SPS heavy tank, chemi-pure,phosban?also sps feeding? Salt?

[thatoneazn]

Hey guys,

I will be running a nice 29 gallon sps tank, i already use ro/di water, have chaeto, and i am getting my deltec skimmer soon. Any of you sps keepers have any suggestions on what to keep...so my water is clear and my sps thrive(was thinking chemipure elite)? Also, feeding sps is tricky(i want nice polyp extensions) what do you guys use, and do you leave pumps on or off.Also, what type of salt do you guys use, i am currently using IO- Reef crystals? Thanks...

[nemmy]

Im kinda new to SPS keeping, but havent had an tragic failures. I only have one or two picky corals im working on as far as coloration.

 

I use generic carbon, GFO, and reef crystals salt mix.

As for food i use Roti-Feast and Oyster Eggs from Reef-Nutrition. I leave my pumps on.

[thatoneazn]

what about your skimmer?

[JMAdams]

I use chemi-pure elite and DD H2Ocean salt. I feed Rods Food and leave the pumps on but turn the skimmer off for a while when I feed it.

[thatoneazn]

wow sick tank, another question how often do you guys feed your sps?

[JMAdams]

I feed the tank 3 times a week. I've been getting great polyp extension.

[MedicBMC]

+1 on Chemi-pure elite, DD H2Ocean, and Rod's food (Original)

[thatoneazn]

Rod's food is not around me...i would have to pay a huge toll to NYC to get it..any other ideas?

[thatoneazn]

do i still need this stuff even if i have chaeto?

[blasterman]

For nutrient export a skimmer is a good idea. If anything, because it vastly helps with gas exhange. Skimmers are especially useful with bigger tanks because large volume water changes are less practical.

 

If you're using good R/O and aren't feeding your fish tons of nasty frozen food loaded with garbage then phosphate control shouldn't be an issue.

 

Again, when in doubt I look at the insanse SPS tanks my friends and reef shops have, and see common factors. Low fish bio-load, high water flow, intense lighting, good mix water, consistent water changes (not necessarily high volume ones), and high calc/mag/trace dosing, either with a reactor or two part. Feeding doesn't seem mandatory and nobody runs chemi-pure or AC.

[nanoreef-R]

Look into vodka dosing later on

[reefer916]

I don't run a skimmer and do daily 1-2 gallon and weekly 5 gallon water changes on my 24 gallon AP. I know I overfeed my tank hence the waterchanges, but my corals seem to love it. I only dose calcium, magnesium, and alk buffer for the most part. I do have strontium, iodine, coral-vite, trace elements, etc., but have since discontinued it in my 24 gallon because I do so many water changes. I do use it in my 95 gallon because I only do a water change once every 2-4 weeks.

 

I use phosban, rowaphos, or GFO in a media bag, as well as, carbon in a media bag that sits on my filterpads in the overflow compartment.

 

Reef Crystals are great, but I had a bad batch recently and the alk was testing at 7.5. I'm now testing my water after I mix it because I keep my tank at 9. At least after the first batch.. It's the first time I've experienced a problem with Reef Crystals and will continue to use them. Glad I didn't lose any corals though...

 

I feed my tank twice daily for the most part. Once in the morning and once at night. I usually do a quarter of the recommended feeding listed on the bottle on each feeding. I tried the recommended dosage and it's way too much. My corals get a mixture of phytofeast, oysterfeast, and roti-feast.. My tank has also been producing rotifilers in the back compartment, which helps feed my SPS at night. How they got there I don't know, but I'm not complaining about live food for my corals:) The LPS get mysis every other day.. I also dose Brightwell Aminos daily and have had nice results..

 

Good luck and have fun...

[disaster999]

100 gal tank, still collecting SPS, but i have a few. one big colony, a small fits size birds nest, and a few other frags. i feed prodibio's reefbooster once a week as per instructions (probably not feasible for you since one small amp treats 100gal) i also feed the tank with a mixture of freeze dried cyclopeeze, oyster eggs, grounded up shrimp meat, pellets, kent zooplex, hikari frozen mysis shrimp and frozen krill and garlic. just make a big batch and freeze it in ice trays. i feed that 2-3 times a week ontop of the reefbooster. i also have a bubble magus nac6a skimmer, carbon and phosban (which both are probably useless since i havent changed them for a while). my phosphate levels is almost undetectable, no nitrates.

 

im getting good polyp extension, probably will get better with better flow (1500gph power head, want to upgrade to mp40w es)

 

forgot to mention im using reef crystal salt, dose mg, calc and alk RO/DI water