Let's discuss SPS coral success stories!

[Gumbies R Us]

Many people here have amazing sps-filled tanks, and others want to try their hands at sps coral. I am wondering what has been your experience with these corals, and what advice can you give to those who might want some in the future. Photo Credit: @pongpit

 

[Dburr1014]

Dead,
To not dead,
Success!
All in 2 months.

 

[Dburr1014]

Many people here have amazing sps-filled tanks, and others want to try their hands at sps coral. I am wondering what has been your experience with these corals, and what advice can you give to those who might want some in the future. Photo Credit: @pongpit

But seriously, my advice, don't change anything fast. Steer the ship, that's all.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Test water parameters often and keep them, the lighting, and flow stable. If adjustments are needed, do them slowly.

Demystifying SPS Coral Care

Demystifying SPS Coral Care by Reefer Matt Hello Reefers! I thought I’d share my thoughts and experience with SPS coral and how I care for them. In this article, I hope you’ll find something to take with you, and apply it to your tank. Reefer...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Troylee]

Properly set up calcium reactor or kalk dosing and sit back and enjoy.. it’s only hard as you make it!

 

[bubbgee]

Mix softies and LPS too or just dedicate it to just acro? Been struggling on acro.

 

[bakbay]

I used to struggle with SPS but the thing that changed for me was "simply" maintaining stable alkalinity. I don't do WCs so it's actually easier for me to dial in the CaRx. Whatever you do: 2-part, kalkwasser, CaRx, whatever -- having stable alkalinity made a huge difference, at least for me. Extra considerations below:

Nutrients: this affects color but you won't kill any SPS, unless both N&P are depleted; specifically PO4 -- corals do need phosphate to thrive. My SPS tank's nitrate is over 75 and things are still growing like weeds!

Flow: as colonies get bigger, you will need more flow to remove waste and bring "food" to them. For SPS-dominated tank, the more random flow the better but not directly blasting them.

 

[exnisstech]

I'm a noob but from my experience with a tank dedicated to mostly all acros for my first time is to not expect stellar results immediately. My tank didn't do terrible but frags really started laying down base and growing some branches after about 13 months in. I keep it simple and manually dose AFR in the morning.
This myagi tort has been my most succesful piece. Grown from a piece accidental fragged when I was cleaning another tank.

 

[bubbgee]

I used to struggle with SPS but the thing that changed for me was "simply" maintaining stable alkalinity. I don't do WCs so it's actually easier for me to dial in the CaRx. Whatever you do: 2-part, kalkwasser, CaRx, whatever -- having stable alkalinity made a huge difference, at least for me. Extra considerations below:

Nutrients: this affects color but you won't kill any SPS, unless both N&P are depleted; specifically PO4 -- corals do need phosphate to thrive. My SPS tank's nitrate is over 75 and things are still growing like weeds!

Flow: as colonies get bigger, you will need more flow to remove waste and bring "food" to them. For SPS-dominated tank, the more random flow the better but not directly blasting them.

What does stable alk mean? No static 8.5 ? A range from 8.7-9.2 ?

 

[BristleWormHater]

I have successfully managed to not have keep any.

 

[bakbay]

What does stable alk mean? No static 8.5 ? A range from 8.7-9.2 ?

Not realistic to be "static" given daily consumption rate - mine "stabilizes" between 8.0 - 8.5. Ignore the slump in the graph since I ran out of reagents.

Please keep in mind that I chose between 8-9 but yours maybe different. There is no magic range here — just keep a stable range.

 

[Reefering1]

Stability/slow change as already said. Then it's backups and redundancy. It's hard to maintain Stability when you have no power or something fails. You can lose it all in a couple days if you don't know what to do

 

[exnisstech]

I have successfully managed to not have keep any.

It will come. Give the tank 6 months or so to mature some more and try a easy piece or two. Miyagi tort and garf bonzai have been good starters for me. I didn't keep track of the ones I killed along the way

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have successfully managed to not have keep any.

I have never even attempted to keep one so you have at least tried where I haven’t!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'm a noob but from my experience with a tank dedicated to mostly all acros for my first time is to not expect stellar results immediately. My tank didn't do terrible but frags really started laying down base and growing some branches after about 13 months in. I keep it simple and manually dose AFR in the morning.
This myagi tort has been my most succesful piece. Grown from a piece accidental fragged when I was cleaning another tank.

Do you dose anything besides afr? (This is what I use for my tank as well)

 

[Dburr1014]

Mix softies and LPS too or just dedicate it to just acro? Been struggling on acro.

Mix of acro and softies are harder, IME.

You need to run GAC most of the time because of soft coral toxins.

 

[bobnicaragua]

PH matters a lot with acropora. Kalkwasser, refugium, and outside airline to the skimmer all help keep PH up.

Strong random flow is important. Good light coverage that minimizes shadows. Set it all up right. It all adds up.

Have a maintenance routine that keeps parameters in check.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Dead,
To not dead,
Success!
All in 2 months.

Need details on how you made this happen!

 

[exnisstech]

Do you dose anything besides afr? (This is what I use for my tank as well)

A very small amount of bacto balance daily and some microbactor 7 and zeobac bi weekly. I've been really happy with the results of AFR but it could be tank maturity or coincidence since I have no science to back it up.

 

[Dburr1014]

Need details on how you made this happen!

Long story short, Stability.

Never. give. up.
I don't pull coral cuz it looks bad. I see one polyp, I try to save it. Check parameters, if something is off, steer the ship.. No sudden movements. Give your coral flow, lots of it. They love it. It's waste management for them, it's how they get food.

Here another, a birdsnest. So finicky these guys. Just started dying one day, don't know why. It's coming back again. Blew off crap, trimmed some branches, added more flow. I'm guessing the flow gets hindered as it grows and cuts itself off.