Soft Polyp Stony 101

[fishguy_8]

Well now that i am going to step up to some mh's at least for a little light on my 45g long i was wondering if someone could school me a bit on sps corals. the books i have dont go into great detail of sps needs so i was wondering if you all could give me a heads up of what ill need to do eventually. im not going to get anything until i am sure i have the mh exactly where id want it on my tank. i dont want to have to rearrange everything 20 times in case i need to move the light to a different side or for whatever reason. i figure ill start off w/ monti but want to step up eventually to the more difficult ones when i get a bigger tank. im looking for anything really.....from suppliments, placement, water flow and anything in between. i see all these amazing sps tanks so i assume i will get a pretty good response here. also if you know of any other sps (other than monti) that does really well please let me know. i havent ever read much on sps, i always read up on the lps because thats all i could care for. the tank i have now is a 45g long (same dimensions as a 55g except for the width) it will have 2X110 w vho and a 250mh. been set up for quite some time. thanks
Jon

[Wind]

do u have pics?.it helps visualize things..i'm no expert, but i'll through in a few..perhaps post what ur tank inhabs are and what not.

i believe with the light you have, the VHO & MH and the depth of your tank, u can pretty much keep what u want... but i'm not sure about light distribution (pleasentnes? <- haha to the eye) as u'll see direct strong light in the middle of the tank and fall off on the sides, anyhow.. the 250 will be in the center right?... it should be okay though.

water quality
water parameters of course need to be well, as with anything you keep, the better water quality, the better your inhabitants will flourish right?.. however there are some sps that are more sensitive and are more difficult.

placement
with the tank your size, the types of light you have i believe you can pretty much place the SPS at the lower middle to top of the tank. remember that the lower you go in a tank, the intensity of the light gets weaker, therefore when you see pics, a lot of people put their SPS high in the tank.. this depends of course on many factors as the type of light they use, how deep their tank is, and etc. etc... some sps are more aggressive then others, your gonna have to check up on it, so that plays a role too in deciding how you place your sps, they need space to grow, so make sure you have space for them, aquascape your tank to allow them space to grow..

flow
a lot of flow well a nice current is a must. strong indirect current is good.it helps with not letting algae form on ur sps, but mostly it duplicates its natural habitat, a good way to see how much current you have is to multiply your tank size with 15-20 to know your turnover ratio??? to see how much current you need.. so 15-20 x 45 gallon = how much GPH you need, but go with feel, that is just a rule of thumb though..

supplements
people maintain their calcium/alkalinity parameters because stonies of course need it to build their skeletons. just remember u have to balance both alk and calcium, perhaps someone can post a link for you to read upon.. generally depending on the upkeep of your needs you can help maintain the param in many ways: you can get a calcium reactor, drip kalk (what a lot of people use), dose some sort of supplement. of course the ultimate factor is based on your tank's needs, ur budget and what not.


one thing to remember is to research, take your time, and just enjoy.. i aggree that montiporas are a good beginner coral..some acros are easy as well, plating montis are cool too. just a general idea, my 3 cents :P hehe have FUN !!!..... just make sure u just reserach and don't rush it, !!

[fishguy_8]

Inhabs:
Fish: 2 spot damsal, blue damsel (for the record they were gifts from the girlfriend but they are the devil to the core ) cleaner wrasse, singapore angel *i am wanting to get rid of him when i move to the bigger tank because i think he is the culprit for picking off my shrimp whenever i get them*, and thats all thats in there now since my perc's died but eventually my black clowns will be in there.
Inverts: Serpant star that never leaves his cave, a blue linkia star, 2 or 3 small cukes various species, 5-10 small blue leg hermits, 10-15 turbo snails.
Corals: Xenia, 2 green brains, 1 tube anemone, bubble coral, hammer, frogspawn, green tipped mushrooms, ricordia mushrooms, pagoda coral, tongue coral, toadstool leather, yellow polyps, brown button polyps and a trumpet coral. most of these corals are fairly small with exception to my hammer which is rather large.


I have a sump on this tank as well kind of small but it helps a little. i have a bunch of powerheads laying around so increasing my gph wont be a problem. what id like to do is do is put my softies on one side and then put the sps on the other. it would be too packed on the softy side but i have another tank i could move my softies that didnt make the cut in there so no biggie there. ill probably change my mind after looking at it but its a thought. for now thats going to have to be pretty much the plan though since I would only have the 1 250w mh over such a long tank ill have to concentrate my sps under the halide lamp.
Jon

[Poseidon]

Here is an Excellent link to Calcium and Alkalinity, that Ninong pointed me too...

here

[fishguy_8]

Thanks for that link....I remember reading that once upon a time but it was definitely a good refresher course on Calcium and alkalinity. any other advice/info/links would be much appreciated. thanks guys.
Jon

[Wind]

nothing ever beats personal experience, so i suggest u just turn urself to the SPS bug (seems like u have already hehe) just buy a frag and go from there. if that frag starts to grow.. then u know u gots it going for you..

buy a monti ..