What do I need for an SPS dominant tank?

[Jayreef23]

So I have a Red Sea Max Nano approximately 20 gallons it is an AIO. I have a Radion xr30, an ATO,and stock return pump. What else do I need for a SPS dominant tank?

 

[fishywishy]

Good salt, good test kits, good filtration, and a dosing pump because you’re going to be doing a lot of dosing.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

Skimmer, doser, and a controller to help keep things stable. Also using a par meter is a must to make sure the light is set correctly

 

[Marco_99]

Flow

 

[Jayreef23]

Skimmer, doser, and a controller to help keep things stable. Also using a par meter is a must to make sure the light is set correctly

Thanks… what do you think of a media reactor? Do I need one?

 

[Jayreef23]

Flow

I was thinking two gyre pumps

 

[Liquid361]

So I have a Red Sea Max Nano approximately 20 gallons it is an AIO. I have a Radion xr30, an ATO,and stock return pump. What else do I need for a SPS dominant tank?

Money and patience

 

[Tahoe61]

Lighting and the patience of a saint with the right recipe.

 

[Jayreef23]

Currently the tank is set up as a softie only tanks it’s been up for 7-8 months but the problem is there is aiptasia so I’m guessing I’ll take the rocks and dry them and keep the sand and water to cycle it quick

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

Thanks… what do you think of a media reactor? Do I need one?

Not unless you have an issue that requires a media reactor. I’ve gone off and on with media reactors and currently do not use one on my sps tank

 

[Jayreef23]

Not unless you have an issue that requires a media reactor. I’ve gone off and on with media reactors and currently do not use one on my sps tank

Ok cool…good to know lol…I’ll estimate if I need it if my nitrates or phosphate get too high then I’m gonna need one but if there stable I’ll just keep the tank how it is

 

[euphlife]

1. Flow - closed loop here with eductors.
2. Lighting - kessil and k7 here
3. Dosing - Randy diy and trace here
4. Filtration - I do oversized sump 2x display with rock and macro here
5. Testing - par, elements, nutrients, rodi
6. Coral
7. Fish
8. Salt
9. Patience

It’s not cheap to put it lightly.

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

Some quality powerheads for flow, a heater, a way to replenish the big three, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium (2 part or All For Reef), a way to replenish other trace and minor elements (water changes should suffice in a tank that small), carbon/GFO filtration or you could rely on water changes.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I have a Red Sea Max Nano approximately 20 gallons it is an AIO. I have a Radion xr30, an ATO,and stock return pump. What else do I need for a SPS dominant tank?

proper lighting and flow
Accurate test kits (hanna and salifert) and get ICP tests done 2x a year
Good dosers
Coral food

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

Things I have learned over the years keeping sps is:
-Keep alk, calcium, magnesium, and salinity as stable as possible
-good indirect random flow
-you need that white light daytime spectrum during the day. AB+ setting on your light is excellent
-try for at least 300 par, lots of sps really color up at 400+ par
-monitor nitrates and phosphates (more important in sps tank)
-keeping trace elements in line helps a lot as well
-two of the best low cost sps frags you can buy to test out your tank for sps is green slimmer, and a Milka Stylophora

Also don’t get caught up with the magic potions that claim better growth, color, or polyp extension. You don’t need it. Do everything above and you’ll be successful

 

[Jayreef23]

Some quality powerheads for flow, a heater, a way to replenish the big three, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium (2 part or All For Reef), a way to replenish other trace and minor elements (water changes should suffice in a tank that small), carbon/GFO filtration or you could rely on water changes.

I was thinking about a media reactor

 

[Arie_Idaho_Reef]

SPS

 

[Arie_Idaho_Reef]

Things I have learned over the years keeping sps is:
-Keep alk, calcium, magnesium, and salinity as stable as possible
-good indirect random flow
-you need that white light daytime spectrum during the day. AB+ setting on your light is excellent
-try for at least 300 par, lots of sps really color up at 400+ par
-monitor nitrates and phosphates (more important in sps tank)
-keeping trace elements in line helps a lot as well
-two of the best low cost sps frags you can buy to test out your tank for sps is green slimmer, and a Milka Stylophora

Also don’t get caught up with the magic potions that claim better growth, color, or polyp extension. You don’t need it. Do everything above and you’ll be successful

This hit the nail on the head. Follow this advice.

 

[Jayreef23]

Things I have learned over the years keeping sps is:
-Keep alk, calcium, magnesium, and salinity as stable as possible
-good indirect random flow
-you need that white light daytime spectrum during the day. AB+ setting on your light is excellent
-try for at least 300 par, lots of sps really color up at 400+ par
-monitor nitrates and phosphates (more important in sps tank)
-keeping trace elements in line helps a lot as well
-two of the best low cost sps frags you can buy to test out your tank for sps is green slimmer, and a Milka Stylophora

Also don’t get caught up with the magic potions that claim better growth, color, or polyp extension. You don’t need it. Do everything above and you’ll be successful

How often do you do water changes?

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

How often do you do water changes?

Haha this is a tricky subject for me. I have 300 gallons in my system and was only doing 15 gallons twice a week. I have since stopped doing them for 2 reasons. I want to keep that tank stability and I feel like even a water change will slightly swing things. I also send in monthly ICP tests along with Moonshiners method of fine tuning my trace elements. the ICP tests also monitor if there is pollutants in my water where I would need a water change or if I need to run a media reactor to remove anything in my water.

Having said that you don't need to go this rout until you have been keeping sps for a while and feel comfortable tweaking things to get the most out of the corals.

I think in your case being a smaller tank and not spending too much money on things a weekly water change of 10-15% is a fantastic route. I had a 120 gallon mix tank that I was very successful just doing water changes and keeping my alk, calcium and mag in range.

Typically anything you change to the tank like flow or lighting your coral will typically stall on growth and color until it adjusts to the new growing condition then growth starts back up and you start to gain colors back. I currently have 2 sps frags that have been stalled for over a year doing absolutely nothing but sitting while 70+ other frags are growing great. Very important to set flow and light then leave it.

When you ask what equipment you will need in the first post it can technically be next to nothing. you just have to take that list I wrote above then research all the different ways out there to achieve that list. There are plenty of stories out there where people only did water changes and have a very successful reef. That never worked for me