SPS Dominant Build Questions

[E.intheC]

I’m looking to setup a full-on SPS tank. I have most of the equipment already but want to post here to make sure I’m not missing anything.

The tank is a 64ish gallon, 48x18x18h. It’s essentially a shorter 75.

Equipment is as follows:

-38 gallon sump
-2x Gen5 Radion xr15 pros. (I’m not opposed to adding another light or supplemental LED bars in the future)
-ATB 840 skimmer
-2x Tunze 6095 powerheads with a 7095 controller
-Hydros controller for temp control. Possible add-ons later
-Drew’s dosing pump for all-for reef. I also have a calcium reactor but I’m looking at grabbing a Hydros Minnow for 2part dosing
-Carbon and GFO in a bag in the sump
-Milwaukee pH probe/controller

The tank will be barebottom and minimal branch rock in the display. Extra live rock in the sump.

Any recommendations?? Thanks in advance

 

[dwest]

It sounds like a good plan. I’d wait a while before adding the GFO and I would make sure some of the rock is real live rock. Also, don’t be surprised if it takes a long time (maybe a year) before SPS will grow well. Good luck!

 

[exnisstech]

Personally for AFR I would go with a doser that you can control like a kamoer. I love my reefdose but they don't make a single. I have used the kamoer. I think dialing in the Drew's doser using a timer isn't going to allow the precision you may need. I use AFR on my sps tank and there have been times where I just needed to increase it by 2ml.

 

[E.intheC]

Good tips, thank you

I’ll prob go with a regular 2part rather than all for reef

 

[billyocean]

High quality live rock will help you for sure. Auto top off is a must IMO if you don't have one. Water Chemistry and flow are paramount. Pretty much any reef light can grow acros these days.

 

[E.intheC]

Definitely will have actual live rock in the sump. I’m trying out the branch rock this time because in the past I’ve had issues where detritus would build up under the rocks. Trying to avoid that if I can.

The ATO recommendation is a good one. I forgot to include it above - I have a Tunze unit

 

[vabben]

I say skip carbon and GFO, unless absolutely necessary. My nutrients run around 12 Nitrates .12 Phosphates and my acros are very happy. I’ve been happy with Nopox to keep nutrients stable.

An automated tester to keep a close eye on Alk is very helpful.

What’s your mechanical filtration plan? Filter rollers are very nice, but Pinky filters are easy and work great too.

 

[jackson6745]

It will work absolutely fine as planned.

I would personally change a few things based on my experience which is not necessary but i found to be the best way in a BB sps tank. Just things to consider.
I am by no means saying that anything is a must.

-use kalk from day 1. The growth is unmatched which imo correlates to health as well, not to mention dirt cheap to run. I personally like a stirrer fed 24/7 by a continuous doser with a ph shutoff at 8.6 should it get that high, and an additional high sump water level shutoff redundancy. When the kalk no longer keeps up, AFR would be fine and you could use the second doser for magnesium

-if in the budget build out the hydros sooner rather than later. Having more inputs and programmable outlets gives you the ability to monitor and make redundancies so less change of mishaps. I wouldn’t run kalk without being able to monitor and control
With this.

-I noticed that bare bottom tank biome takes much longer to develop. Fit as much rock as you can remotely and don’t be overly concerned with sucking out every last bit of detritus from the sump unless you’re nutrients are getting up there. Neat freak cleaning and bare bottom = Easter egg colors lol, which can be cool. Not having the surface area of a sandbed makes the biome
More delicate i noticed. In every change that you make
Keep
Bacterial stability and proliferation in mind.

-for the lighting I would add an aquatic life t5 fixture to the radions. T5 just pull
It all together. Fills the gaps with light and adds more UV. I notice a big increase in growth adding t5.
I run them 5 hours per day for the peak led photoperiod


I think that’s about it lol. Good luck bud!

Oh and lose the gfo

 

[E.intheC]

It will work absolutely fine as planned.

I would personally change a few things based on my experience which is not necessary but i found to be the best way in a BB sps tank. Just things to consider.
I am by no means saying that anything is a must.

-use kalk from day 1. The growth is unmatched which imo correlates to health as well, not to mention dirt cheap to run. I personally like a stirrer fed 24/7 by a continuous doser with a ph shutoff at 8.6 should it get that high, and an additional high sump water level shutoff redundancy. When the kalk no longer keeps up, AFR would be fine and you could use the second doser for magnesium

-if in the budget build out the hydros sooner rather than later. Having more inputs and programmable outlets gives you the ability to monitor and make redundancies so less change of mishaps. I wouldn’t run kalk without being able to monitor and control
With this.

-I noticed that bare bottom tank biome takes much longer to develop. Fit as much rock as you can remotely and don’t be overly concerned with sucking out every last bit of detritus from the sump unless you’re nutrients are getting up there. Neat freak cleaning and bare bottom = Easter egg colors lol, which can be cool. Not having the surface area of a sandbed makes the biome
More delicate i noticed. In every change that you make
Keep
Bacterial stability and proliferation in mind.

-for the lighting I would add an aquatic life t5 fixture to the radions. T5 just pull
It all together. Fills the gaps with light and adds more UV. I notice a big increase in growth adding t5.
I run them 5 hours per day for the peak led photoperiod


I think that’s about it lol. Good luck bud!

Oh and lose the gfo

Thanks bro!
I will follow whatever you suggest lol. I used kalk back in like 2007ish but have been reluctant to try it since then.
I’ll give it another shot. And will build out the hydros controller. What specifically do you think I should get for the hydros related to kalk?

My biggest Achilles heel has been change. I do too much and have a hard time sticking with the same thing. So my goal for this tank is to stick with one setup. I also tend to overstock and over feed so I’m trying to avoid that.

 

[spsick]

Jackson dropped some great advice there.


I’ll add that things really clicked with health and consistency with my smaller sps tank (75g) when I added auto water changes. Then you can never forget or be lazy and put it off and you have a constant stream of fresh trace elements etc that get sucked out quicker with a lot of acros, and it’s more consistent than big changes of 15% at once.

 

[jackson6745]

Thanks bro!
I will follow whatever you suggest lol. I used kalk back in like 2007ish but have been reluctant to try it since then.
I’ll give it another shot. And will build out the hydros controller. What specifically do you think I should get for the hydros related to kalk?

My biggest Achilles heel has been change. I do too much and have a hard time sticking with the same thing. So my goal for this tank is to stick with one setup. I also tend to overstock and over feed so I’m trying to avoid that.

So with the Hydros stuff I found the Facebook page for them to be extremely useful as is emailing directly. Those guys are super responsive. Just tell them what you would like to accomplish and they will give you the best suggestion on equipment.

I personally have an x4 pro setup which is the x4 controller and an xp8 power outlet. Temp probe comes with it. I run a ph probe, orp probe, 2 water level sensors, and a leak detector. Not sure if this is the optimal controller package for what is needed, but it works for me. I had stand alone wifi kamoer dosers for 2 part/magnesium so I didn't choose one of their dosing head controllers.

For the kalk I run an avast marine stirrer which is fed by an ecotech versa slow dose 24/7. Pretty simple setup and covers 75% of my tanks calcification running my ph from 8.2-8.5 mostly. Much easier learning curve than a calcium reactor. You'll love it. Until you become very grown out, it will supply all of your calcification needs dirt cheap.