sps tank

It ain't no secret If you have a coil then allow it time to cure up it will take up to 6 to 8 weeks but it should really lower them soon or with in a month or less and once its at 100% they will be at zero in a few weeks , And If it was one of mine that I sent you ? I know it will have them under control Just have to apply some patients . water changes are not a magic bullet and just have some patients and give it some time to settle in the coil will have them gone. And also as Jason Said SPS will not tolerate a sudden fast large water change not only will it tweak the corals and cause them to slime up and retract it can often times upset the bacterial balance and cause a little spike of Ammonia and or NO2's and SPS will not tolerate a hint of these gases..

So I guess that if you can't wait out the Nitrate readings to reach zero then SPS may be a ways off in the future they requires very slow and slight changes all in a very tight parameters with little to no wiggle room. It will happen just allow it to..and keep the coil dripping steady if you open and close the water control valve then you just killed all the progress ..It has to start over .. If it was one I made then set to 70 to 100 drops per min, and let it go. From all the feed back I've gotten from people here many are reporting positive results in the 4 to 5 week range coming from 100 PPM to 10 to 20 ppm . Tank size and existing NO3 levels also influence the results and curing times .

 

I have an 125 that is mostly sps.
I suggest a light that has 2 175 metal halides or 250 metal halides. I would buy quality bulbs such as XM or ushio possibly 1 10k or 12k and the other a 14k The 10k provides slightly better growth rates typically.
Then I would supplement that light with 460nm vhos or pcs or actinic t5s.

Next for sps very high flow with alternating currents are very important.
Live rock is good a bare bottom tank is ok.
An above average skimmer
RO/DI water only. Very good water quality test kits.
Just a few fish.
Lots of time and lots of money.
That should get you started.
Plus your tank should be well established time wise.

 

thanks reefnut....i really like straight forward answers....helps me way more than telling me that i don't know what the %#@& i'm doing... 8)
can you explain a little more about ...tank should be well established time wise....are you saying that the nitrifying bacteria should be well established, or is it more of a time thing?

 

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id get a better skimmer to, the coralife prolly isnt doing a good of a job as u may think. Whats a good job to u? comparing it to what other skimmer? Id get a euro reef rs 80 for the 50 gallon and youd b in there. I have a rs 135 on my 90 and i do a 1 gallon water change every day and my nitrates are at 0 all the time with 10 fish, 2 of em being a hippo tang and sohal tang.

 

Try not to take it wrong when folks say that you need more experience or something to that effect. What they are usually trying to say is that SPS corals are not only expensive, but REQUIRE stable water parameters and if you do not have a system that can provide that, then they will likely perish, costing you money and causing you frustration.

When you do get ready to buy SPS for the first time, I would stick with some of the more forgiving of the bunch. Such as Digitata, Pink birdsnest, monticaps, etc. If those keep alright and your water params are stable, step it up, but go slowly.

Just remember that stability is just as important as maintaining that "magic number" when it comes to water chemistry.

Other than that, research until your eyes bleed and have fun!

 

The time frame for starting SPS is the older the set up the better most say a year or so is best. I have seen people do it sucessfully at 6 months though.
I would start with frags only of the easiest sps and see how they do. Most orange, grape, or green montipora caps or strong and easy. As for acropora I would try to find a frag locally from someone who is growing them and look for one that grows very quickly. There are some that grow very slowly and are very delicate to keep.

 

A truely nice SPS tank does require experience or the employment of others that have required experience. It just takes time and a good chunk of money after that.