Never Kept SPS please help....

[Mcvivor]

So I MAY want to venture out of my comfort zone and try some SPS corals.

I currently have a 220 reef tank with mainly softs, leathers, zoas, sponges, mushrooms, polyps, an anenome, things of that nature.

I have 3 250 watt MH, and compacy flourecents in my halide fixtures....so that makes 600 watt total for the compacts??? Im really bad at that!! So 600watt plus the 3, 250 watt MH.

I am sure you guys will know what light fixtures I have, they are pretty common in the reef world.

Would these lights be good in keeping SPS? What are some good starter SPS, what are their demands? Can I mix SPS with the current corals I have? What about clams?

Thanks!

 

[seafansar]

Those lights are fine for SPS. SPS might not like the leathers, may have some chemical warfare, but just run some carbon to stop that. Look around locally for some SPS and experiment with different kinds. Caps are easy for me, but there're other people who just can't keep them. Maybe try a stag, cap, and digi and see how they do.

 

[Mcvivor]

Thanks I will take a look next time i go to the LFS!!

 

[kospaintball]

+1 seafan

 

[UTCreefer]

Just run some carbon and the sps will probably be fine with your other corals. The lights are good too. Montipora's are usually a good sps to start with however if you can do one SPS you can do them all IMO. Im posting a frag pack up in a few minutes if you get the urge to dive right in. Good luck.

 

[DaveK]

All good advice in the previous posts.

SPS can still be tricky for some people. Start off with one or two inexpensive frags, and make sure they do well for you before you get a lot of them. I'd put in one or two, and wait a few months until I saw good growth, before adding others. This will also give you a chance to see if you have any of the possible SPS pests in the tank like flatworms or red bugs.

 

[Eric]

Hope you don't mind, I would like to ask a related question. When adding a new Sps frag/coral how do you introduce it so you don't shock it with light or other elements.

Thanks
Eric

 

[DaveK]

I have my lighting hung up using cables or chains. I raise the lighting up to reduce the light going to the tank.

In addition I have a couple of sheets of translucent plastic I can put over the tank if I want even a greater reduction in light.

 

[Eric]

How long do you keep the reduced light? do you gradually lower it over the course of a few days? Sorry I never had a problem with the few acros I have tried but I plan to drop a few $$ on some med to higher end sps and would hate to loose them due to lack of preparation.

Dave you are a gold mine of knowledge

Thanks
Eric

 

[seafansar]

It also depends on what kind of lighting they were under. If they were high up under MH's You can do the same. If you put ones that are used to a lot of light in lower light they might brown out on you. From my experience SPS can be put where ever you want them and don't need to acclimate to the light. LPS and softies need the light acclimation. Unless of course you have an LFS who keeps their SPS under bad lighting, but they'd be brown anyway.

Also remember to dip your SPS! Don't want to introduce any pests. Just acclimate the frags in a container with your tank water. Once you're done add X drops of iodine (I use Lugol's) stir it up and let it sit for 10-15 mins (in a warm place or with a heating pad underneath it so it doesn't get cold). Then place them in your tank.

It's also a good idea to put them in a QT tank or container you can see through, so you can get a good look at them to check for bugs. A magnifying glass helps too.

 

[Mcvivor]

Thanks for that info Sara!

Thanks for all the information from everyone else as well. I will keep doing some more research. I will see what the LFS has next time I go in. I will buy (as mentioned) a few of the cheaper frags and just wait and see how they do!

 

[jbeckett25]

"Also remember to dip your SPS! Don't want to introduce any pests. Just acclimate the frags in a container with your tank water. Once you're done add X drops of iodine (I use Lugol's) stir it up and let it sit for 10-15 mins (in a warm place or with a heating pad underneath it so it doesn't get cold). Then place them in your tank. "
Is "X" drops 10 ?
Are you saying to acclimate the frags with your tank water and then while it is still in the acclimating water drop in 10 drops of Iodine blend and let set in that mix for 10-15 min. and then place in tank? do you dip in fresh fresh tank water first to rence off Iodine? so not to add to much to tank?

 

[seafansar]

Is "X" drops 10 ?
Are you saying to acclimate the frags with your tank water and then while it is still in the acclimating water drop in 10 drops of Iodine blend and let set in that mix for 10-15 min. and then place in tank? do you dip in fresh fresh tank water first to rence off Iodine? so not to add to much to tank?

X is however many drops the instructions on the bottle of iodine say to use. It would depend on how much water was in the container. Yes, add the drops to the container with the acclimating water (after it's done acclimating). It is best to rinse off the frags with fresh tank water before putting them in the tank. I forgot to add that, thanks for pointing that out.