To feed them, I stir the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column and they do well on that.

Your tank looks amazing. What filtration do you use and how often do you water change?

 

[thebigfryfry]

Could you theoretically carbon does to bring bacteria up as well to feed nps?

 

[dennis romano]

Your tank looks amazing. What filtration do you use and how often do you water change?

It is very old school with the KISS method, Keep it Simple Stupid. Filtration is nothing more than a 1990s wet dry. The tank gets a water change maybe once a week. There is a blue octocoral, hairy mushrooms and green mushrooms that are over 25 years old. Several sponges are over three years old with some gorgs close to a decade. Red tree sponges never last more than a year.

 

[thebigfryfry]

Wow no skimmer? What are your parameters ?how much water do you change out a week how big is the tank?what do u feed? would like to try to emulate your tank I love the way it looks.

 

[thebigfryfry]

I think i have decided on what my tank might be. I have a and old 30x30x30 cube aquarium. so about 27 litres. I can do about 60 percent water changes every week. Im gonna get the biggest hob filter i can find and run carbon and gfo in it. I may get a skimmer but that will just take out the food. Ill get live rock for the cycling. Its a work in progress and is not gonna be set up too soon

 

[thebigfryfry]

also i want things that aren't going to be too loud since its going to be in my bedroom. Does anyone have any recommendations for quiet pumps/ wavemakers?

 

[thebigfryfry]

look i have decided its better to upgrade the filtration on my existing mixed reef, setting up yet another tank will be too costly in terms of time and money.....

 

[Katrina71]

I ran a NPS tank for several years. The tank had been set up for close to twenty years, so it was well aged. Start with the easier animals, dendros, tube anemones and tubastrea. You can also try some feather dusters. If you can keep them alive, try Caribbean NPS gorgonians. The hard corals, I target fed rotifers and baby brine shrimp. Dusters and tube anemones can be broadcast fed. My tank gets fed at least three times a day. Bad things happen if you are gone for a few days. They go downhill rapidly. My sponges are several years old. To feed them, I stir the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column and they do well on that.

I have sponges exactly like your yellow/purple on the top right. We will be upgrading tanks soon. Do you think they can be transferred to a new tank? Or sump?

 

[dennis romano]

I have sponges exactly like your yellow/purple on the top right. We will be upgrading tanks soon. Do you think they can be transferred to a new tank? Or sump?

I read just about every post or thread on this forum concerning sponges. It seems that just about everyone who has tried to put a sponge in a new tank has failed.