Sps ??????

[andrewbram]

Why do I only see the polyps on my SPS corals at night? Should I only feed them at night because it kind of throws off my whole feeding schedule.

[Reefmedic79]

What type of SPS are you speaking of?

Some species are more nocturnal than the others. My personal feeding schedule would be to feed 3-4 days a week.

One day I feed the Macro-organisms, next planktonic foods in the day, next planktonic food in the evening. I feed a very small amount and shut down all circulation for 30-45min. during the feeding. I tend to feed within a 2 hour window each day, on each side of the end of the light cycle.

[sporto0]

Let me ask you this, what kind of fish do you have in the tank with the SPS? Reefmedic is correct in that some tend to open more at night, but if they are being picked on during the day, they will only open at night. I do not feed my corals as much, once a week sometimes. twice a month sometimes, it's hard to know how much they are actually consuming, it's much easier to target feed the LPS every couple of weeks.

[andrewbram]

I have a blue spotted watchman goby and a black perc clown. The sps are a recent addition it is a green slimer and monti cap( I have had this before and never fed it cause never saw polyps and it grew like a weed). I noticed that the green slimer comes out at night and wanted to give it some oyster eggs. I dont normally feed often but some how have a gorgonian that survived the ex wife and trying nurse that back to health. I put less then half teaspoon in 20 ml.

[sporto0]

Well if the polyps are active at night, you certainly could feed after lights out once in a while. I do this occasionally, once a month or so.

[andrewbram]

So do the sps not really need to eat. I want them to have best chance at survival since I run 4x54 t5.

[sporto0]

Only non-photosynthetic corals actually need to be fed, there are lots of theories on this subject, & I suspect that corals that are ocassionally "fed" by the aquarist will show the best growth & color, but they can & will survive on light only, I have come across coral farmers who claim to never feed their corals & others who believe it is a necessity. I can only attest to my own experience, very light manual feedings over the years. I would rather have the pristine water conditions instead of the higher nutrient laden waters that comes with frequent feedings & like I stated before, how much is actually being consumed by the corals??

[andrewbram]

good point. Maybe I will just feed the gorgonian and duncans because I have seen huge differance with the duncans. And from experience the gorgonians thrive when I have feed them.

[sporto0]

good point. Maybe I will just feed the gorgonian and duncans because I have seen huge differance with the duncans. And from experience the gorgonians thrive when I have feed them.

Most Gorgonians are non-photosynthetic, so that is a very good idea.

[andrewbram]

Thanks sporto. Liek I said its less then half teaspoon Spot fed in 75g so think that will help not be to toxic. And I wont lie I think I tank with a healthy gorg looks killer most people I have seen are to afraid to keep them.

[sporto0]

Thanks sporto. Liek I said its less then half teaspoon Spot fed in 75g so think that will help not be to toxic. And I wont lie I think I tank with a healthy gorg looks killer most people I have seen are to afraid to keep them.

Good for you Andrew, I have been keeping corals for 17 years & I have a pretty spectacular array of SPS, but guess what, I can't keep a Purple Gorgonian alive to save my life & I agree with you they absolutely make a reef tank pop.

[andrewbram]

Well sport I had this one years ago and it was georgous. However my ex wife was only kind enough to keep adding top off water to this tank for three years and much to my surprise part if it survived and gonna make it perty again.. Any other tips for sps given my lights. I really want a birdsnest and want to move my monti lower but not sure that I can do that.

[sporto0]

I have several species of Birdsnest Corals, Pink & Purple tip & a green polyp Bird's nest that came attached to an aquacultured Teal Green Acro, I have sinced fragged that Bird's nest 3 times, I have found they prefer the upper tiers of lighting, I have a 90g tank with 2 250w 10,000-13000k MH bulbs & 2 96w super actinic VHO flo's as supplements. I also have many Monti's, Digita, encrusting & plating, the Digita, (fragile sticks I call them) prefer higher lighting, the encrusting, reverse poker stars, superman & Tyree sunset prefer medium to lower light conditions. The Red cap Monti (plating) seems to thrive in all conditions.

[andrewbram]

So I should be able to lover my monti and put a birdsnest in upper third.

[sporto0]

So I should be able to lover my monti and put a birdsnest in upper third.

What kind of Monti Andrew? Digita, grows upward in branches or Encrusting, grows vertically to surrounding rocks? The Digita prefers upper third lighting in my tank & the Encrusting prefers medium to lower light. Again this is in my tank & considering I don't know your tank size or light specifications I don't want to give you improper advice.

[andrewbram]

Oh sorry. Its a 75g with 4x54 t5s. Also it is a monti cap. I have kept the montis before under pcs but now I have t5s with one big reflector but its curved around each bulb so its like individual reflectors. By the way my peramiters are nice and steady now that I brought my calc and alk up.

[sporto0]

I think you could move your Monti Cap down & your Bird's Nest up.

[andrewbram]

Very nice That way I can give more direct flow to the gorg too. And I think it will be way nicer look to the tank. As far as 2 part goes I dose 10ml now how much do you think the demand will go up by having green slimer monti cap and birdsnest. I will be testing but want to make sure it doesnt get overdone.

[sporto0]

Very nice That way I can give more direct flow to the gorg too. And I think it will be way nicer look to the tank. As far as 2 part goes I dose 10ml now how much do you think the demand will go up by having green slimer monti cap and birdsnest. I will be testing but want to make sure it doesnt get overdone.

I don't think the demand will go up by very much, again I don't know what salt mix you use, how often you do water changes, how large of a change you do, how often you test etc. etc. but I have a 90g full of SPS & my dosing regiment has changed very little over the years. Simple rule of thumb, dose what you can confirm by testing.

[andrewbram]

ok that works as it is idiot proof. Thats sport been great help any other tips??? I have been keeping tanks since I was 12 and first real attempt at sps lol.

[sporto0]

Andrew , I also have had a fish tank of some sort or another since I was 10, saltwater for the last 17 years, I'm not going to give away my age (lol) but what I have learned about keeping SPS is that pristine water conditions (low nitrates & phosphates), coupled with proper calcium, magnesium & alkalinity levels will give you a much needed advantage in having success, also I have had great luck with aquacultured & ORA colonies. Trial & error has been the best teacher, including not keeping non reef safe fish or even a lot of fish in my reef. Hope this helps, happy reefing.