Time for First SPS?

[Elizabeth94]

My tank is going to turn three months old tomorrow and I have three corals so far. 1 Florida orange ricordea mushroom, 1 devils hand coral (which is shedding atm), and one frogspawn coral with two heads which seems to be doing great. I am wondering is it is too early to get a beginner sps coral like a birdsnest?

Here are all of my testable readings:
Salinity:1.026
Temp: 80.4 (moves about .5degrees throughout day from morning to night)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Calcium: 520+ stable through the full week even before water change

29gal reef w/ 10gal sump/refugium with chaeto
-2 clownfish
-5 astrea snails
-2 mexican turbo snails
-NO hermit crabs

I do 5gal water changes per week.

The problem is that I have no protein skimmer. With my readings shown above do you think sps could do okay or will a protein skimmer take out organics I cannot test for that will really impact its health? Thank you in advanced

 

[saltfan]

80 degrees is a bit warm IMO and calcium high. I would definitely get a protein skimmer. What type lighting do you have. I myself wouldnt put it in with nothing less than T5s but thats just me. Im sure their are other opinions.

 

[Elizabeth94]

Should I Drop it down to 79 or 78? I did think the calcium was high but I know no way of lowering it besides adding corals that would consume it (im still a newb). I have the I have the ecotech radion gen2 (which I researched like heck) and found it can support an sps tank with no additional light supplements, I hope I am right.

Do you think high calcium is bad though? I figured since sps suck up calcium I would be fine adding more corals.

 

[saltfan]

yeah no worries on your lighting. I run all my tanks at 78 and an SG of 1.025 What salt are you using?

 

[reefer gladness]

3 months is still a young tank by any measure and I would hold off at least another few months.

Reef water chemistry is more than just calcium. Stable alkalinity is more important and magnesium is a factor for both. Low magnesium reduces solubility of calcium and buffering capacity.

If you want to try your hand at SPS corals it's highly recommended you test for all 3. Don't worry about chasing target numbers, just try to keep everything stable and in proper ratios. Magnesium should be approx. 3x your calcium.

Your Radion's will support SPS corals no problem. SPS corals love water flow so you may need to add a powerhead if you have stock 29g biocube water flow.

Finally, you need to be aware that some corals wage chemical warfare on each other. Your devils hand is a soft leather coral and is capable of waging war, especially on the SPS. This is one of the reasons SPS corals are often kept in SPS only tanks.

 

[PSU4ME]

80 degrees is not a problem at all. 76-84 is acceptable in a reef as long as it doesn't fluctuate very much. I think 78-81 is a really solid range so you are ok. CA is high though, what's your alkalinity?

 

[Elizabeth94]

My local stores didn't have alkalinity test at the time. I am working on building up my tests but I'm a broke college student haha. Will the high calcium really be a problem?

 

[saltfan]

I dont think the high calcium will be a prob. more so being a young tank..

 

[Bearjohnson]

Your calcium is not a problem and I wouldn't worry about it.

The only issue that it may cause is gum up your equipment (powerheads ect) a little faster than normal. If that happens, a short vinegar and water wash will make them good as new again.

If you are going to start considering some SPS for the tank, I'd suggest a Montipora Capricornis (Monticap)

They are some of the easier SPS for beginners.

GL and keep us posted!

 

[Choff]

Some good advice above. I think reefer gladness is pretty much spot on.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4

 

[Elizabeth94]

Great, thanks for all of your advice. I am getting a new coral tomorrow and if I see a monticap frag that is cheap ill get it but Ill probably get another LPS coral. I am also looking into lobos but I don't think I have enough space for one of them when they grow, and I am pretty sure I read that you cannot frag them.

 

[cheeks69]

Proper water chemistry is very important when keeping stony corals, monitoring your Magnesium/alkalinity/calcium are equally important and keeping one higher than normal will displace the others. With your calcium levels that high it'll be very difficult maintaining your alk levels, what are you dosing to raise your calcium ? I usually recommend your tank have a good amount of coralline algae growth before adding SPS or clams this is a good indicator that your levels are stable.

 

[Akshay]

Check for PO4 aswell.... potential sps killer!

 

[Elizabeth94]

I do not dose anything in my tank. The water I use is from my coral supply store and that is what their water tests as. I went to the store today and looked at the corals. They have so much there and it was extremely hard to pick what I wanted. I was looking at the sps but decided it wasn't time to get one. I will follow everyones advice and wait until I have ALL of my test kits. They are pretty expensive so I get them one by one (even though a kit is prob the way to go).

Anyway, I ended up getting a red flower pot coral that I have been eyeing in the store for three weeks. It is an ORA coral so I feel confident in its hardiness. It is accumulating right now as I type this.