What do you believe makes a successful LPS tank?! Help us

[RiptideAquaculture]

This tank almost 3 years, a lot of the coral I transferred from my old tank which was running since 2013.

Sounds like you have some very mutate live rock. When you swapped tanks did you replace the sand bed?

 

[Rmckoy]

I’m only just getting back to corals and definitely still consider myself of the beginner side of things, but I’ve noticed with at least the euphyllia corals in our tank that where you place them in the flow is important

If the currents a bit too strong they bend onto themselves and retract their arms a bit, but if it’s not strong enough they just kind of sit there and also retract their arms. Find the right medium and they’re super fluffy and flowy


My fav coral in our tank

I have no issue keeping some euphillia such as hammers .
but have never been able to keep torches alive long term .
I agree finding the sweet spot with flow is the key

the hardest part I find is with a mixed reef also stocking sps with higher flow .
it’s a little trickier to find that sweet spot .

ive always thought keeping most lps on the bottom worked for me

 

[Wasabiroot]

Keep salinity stable, some Nitrates but not too high, proper flow. Redsea AB+, broadcasted Benepets, targeted feeding with fauna Marin LPS pellet, brine, and reef roids. I also don't run my skimmer all the time. I turn my carbon and skimmer off for a while after feeding to really let them absorb. Weekly water changes for now.

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

Keep salinity stable, some Nitrates but not too high, proper flow. Redsea AB+, broadcasted Benepets, targeted feeding with fauna Marin LPS pellet, brine, and reef roids. I also don't run my skimmer all the time. I turn my carbon and skimmer off for a while after feeding to really let them absorb. Weekly water changes for now.

Sounds like a solid Routine, do you have a refugee him that allows you to pull out the excess nutrients without him GFO or are you running reactors with Gfo

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

I have no issue keeping some euphillia such as hammers .
but have never been able to keep torches alive long term .
I agree finding the sweet spot with flow is the key

the hardest part I find is with a mixed reef also stocking sps with higher flow .
it’s a little trickier to find that sweet spot .

ive always thought keeping most lps on the bottom worked for me

I’ve had a lot of the same struggles to with getting enough flow for my Acros but not blasting the LPS.
do you want to sand it on your tank with your LPS

I have a theory that a sand bed makes a difference

 

[Wasabiroot]

Sounds like a solid Routine, do you have a refugee him that allows you to pull out the excess nutrients without him GFO or are you running reactors with Gfo

I currently run no gfo. I did for a short time but it bottomed out my phosphates. I plan on transitioning to a refugium with dragon's breath or Ogo as I have an urchin in my sump as well as a mandarin

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

I currently run no gfo. I did for a short time but it bottomed out my phosphates. I plan on transitioning to a refugium with dragon's breath or Ogo as I have an urchin in my sump as well as a mandarin

really, very interesting! see I feed pretty often to my LPS so my PO4 are usually the element i struggle with the most as it is a fin line between too high, too low and just right. I Like personal us both GFO and a fuge to keep my Po4 in check but that is still not easy. how often do you check your levels and how are you keeping them in check

 

[Wasabiroot]

really, very interesting! see I feed pretty often to my LPS so my PO4 are usually the element i struggle with the most as it is a fin line between too high, too low and just right. I Like personal us both GFO and a fuge to keep my Po4 in check but that is still not easy. how often do you check your levels and how are you keeping them in check

I test at least once a week, and especially if I notice my corals look grumpy. I don't currently dose 2 part for alk as I don't have large colonies yet. I find that certain foods spike phosphate more than others, like Reef Roids, so I prefer to add aminos more than feed it. My tank is still maturing so I may run into challenges in the future, but for now it's working OK.

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

I test at least once a week, and especially if I notice my corals look grumpy. I don't currently dose 2 part for alk as I don't have large colonies yet. I find that certain foods spike phosphate more than others, like Reef Roids, so I prefer to add aminos more than feed it. My tank is still maturing so I may run into challenges in the future, but for now it's working OK.

so your main way to deal with the nutrients are to use water changes ? what kinda lights do you run

 

[Wasabiroot]

so your main way to deal with the nutrients are to use water changes ? what kinda lights do you run

One Xr15 blue set to 40% intensity on AB+ spectrum.

