[lhkorn99]

I have a 55 Gallon tank which is now 3 months old. My nitrates are at 5, phosphates between .03 and .10 (hard to tell on the salifert test kit), calcium at 470, alkalinity at 11 (i know its a bit high). I use a euro reef rs80 skimmer and have MH (2 250W bulbs, and t5 actinics).

What do I need to know if I want to venture into the world of SPS, and is my tank ready for it?

I would appreciate any advice as I am new to this.

	MH Metal Halide Lighting, typically used for high intensity light demanding corals such as SPS. Bulbs come in varieties of spectrums (7k, 10k,20k), and intensity (175W, 250W, 400W).

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[JLAudio]

I am also attempting to get in the sps game, just purchased some sps frags from MR member.

One of the things everyone tells me is the importance of alot of water flow in a sps tank. WHat kind of powerheads do u have? How many gph?

	Manhattan Reefs Manhattan Reefs, the best aquarium community on Planet Earth!

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[lhkorn99]

I think my pump does about 780 gph...I also have 3 Koralia powerheads, 1 is a model 1 and the other 2 are model 2s...what do you think of my setup?

[JLAudio]

are you using RODI water? If not, what for water changes? I only use DI water but many people tell me to change to RODI in order to increase success with SPS. Do you have a refigum or a phosphate reactor? If not they will bring your nutrient levels down and make it easier to maintain low levels of excess nutrients in your water

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

	RODI High quality filtration systems used to purify tap water before it is mixed with salt or added to the aquarium for evaporative top off. Most municipal water supplies contain unacceptable levels of Nitrate, Phosphate, Lead, Chlorine, Copper etc. It is critical that these impurities are removed as some are toxic to reef organisms and others fuel algal blooms that can quickly overtake a reef display. Again, there are many brands and many configurations to fit most applications.

[lhkorn99]

I use a RODI system and have a phosphate reacot, but no refugium...

	RODI High quality filtration systems used to purify tap water before it is mixed with salt or added to the aquarium for evaporative top off. Most municipal water supplies contain unacceptable levels of Nitrate, Phosphate, Lead, Chlorine, Copper etc. It is critical that these impurities are removed as some are toxic to reef organisms and others fuel algal blooms that can quickly overtake a reef display. Again, there are many brands and many configurations to fit most applications.

[meschaefer]

SPS are hard, you need rock solid water parameters. I would also be concerned with the age of your tank, it is very young.

Your phosphates are high, you need to bring them down or all you will have are brown corals. Salifert phosphate test kits are not very good, (I do like there Calcium and Alkalinity tests), and I would bet that your phosphates are higher than you are testing. You need to run you phosphate reactor more aggressively.

What is your PH?


What have you kept in the past?

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[lhkorn99]

My phos reactor has only been running 3 weeks...as far as the testing of the phosphates I had House of Fish in Greenwhich test the phosphates...they used salifert and told me that they couldn't tell if it was .03 or .10, probably somewhere in between..my PH is 8.3 and I have not kept hard corals before (although I do have one gonopoira which seems healthy so far).

[meschaefer]

It really doesn't matter who did the testing, salifert phosphate test kits are pretty much worthless and in my experience greatly under report the amount of phosphate in your system. As a point of proof there is a very big deference between .03 and .10.

8.3 PH is not bad, but what is more important is the swing. PH varies over the course of the day. Take a PH reading right before the lights come on, and once again when the lights go off. You will see that there is a big difference in the readings.

As to the goniopora, a few years ago they where considered unkeepable. Recently some people have been having success with them, but three months does not success make. Most of them die within a year in even some of the most successful tanks with reefkeepers that have years of experience. Please read through this website. Goniopora.org.It is your best chance to keep it alive.

How long have you been keeping a reef?

[lhkorn99]

I have heard that about gonopoira, and bought it not knowing all the details on it (like we all do at first). I have been keeping a reef a little over a month..