I just want to see who is running the red sea max 250 with T5 lighting and growing Acropora. I am starting to add acropora to my RSM250. I would like to know if you are having success with them. maybe giving some helpful pointers and suggestions, like how high up did you place them what T5 lights are you using ect ect. some pics would be great. thank you
RSM 250 W/ Acropora
- Thread starter mike1970
- Start date
Oxylebius
Well-Known Member
Here is mine.
I have these acropora's growing.
Pink Sniper (A. selago)
Moonbean (A. Yongei)
Limelight green slimer (A. yongei)
Purple rain
Acropora nasuta
I picked them all up a year ago. Slow growers.
Locations:
Lighting front to back:
ATI Coral Plus
RS Actinic
RS10K
ATI RB Special
ATI Coral Plus
ATI Actinic
Used to have this combo:
ATI Coral Plus
RS Actinic
ATI Coral Plus
RS Actinic
RS 10K
ATI Actinic
Will replace RS actinic next fall/winter with all ATI actinic. And I may mix up the bulbs a bit more. I really liked the old spectrum of the RS Actinics, though, with the large peak in the 425-475nm range. ATI's large peak is in the 400-450nm range. A bit of a shift. The RS spectrum hits more of the Blue fluorescence, where the ATI spectrum is better for the neon greens florescence in corals.
As you can see, most are in the center mid-range.
Top view:
Side view:
The side view has a nice shelf mid-range center which has worked out perfectly for corals. Unfortunately I have monti digis dominating the area, as I started w/then first and the acros are now surrounding this area.
Side view before corals w/nice shelf.
I have these acropora's growing.
Pink Sniper (A. selago)
Moonbean (A. Yongei)
Limelight green slimer (A. yongei)
Purple rain
Acropora nasuta
I picked them all up a year ago. Slow growers.
Locations:
Lighting front to back:
ATI Coral Plus
RS Actinic
RS10K
ATI RB Special
ATI Coral Plus
ATI Actinic
Used to have this combo:
ATI Coral Plus
RS Actinic
ATI Coral Plus
RS Actinic
RS 10K
ATI Actinic
Will replace RS actinic next fall/winter with all ATI actinic. And I may mix up the bulbs a bit more. I really liked the old spectrum of the RS Actinics, though, with the large peak in the 425-475nm range. ATI's large peak is in the 400-450nm range. A bit of a shift. The RS spectrum hits more of the Blue fluorescence, where the ATI spectrum is better for the neon greens florescence in corals.
As you can see, most are in the center mid-range.
Top view:
Side view:
The side view has a nice shelf mid-range center which has worked out perfectly for corals. Unfortunately I have monti digis dominating the area, as I started w/then first and the acros are now surrounding this area.
Side view before corals w/nice shelf.
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You can go to my thread for details or let me know what would you like to know.
Summary:
RSM 250 stock.
Added a 20 G fuge full of macro plus a lot of Seacherm Matrix in media rack and in a HOB fuge hanging on the 20 G.
T5 spectrum as the RSM C250.
2 RW8 at full Blast + another pump at 900G/h + the tank return pumps.
Chiller, ATO, Neptune DOS dosing pumps and Apex controller.
Salinity 1025-1026
Alk ~ 6.5 - 7 dkh
Cal. 400 ppm
Phop. 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
15 fish, feed every day.
~ 20 G water change every week. Once a month twice.
Salt : Reef Crystal
Sounds like a lot but is just a simple tank with a fuge. All the rest are toys to make my life easier during my travels and to keep tank stability and consistent.
Cheers
Daniel
Summary:
RSM 250 stock.
Added a 20 G fuge full of macro plus a lot of Seacherm Matrix in media rack and in a HOB fuge hanging on the 20 G.
T5 spectrum as the RSM C250.
2 RW8 at full Blast + another pump at 900G/h + the tank return pumps.
Chiller, ATO, Neptune DOS dosing pumps and Apex controller.
Salinity 1025-1026
Alk ~ 6.5 - 7 dkh
Cal. 400 ppm
Phop. 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
15 fish, feed every day.
~ 20 G water change every week. Once a month twice.
