sps info

so as some of you might know I'm new to the whole sps thing. I bought a bali green slimmer to test out but i bought it already browned out and I see the tips are green and the polyps always come out but the whole thing isn't green. It's been about a month now and I've noticed some growth but it's still browned out for the most part. I don't really have any algae and I change the water weekly so I know my phosphates are under control. I am going to by 2 more pieces tomorrow that I know are in good and healthy condition and I would just like some info on how to tell what needs to be improved in the tank based on color like i hear that the tips tell you a lot about how healthy they are and stuff but i just don't know any of that stuff. Any info would be greatly appreciated, Thanks

 

While green Bali is an easy acro, you should have started with something more easy like poci. I think many people have issues with acros browning out. Now that you are getting into Sps you will need to know numbers. For instance what is your phos? Start testing for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, phos, kh, ph, calcium, magnesium, and make sure that sg and temp don't swing. Your water, lights, and flow could be perfect. I was told that acros can take a long time before they color up. So it may become green. What pieces are you gunna buy?

 

sg, ph, and temp are always steady my lights are leds and flow is from an mp40. theres 0 ammonia nitrite or nitrate. phos i test with the hanna checker and its never accurate it can switch from like .02 to 1ppm in 2 water samples so i never really use it anymore i just go by how much algae i get. I went away on vacation for a week and I had a very very thin film of algae on the glass some spots weren't even covered so I based it off that, that my phosphates were low. i change 20 gallons a week in my system which is about 150-180 gallons. I don't test alk, cal, or mag yet I'm saving up to buy all 3 test kits along with dosers and 2 part all in 1 big order but I do have some api test kits for alk and cal but i don't judge off of them because i hear they can be very inaccurate. the cal was about 400 and the al was about 9.5 i have a bottle of instant ocean calcium liquid so i put it in a gravity fed doser and it gives the tank about 1-2 drops per day i know it can't hurt because the amount of scans i have in this tank i know that they are sucking up the calcium quick.

the two corals I am going to get are the ORA green birds nest and the ORA Joe the coral. I'm buying them online because they are 10 bucks each plus $20 overnight shipping so i figured $40 its not that bad and I really like them.

 

Sounds good to me then. Just give the slimer some time to color up. Btw where are you getting those corals? 10 bucks each sounds good

 

don't know if I'm allowed to post this but it was on the for sale section of reef central along with like 30 other spa corals with pictures and everything so I trust that its going to be healthy looking at the pics. but what should I know as for coloration of the tips because whenever i look at spa i see the tips are white but the rest is colorful and on my bali green slimmer the tips are green but everything else is brown

 

Lol I'm might look at that. Tips are different. It depends on the coral. I think most are white. Some are blue, green, purple, pink, etc. I think acros usually have the colored tips. Birdsnests usually have white tips. My Ora green bn has green tips.