Which species are "deep water" SPS?
- Thread starter Reef Geek
- Start date
Wow, I know there are several people more knowledgeable than myself about deepwater SPS, but I have heard that they are very sensitive to changes in water conditions. I'm not sure a 29G tank is the appropriate place for any coral which is highly sensitive to instability.
I certainly have trouble keeping my 29G stable. Fortunately it's all softies.
Travis
I certainly have trouble keeping my 29G stable. Fortunately it's all softies.
Travis
Witfull
Well-Known Member
i would have to agree with Travis on this. deepwater acros come from waters 30-70 feet in depth on the fore-reef and are less subject to variations due to their access to the open ocean. they also have constant flow from deep water currents thereby maintaining consinstency in environment. since this is your first attempt at SPS i would reccommend a hardier species, monti digitata placed close to the surface.
sorcerer
Court Computer Wiz
I spoke with a family friend that has a deep water tank and these are the basic things he related.
Most of the SPS corals from deep water are varying shades of dark brown and may floresce (sp?) with some greens, he generally feels that they are not the most atractive corals. He also said they require strong, turbulent current flow.
They have just as great calcium and alk demands as the corals higher in the water, and tend to require very stable SG and PH. They, as are many of the other deep water creatures, somewhat sensitive to temp. fluctuation and don't tolerate higher temps well.
His general recomendation was not to try any of the deep water life in a tank as small as yours. Too difficult to maintain stability of water and temp, and with the issue that most of the corals from the depths are filter feeders, too difficult to keep the water cleaner with the amount of filter feeder food that you would need to use.
For your tank size and lighting, he really suggest that you stay with softies. He also said to say that this is just his opinion and that he doesn't consider himself an expert. He does have a 300G deep water tank and I've been trying to get some pictures to post, but he, like several of my other friends, has yet to come into the computer age...LOL
Most of the SPS corals from deep water are varying shades of dark brown and may floresce (sp?) with some greens, he generally feels that they are not the most atractive corals. He also said they require strong, turbulent current flow.
They have just as great calcium and alk demands as the corals higher in the water, and tend to require very stable SG and PH. They, as are many of the other deep water creatures, somewhat sensitive to temp. fluctuation and don't tolerate higher temps well.
His general recomendation was not to try any of the deep water life in a tank as small as yours. Too difficult to maintain stability of water and temp, and with the issue that most of the corals from the depths are filter feeders, too difficult to keep the water cleaner with the amount of filter feeder food that you would need to use.
For your tank size and lighting, he really suggest that you stay with softies. He also said to say that this is just his opinion and that he doesn't consider himself an expert. He does have a 300G deep water tank and I've been trying to get some pictures to post, but he, like several of my other friends, has yet to come into the computer age...LOL
I agree with what has been stated about the deep water acroporas. I wouldn't try them in a 29 or under pc's. I also agree with witful that montipora would be a good place for you to begin. I had a purple tip digitata and a green digitata both encrusted onto the same rock. I changed some things around and didn't want that rock in the main tank any longer so I broke the digis off the rock and stuck the rock in my fuge under 50/50 pcs. There was a small amount of both digitatas still attached to the rock and it has grown under the pc's. The green is not as bright and the purple tips have faded but it is growing and branching with only pc lighting and minimal current.
I've seen some really beautiful zoanthid and ricordea tanks that run pc lighting. They are incredible, I've been into acropora for some time but after checking these tanks out I plan on setting one up in the near future....just something to think about.
I've seen some really beautiful zoanthid and ricordea tanks that run pc lighting. They are incredible, I've been into acropora for some time but after checking these tanks out I plan on setting one up in the near future....just something to think about.
Reef Geek
Reefus Geekus
Maybe I should explain the reasoning for my experiment. I am researching for my next tank whether or not to go MH or PC. Summers can get hot and electricity is expensive here in SoCal so if I can stay PC I want to. I am already keeping zoos, rics, softies & some LPS with mostly success and I want to delve into the black art of SPS to see if I want to go deeper or not. Again, thanks for the input.