Salt : Reef Crystal
Sounds like a lot but is just a simple tank with a fuge. All the rest are toys to make my life easier during my travels and to keep tank stability and consistent.
Cheers
Daniel
Those acros grew under Reef Spec T5. The same combo used in the RSM C250.
Last month I changed to this combo, that is very similar but gives a very soft bluish color to the general view of the tank. Pictures taken with this combo:
AQUACAVE:
Korallen Zucht KZ Coral Light II New Generation High Output T5 Bulb, 36" (39W) LT-KZ-CL2-36 (3) $86.25
Korallen Zucht KZ Fiji Purple T5 Bulb, 36" (39W) LT-KZ-FP-36 (1) $28.75
Giesemann Actinic+ T5 Bulb, 36" (39W)LT-GN-T5-AC-36 (2) $43.10
BTW.....Oxy your tank is one of the best RSM 250 I have ever seen !!!!
Cheers
Daniel
Last month I changed to this combo, that is very similar but gives a very soft bluish color to the general view of the tank. Pictures taken with this combo:
AQUACAVE:
Korallen Zucht KZ Coral Light II New Generation High Output T5 Bulb, 36" (39W) LT-KZ-CL2-36 (3) $86.25
Korallen Zucht KZ Fiji Purple T5 Bulb, 36" (39W) LT-KZ-FP-36 (1) $28.75
Giesemann Actinic+ T5 Bulb, 36" (39W)LT-GN-T5-AC-36 (2) $43.10
BTW.....Oxy your tank is one of the best RSM 250 I have ever seen !!!!
Cheers
Daniel
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Oxylebius
Well-Known Member
To answer your question, I just added a wave maker a couple months ago. I added acros a year ago and kept them alive, but they didn't thrive for two reasons (IMHO): 1) too much fluctuation of Alk and Ca and 1) not enough current. I began dosing sometime late last summer and added a wave maker (Tunze) a couple months ago. I was slow to adapt.
Danreef has had better success at acros then I have had. And I believe, he may correct me, but I believe he has had acros a little longer then I have had as well.
I must admit that I took reefing a lot slower then most. Reading up and then reading more before ever acting on anything, b/c I have a very deep appreciation for the critters I bring into my tank and want to make sure that first and foremost that they will not only survive, but thrive.
That said, I filled my tank with all types of sps, not acros, but other species of sps first to make sure I can keep them alive. Then tried my hand at acros. I also was slow to set up a doser, slow as in it took me a couple of years of growing sps and making sure that water changes did the job before going to dosing. Then when finally adding acros I realized that I needed to dose (that and an injury that preventing me from doing the water changes needed), dosing has allowed the acros to grow.
I really appreciate the comment that DaveK provided, but where others jump to dose too early, I instead started, maybe, a little late.
I'm hand dosing right now and I use red sea coral pro salt for water changes 10gal per week with 2 MP10's I run at 60-70%
I have a couple of acro but a wanted to go for a full SPS reef
water parameters are
calc. 420-470 (when I do a water change 470 I lose 10ppm per day I dose to keep at 420ppm)
alk. 8.5-9 dkh (I dose that everyday)
mag. 1320ppm
phosphate 0
nitrate 0
I have a couple of acro but a wanted to go for a full SPS reef
water parameters are
calc. 420-470 (when I do a water change 470 I lose 10ppm per day I dose to keep at 420ppm)
alk. 8.5-9 dkh (I dose that everyday)
mag. 1320ppm
phosphate 0
nitrate 0
When you have low nutrients P. 0 and N. 0 I will suggest an Alk nearby the ocean one : around 7 dkh.
Look for LNT (low nutrient tanks) and Alk threads. Hundred of them at Reef Central on the SPS forum.
Oxylebius
Well-Known Member
RSM tanks should be able to keep sps corals easily. They are built with what you need. Some things are added for convenience, not a necessarily needed.
IMHO it comes down to husbandry - tank chemistry. Once you have good light and random flow in place, it comes down to keeping low nutrients, chemistry, and experience/knowledge. And this is gained over time by allowing the tank to stabilize and building up your knowledge of what is needed and how chemicals and corals interact.