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

One Xr15 blue set to 40% intensity on AB+ spectrum.

that seems to be a pretty winning combo for LPS. thanks for sharing

 

[elorablue]

Good afternoon Reef2Reef, I've been ask this question a lot and I wanna know what everyone here thinks.
we are setting up a new tank for our office and our goal is to max it out with LPS.( Build thread coming soon) I want to hear everything you think your doing right and what mistakes you've learned from so we can help others have have success as well!

I also wanna see your tanks as well if you think your doing something right!
(For Science of course )


Question: What do you do to make your LPS a fluffy and colorful.


If you feel like you have a good idea of what you think your doing right in your tank id love to hear about it.

Do you think any of these matter

Do you use a particular food/foods?
How often are you feeding?
What kind of lights do you run?
How intense are your lights?
Do you have a refugium ?
Skimmer choice ?

Mitchell Baillou at New Dawn Aquaculture up here in the great white north does something interesting in his LPS tanks with great success. He keeps the temp lower, right around 24 degrees as opposed to the usual 25.5. He says he's noticed significantly more growth especially with brains and meats. Worth a shot?

 

[Hooz]

I tend to "under light" my tank from what most of the experts say. Meaning, "they" say LPS should be in the 75-150 PAR range. My tank ranges from mid 60's to 115 max and all of my stuff (zoas and LPS) have great color and are growing well.

I keep nitrate around 10 and phosphate under .10, I dose aminos (AB+) daily and broadcast feed Reef Chili 2-3x a week.

My main tank is only 30g, so I don't really need to dose anything as long as I keep up with water changes. If my nutrients get too low for some reason, I may put off the water changes for a bit. In those cases, I dose some All for Reef to keep the numbers in range. Nothing too extreme, though.

Flow is also key with LPS. I'm all torches/hammers/frogs, so finding enough balance to give them some wiggle while keeping nice, inflated tentacles is important.

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

Mitchell Baillou at New Dawn Aquaculture up here in the great white north does something interesting in his LPS tanks with great success. He keeps the temp lower, right around 24 degrees as opposed to the usual 25.5. He says he's noticed significantly more growth especially with brains and meats. Worth a shotvery

very interesting. id say that somebody that can really dial a tank in that well when they are affecting the temp may also have there stability factors to consider beyond temp.
would you say the tanks parameters are also very stably?

 

[Wasabiroot]

Mitchell Baillou at New Dawn Aquaculture up here in the great white north does something interesting in his LPS tanks with great success. He keeps the temp lower, right around 24 degrees as opposed to the usual 25.5. He says he's noticed significantly more growth especially with brains and meats. Worth a shot?

I have read that some open brains like Wellsos prefer cooler temps, so this makes sense

 

[elorablue]

very interesting. id say that somebody that can really dial a tank in that well when they are affecting the temp may also have there stability factors to consider beyond temp.
would you say the tanks parameters are also very stably?

You'd have to ask him directly about his other parameters but I would guess he has everything dialled in.

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

I tend to "under light" my tank from what most of the experts say. Meaning, "they" say LPS should be in the 75-150 PAR range. My tank ranges from mid 60's to 115 max and all of my stuff (zoas and LPS) have great color and are growing well.

I keep nitrate around 10 and phosphate under .10, I dose aminos (AB+) daily and broadcast feed Reef Chili 2-3x a week.

My main tank is only 30g, so I don't really need to dose anything as long as I keep up with water changes. If my nutrients get too low for some reason, I may put off the water changes for a bit. In those cases, I dose some All for Reef to keep the numbers in range. Nothing too extreme, though.

Flow is also key with LPS. I'm all torches/hammers/frogs, so finding enough balance to give them some wiggle while keeping nice, inflated tentacles is important.

you know our systems could be very similar. I do a very similar regiment and set up! but i also thing torch's can handle some serious lights. i keep mine around 300 par