SPS - the simplest approach possible.

[Punchanello]

A couple of week ago I was saw a local reefer's stunning SPS tank. Great coral health, colour and growth. Big colonies.

He has good quality equipment and plenty of flow and light. He runs a chaeto refugium and a skimmer.

He only doses kalkwasser keeps up with water changes ,occasionally adds some iodine and tops up magnesium when required. Thats it.....No trace elements, moonshining, aminos, bacterial supplements etc etc.

So my question is, who runs an ultra simple SPS system with success? Would love to see photos.

My other question is, is it really viable for your middling SPS keeper like me?

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I run my acro tank KISS style. I only dose Calcium & Alkalinity in my tank, nothing else. I dose my WC water to a bit higher Mag, but rarely dose the tank directly. Been running about a decade this way.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diving-the-worlds-80g-acro-wonderland.534580/

 

[cilyjr]

I wouldn't exactly call my system ultra simple, But I do not dose all of the things that are out there.
I run a kalkwasser reactor and a calcium reactor in tandem.
I do a weekly water change of 20 gallons with a total system gallonage of right around 500.
Where I would say I was more complicated than others is the equipment.
This current system is fairly new. Roughly a year old but before that when I lived on the east coast My tank ran like that for about 15 years.

 

[Punchanello]

I run my acro tank KISS style. I only dose Calcium & Alkalinity in my tank, nothing else. I dose my WC water to a bit higher Mag, but rarely dose the tank directly. Been running about a decade this way.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diving-the-worlds-80g-acro-wonderland.534580/

That is super impressive, and your parameters are similar to mine! There is hope.

 

[Punchanello]

I wouldn't exactly call my system ultra simple, But I do not dose all of the things that are out there.
I run a kalkwasser reactor and a calcium reactor in tandem.
I do a weekly water change of 20 gallons with a total system gallonage of right around 500.
Where I would say I was more complicated than others is the equipment.
This current system is fairly new. Roughly a year old but before that when I lived on the east coast My tank ran like that for about 15 years.

I am a bit the same. I do believe in buying the best equipment you can afford, I struggle to believe in elixirs and additives. I wont run a tank without UV. I run 4 wavemakers in a 75 gallon, a protein skimmer, chaeto fuge and a fleece roller.

 

[billyocean]

I run an acro tank on filter socks and rocks. Dosers dose alk, calcium, phosphate. Hand dose some mag every few days or so. Waterchange is about 15% every week or two.

 

[Acrofiend]

Only dosing kalk here. No water changes. Light feeding of pellets and flakes daily. Magnesium tested occasionally to check for adjusting.
Note: this was not how it was the first year when the tank was going through its phases.

 

[cilyjr]

I am a bit the same. I do believe in buying the best equipment you can afford, I struggle to believe in elixirs and additives. I wont run a tank without UV. I run 4 wavemakers in a 75 gallon, a protein skimmer, chaeto fuge and a fleece roller.

I don't even really believe that refugiums ie running chaetomorpha, in the capacity that most of us do has any real effect on nutrient export. Meaning if you wanted to get some benefit out of it you should be running a refugium tank three to five times bigger than your entire system.

That said, I seem to always find a small ball and jam it in a part of the sump and put a light on it.

 

[Loosechangereef]

Just Brightwell s code a and b small skimmer 10 percent wc , for me live rock and miracle mud , sps like old well maintenance tank , on a 50 aio

 

[jda]

Almost all of the best reefs are run simple over long periods of time. Most of the stuff in the first post are fads that come and go and the long-term folks poo-poo them as such... todays hot supplement is tomorrows punchline in a joke.

Calcium reactor, water changes, heavy skimming and chaeto refugium for me. I only test for alk and occasionally for po4. I have a calcium test kit, but it has probably been 12-18 months since I used it. The CaRx does add magnesium or else I might have to intervene.

I dose iron if I slack off on my water changes or else you can tell that the chaeto growth slows down. I do remove 50% of my chaeto every few weeks or month - it will overflow a 5 gallon bucket. The impact on phosphate removal is large.