The lighting and the current should be fine in these tanks. Adding additional light or current if fine to add if you feel you need to, but not necessary. Make sure you keep the pumps clean of calcium and crud buildup (soak in vinegar) and keep the lighting replaced as the T5HOs do get old over time. Regular 6 month maintenance goes a long way in keeping current flow high and consistent.
I just recently added a wavemaker pump (couple of months ago) b/c my corals are growing into and over each other that they are cutting off current to each other. I have a full tank of corals and up until now I didn't need additional pumps. With a fill tank of corals growing into each other and cutting off current to each other I felt I needed to compensate or let the corals choke each other off. But, my main reason for going with a wavemaker instead a pump is to create random flow. I didn't want any coral to get blasted with one directional flow. It is not healthy for corals to be blasted everyday in the exact same way. If you see any polyps pushed over to one side, you have too much one directional flow. I also turn off the wavemaker at night, it only runs when the lights are on. It is on a timer to kick on and off with the light schedule. This allows both the corals and fish to have less current to fight against at night, gives them a little relief. With the additional flow of the wavemaker, which creates a surge, it hits all the corals in the tank regardless where they are located b/c the wavemaker forces the entire water column to move in a back and forth way (surge). This allows all corals to be forced to move with the back and forth flow no matter where they are located.
As for dosing, I went a couple of years on water changes alone. Over time I increased the volume of water changes to compensate for Ca and Alk used. It got to the point where I had to dose or increase water changes to an amount that I didn't really want to deal with. After dosing by hand for a long time, I broke down and bought a dosing pump. Sometime after that I noticed that the corals were not only taking in more Ca, Alk and Mg, but other elements. So, tested that elements to determine what I needed to replace and looked into brands and methods to do so.
My advise is to buy the testing kits for elements before buying the chemicals. Test to make sure that you need to dose these. If you have a small amount of sps in the tank it is likely that water changes will do the job for replacing the elements used by the corals. Testing the elements will tell you if this is the case. If by chance that water changes aren't doing the job, then start to dose those elements that are being used. You don't need to spend $$ and dose elements unnecessarily. Also make sure that the Ca, Alk and Mg you are adding doesn't also contain elements. You don't want to double dose.
IMHO it comes down to husbandry - tank chemistry. Once you have good light and random flow in place, it comes down to keeping low nutrients, chemistry, and experience/knowledge. And this is gained over time by allowing the tank to stabilize and building up your knowledge of what is needed and how chemicals and corals interact.
The lighting and the current should be fine in these tanks. Adding additional light or current if fine to add if you feel you need to, but not necessary. Make sure you keep the pumps clean of calcium and crud buildup (soak in vinegar) and keep the lighting replaced as the T5HOs do get old over time. Regular 6 month maintenance goes a long way in keeping current flow high and consistent.
I just recently added a wavemaker pump (couple of months ago) b/c my corals are growing into and over each other that they are cutting off current to each other. I have a full tank of corals and up until now I didn't need additional pumps. With a fill tank of corals growing into each other and cutting off current to each other I felt I needed to compensate or let the corals choke each other off. But, my main reason for going with a wavemaker instead a pump is to create random flow. I didn't want any coral to get blasted with one directional flow. It is not healthy for corals to be blasted everyday in the exact same way. If you see any polyps pushed over to one side, you have too much one directional flow. I also turn off the wavemaker at night, it only runs when the lights are on. It is on a timer to kick on and off with the light schedule. This allows both the corals and fish to have less current to fight against at night, gives them a little relief. With the additional flow of the wavemaker, which creates a surge, it hits all the corals in the tank regardless where they are located b/c the wavemaker forces the entire water column to move in a back and forth way (surge). This allows all corals to be forced to move with the back and forth flow no matter where they are located.
As for dosing, I went a couple of years on water changes alone. Over time I increased the volume of water changes to compensate for Ca and Alk used. It got to the point where I had to dose or increase water changes to an amount that I didn't really want to deal with. After dosing by hand for a long time, I broke down and bought a dosing pump. Sometime after that I noticed that the corals were not only taking in more Ca, Alk and Mg, but other elements. So, tested that elements to determine what I needed to replace and looked into brands and methods to do so.
