Sps reef advice

[koda2007]

Setting up a70g including 3 stage sump for sps corals only. Some advice would be most appreciated please. Sump is fed by internal weir.
Reef is going to be bare bottomed and although I have other tanks, this is going to be set up from scratch. No water, sand for seeding or anything from other tanks is to be used. ( I have my reasons ). I will be using Red Sea Pro Salt.
Bearing in mind I am not new to the hobby, knowing about cycling, water params, lighting and flow ect, with the water being completely new how long after cycling would you introduce the first sps, probably a frag, hopefully being hardier.
I have a spare 250w 14000k mh light would this be ok to use or would it be too strong for a roughly 50g tank.
Sump as mentioned is 3 chambered was going to put deltec mce600 in 1st, 2nd was going to be live rock, 3rd was going to be cheato algae and return pump.
Any advice, comments, critisism would be welcome and do any other members keep specific reefs ie sps, lps, softies.

[Reefscape]

i would wait a week after you do your final water change after the cycle has finished..Corals aint going to put on much bio-load, the bacteria in the system will be more than capable of handling it..Your light will be just fine for you tank...On your sump, i would put the macro algae in the same area as your live rock, and make sure it can tumble..Thats about all i would do / change mate....No other issues as far as i am concerned...

Oh...on the lighting...is it a single 250w? Only thing to remember is that a single MH light is enough to light 2 feet in tank length, so, without knowing your tank dimentions, you may have dim area's at each end if you put the lamp central...Of course, if its more than 1 MH lamp, ignore what i just said as sheer babble...lol.

Hope that helps

Niko

[koda2007]

Cheers again atnixon, was a little concerned with all water being completely new as to the affect on an sps. They can be tempremental after a large water change.
The light is a single 250w but the tanks is something like 30in square and is slightly deeper so the 250w should be okay.
I am going to try to keep all params in check with water changes. I have found Red Sea Pro to do just what it says on the box. Mixes well and gives excellent Ca, Mg and dKh readings. I am going play it by ear and see how the water changes go, ie once a week, twice a week or whatever. I am lucky I have the time.

[Reefscape]

Cheers again atnixon, was a little concerned with all water being completely new as to the affect on an sps. They can be tempremental after a large water change.
The light is a single 250w but the tanks is something like 30in square and is slightly deeper so the 250w should be okay.
I am going to try to keep all params in check with water changes. I have found Red Sea Pro to do just what it says on the box. Mixes well and gives excellent Ca, Mg and dKh readings. I am going play it by ear and see how the water changes go, ie once a week, twice a week or whatever. I am lucky I have the time.


Sounds good mate...i am currently using a bag of Red Sea Pro for my nano, as i could not get any Reef Crystals at short notice....no problems with it so far...

Niko

[Grins]

Koda, I have 2 250 MHs on my 55g and not too much. It is a standard 55g so only 18" deep. I recently went to 14000Ks but it did fine under 10000ks even. No burning.

[koda2007]

Thanks Grins, I do prefer the 14000k bulbs, nice, crisper colour and I believe my corals grow much better with 14000k. I have a toadstool leather in my softy tank for a year it did nothing but elongate under 300w 10000k, I put 14000k's on, 20 months later ( i have changed these bulb aswell ) it is nearly 2 feet across will try to post picture later. Time for serious fragging.

[Grins]

The 10000Ks are known to help promote growth more but I've moved the 14000Ks down closer to the water surface to help compensate for that. I do like the color of the corals much better under the 14000Ks.

[trippkid]

All things look pretty good. What are you using for flow? The more the better, IMO. I run about 50X's the tank volume, roughly 6000gph total water movement in my 120 gal. Alkilinity and proper flow are some of the things that will make or break SPS success. Nice stable Alk levels between 8-10dKh, Ca levels at or above 390ppm, Mg levels 1290 or above, zero phosphates and nitrates if possible, enough lighting(which I think you have), and lots of random type flow throughout the tank. No dead spots, and the flow needs to be all around the coral, meaning not just the tips getting good flow, the base of the coral needs the same. All of the polyps should blow around in the current. Also a Ca reactor is a plus, but not neccessary. I would suggest using some type of two-part Alk/Ca supplement on a daily basis if not using a reactor, to maintain Ca and Alk.
Matt

[koda2007]

Trippkid, Thankyou so much for your reply. Very imforative and extremely helpful.
Flow is going to be around 40x to start, can easily up if required. I will be using Marea pumps which are a stream pump.
I was going to try and do without dosing and rely on frequent water changes but will do whatever it takes to be successful. Thanks once again, very much appreciated. Hope you have a happy and prosperous New Year.

[trippkid]

Thank you, and I wish you well also. Water changes may work to start, but when you start getting growth and a lot of stock, the changes are probably not going to be enough. You really need a daily or every other day type of thing to keep the Alk in check mostly, you don't want this part to fluctuate much from day to day, and over the course of a week(waiting for a water change) it will deplete and things will suffer most likely. Your flow should be great to start off with, I don't see any issues with that. Stream pumps would be the best choice, aside from a strong closed loop system, nice broad flow pattern. Also, I didn't say before, I try to keep my temps down a little, usually between 75-79, I don't like to see the 80's, I tend to see some stressing when it gets too hot, others keep them in the higher ranges, I prefer a little cooler. It may slow the growth some, but I think it may help with keeping good coloration. Good luck in your new addiction, believe me, you are going to say to yourself, why did I ever start keeping these? I spend all of my money on them and I don't see any end in the near future. I love every addicted minute, except for the occasional problems, I won't get into now(couple issues with RTN). I think you have a pretty good understanding of what needs to be done for success, I hope it happens for you. Let me know if I can help with anything else.:thumbsup:
Matt

[Grins]

I agree, I was able to keep the Ca and Alk up with water changes at first but eventually had to go with a 2 part solution. I feel good about the one I'm using and that helped, along with talking to reefers I admired.

[trippkid]

You may want to start off with some aquacultured frags, at first. They tend to be a little more hardier than wild colonies. Also, some of the easier SPS would be things like Montipora Capricornis and Digitata, Pocillipora, Stylophora, Pavona, some Porites, Hydnophora, maybe an Acropora Millepora or a Green Bali Slimer(Acropora Sp.) to name some a little easier to start off with and get a feel for it.
Matt

[koda2007]

Thanks once again Grins and Matt. Sorry for the delay in answering, bedtime in the UK when you posted. I was going to go with frags but you have gone beeter and given me some names of easiers sps's to keep. I usually keep my other 2 reefs at about 76. Again thankyou very much.