My advise is to buy the testing kits for elements before buying the chemicals. Test to make sure that you need to dose these. If you have a small amount of sps in the tank it is likely that water changes will do the job for replacing the elements used by the corals. Testing the elements will tell you if this is the case. If by chance that water changes aren't doing the job, then start to dose those elements that are being used. You don't need to spend $$ and dose elements unnecessarily. Also make sure that the Ca, Alk and Mg you are adding doesn't also contain elements. You don't want to double dose.
+1 to husbandry - tank chemistry - tank stabilize - play a HUGE role in SPS coral care
Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
I kept SPS in my 75, and I can attest to everything that @Oxylebius is saying. I had metal halide lighting, but growth was slow and less than satisfactory. After adding a few powerheads and dousing kalkwasser, I had explosive growth for the remaining 5 years of that tank. It is not hard at all to keep SPS. They are considered "Expert" because they take much more stable tank conditions, and in a way almost a specialized tank setup....It is usually just as simple as increasing lighting quality and increasing or changing flow.
I however am astounded that users are having great success with SPS and T5 lighting. I never would have thought, but am amazed at how great the tanks look! Thanks Oyx and Danreef! Looks like I will be spending the evening surfing through your chronicles.
I however am astounded that users are having great success with SPS and T5 lighting. I never would have thought, but am amazed at how great the tanks look! Thanks Oyx and Danreef! Looks like I will be spending the evening surfing through your chronicles.
Oxylebius
Well-Known Member
Here is a great example of sps growth w/T5HO lights. These high power lights get the job done.
GlennF's 300 Gallon DSR mixed reef tank
I'm always surprised when others are surprised about T5HO lights keeping sps corals. They have been around and confirmed fine for sps. It is the LEDs that we've been waiting around for to get the job done. When they first hit the market, they didn't do well, and many still don't. You have to make sure you get high quality LEDs and make sure you know the light spectrum they are giving off.
GlennF's 300 Gallon DSR mixed reef tank
I'm always surprised when others are surprised about T5HO lights keeping sps corals. They have been around and confirmed fine for sps. It is the LEDs that we've been waiting around for to get the job done. When they first hit the market, they didn't do well, and many still don't. You have to make sure you get high quality LEDs and make sure you know the light spectrum they are giving off.
thanks for the info, you guys are great. I have been slowly changing over my tank to SPS, now I have about 7 frags. my monti caps are growing like crazy
but those are on the easy SPS side. I have a couple of acropora frags that have not bleached yet so I think everything is good so far, I hate that they are slow growers 
but those are on the easy SPS side. I have a couple of acropora frags that have not bleached yet so I think everything is good so far, I hate that they are slow growers
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I still do not consider my tank a successful one. Every day I have the feeling I am in that thin line that divides the success from the disaster. You will read in my thread what happened to my tank due to nutrients and lack of experience with SPS.
Now I have taken the biology route to manage nutrients. It is the easiest if you spend a lot of time outside your house. I also decided not to change things. Leave the tank acquire his own equilibrium. Leave the corals survive or die. I failed when I was trying to have a tank that can keep all what I was introducing. You can see in my pictures they are small colonies. Most survivors of my nutrient crash. I just added a couple new. I have observed that the new frags are doing better that some of the old ones. Like the stress affected the old in a way that takes them more time to get back to what they were. Pat wrote once that most will just buy new frag but it was great that I was fighting to get the old colonies to growth again.
Bottom line, I feel proud of the tank I have. I do not regret any penny and incredible amount of hours I spent on it. Nevertheless I am still afraid that one day....... I better keep those thoughts out of my mind.
What keeps me moving with this tank are pictures like the one of Glenn's tank posted by Oxy. For now it is a dream, but I hope it will come reality. I would love to see my colonies growin bigger and messing each other like in that tank.
I keep my fingers crossed !!!!!
Going back to a point I believe Oxy wrote, when the tank is stable and you do not add or mess with it all the time, it is easy to keep SPS if you just keep a routine of husbandry, stable chemistry and ...... Patient.
Sorry ... I am a little nostalgic today...