looking at sps
- Thread starter sryder
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spongebob lover
flea whisperer
ahh dood 
... whatever happened to lps .
what i did is, i got myself a montipora cap frag just to try it out and so far so good... well i can't say to much because i have only had it for about a month but i love it.
In a few, if i was you, i'd go get a monti cap and may be later..... once you master the sps thing, get yourself something more fancy pantsy .
... whatever happened to lps .what i did is, i got myself a montipora cap frag just to try it out and so far so good... well i can't say to much because i have only had it for about a month
but i love it.In a few, if i was you, i'd go get a monti cap and may be later..... once you master the sps thing
, get yourself something more fancy pantsy .
spongebob lover
flea whisperer
what do you mean by different types?
i know there's montipora cap and montipora digitata which one looks like a cap/disk and the other one looks more like a stick .
you can keep under different types of lights, but is better if you got MH .
you don't need to feed, they like medium flow, and your calcium should be around the 400 i believe.
your water should always be top notch .
i know there's montipora cap and montipora digitata which one looks like a cap/disk and the other one looks more like a stick
.you can keep under different types of lights, but is better if you got MH .
you don't need to feed, they like medium flow, and your calcium should be around the 400 i believe.
your water should always be top notch
.
spongebob lover
flea whisperer
for me all sps are very slow growers or at least slower than the softies
.I think you're gonna like sps look and then you might have to send me all your lps
:lol: .Ohh yeah and they're very delicate about water temperature swings, so make sure your water is stable
.
Sk8r
Well-known member
You'll want calcium at 400, alk at 8.3, mg at 1200 give or take. Temp at 80, not much more, and salinity at 1.025, no nitrate, nitrite or ammonia. Once you situate it, do not move it or touch it with your hands: they don't like to be messed with. The montiporas, either digitatas or foliosas, [fingers or leaves] are fuzzy, and can change shape, well, at glacial speed. They like high light and pretty good flow, though they tolerate less. They're quite fragile, break about like a stick of chalk, and grow fairly fast. Pocillopora is another 'easy' sps, with a fairly rapid growth. Keep the water chemistry steady [buffering your topoff water helps] and your flow good and you'll have no trouble at all. Use superglue to attach the frags either to your main rockwork or to attach their frag plugs to the rock, so they don't move about in the current.
Sk8r said:
thanks guys. my params generally run pretty good
calcium 420
alk runs a little low 8.0
temp78
0 trates
0amm
0 phosphates
calcium doesnt realy change much have no uptake other than coraline algae.
I do weekly water changes.
a friend tested my water once a few weeks ago and said my magnesium was higher than the test could go. is this possible and if so where would it come from seeing ive never dosed it. i use instant ocean salt.
Sk8r
Well-known member
You should be good on most things. Your mg may be coming in from the salt. Do you have heavy coralline? That can follow from high mg, so I've heard. My tank runs pretty mg high too, and it's never seemed to be a problem. You should see some of those things drop once you get sps. Wedge a frag of monti cap halfway up your rocks and watch it go. It shelves and cups and can seem to change overnight.
montipora digitata grows quite rapidly! They are a little fragile and can break easily but the piece quickly grows into another coral. I would definately start with these first. Also like gabby said the monti cap in green or red are also easy ones.
Which color morph do you have gab???
willie
Which color morph do you have gab???
willie
I vote for montipora cap. My system is not set up for SPS. It is setup for zoanthids. My monti cap has done ok in my setup under PC's. Though it seems to be growing faster now that I switched to halides. It survived three tank swaps and is still doing great. It seems to be pretty bullet proof. Just my limited first hand sps experience .
If you can, get a local frag. The stuff grows pretty fast, so there is no need to buy a big show piece.
.If you can, get a local frag. The stuff grows pretty fast, so there is no need to buy a big show piece.
spongebob lover
flea whisperer
i got some redish/ orange color dood
.i agree .... someone very kind here sold me a little frag for 5 bucks .... instead of me having to pay 35-40ish or even more for a big piece
cwegescheide
Well-known member
I would also try a Larry Jackson. Its a purple or blue tipped a.nana with golden branches. This was my first sps and man is it tough. I had my tank parameters WAY out of whack and this thing hung in there thru thick and thin. Even had an RTN episode only to recover. This coral also grows pretty quck and encrusts like crazy. I think a lot of people would agree its a good beginner sps and it looks decent too. I got mine about 2 yrs ago, a 1" frag and its about the size of a softball now. Pretty good I think.
Just wanted to chime in and say I've had very good success at keeping monti cap under VHOs. Also hydnophora & stylophora. These were my 1st attempts with SPS and all have been very easy to keep.
The monti cap doesn't have the polyp extension like under MH, and grows slower for sure. The green stylo I have is very cool, great polyp extension & grows pretty good. Since it's getting bigger now, it's becoming one of my favorites. I took 2 frags from it & put them in a diff tank under MH...thinking these will catch up to the original pretty quickly given the extra light.
IME, the 3 above seem to have less light requirements than other SPS and for me were very easy to keep. Got me hooked on SPS...so much so I had to get another tank!
hth,
rob
The monti cap doesn't have the polyp extension like under MH, and grows slower for sure. The green stylo I have is very cool, great polyp extension & grows pretty good. Since it's getting bigger now, it's becoming one of my favorites. I took 2 frags from it & put them in a diff tank under MH...thinking these will catch up to the original pretty quickly given the extra light.
IME, the 3 above seem to have less light requirements than other SPS and for me were very easy to keep. Got me hooked on SPS...so much so I had to get another tank!
hth,
rob
IMO one of the easiest and fastest growing corals is the montipora digitata. It can grow around an inch a month under the right conditions. Also, it is super hardy, although it does break rather easily. I have never seen one RTN or STN, and they grow just fine under PC's or VHO's. I would suggest either purple or orange. Again it can grow fairly fast, so you are probably better off with just a frag. Good luck!
Slickdonkey
Drink me
I second the hydnophora. Not my favorite but it seems easy to keep.
spongebob lover
flea whisperer
thats the first time i hear a coral being named like that
.......got any pics? By the way Steve did you get any sps yet?
I agree....but ohhhhhh...are the nasty little buggers! I had one that blasted the heck out of a candy cane 3 inches away:shock: . So if you get one give them PLENTY of room.
dpaynter
Well-known member
Also consider the green slimer. I have a mixed tank of softies, lps and sps and it is one of the fastest growing sps.
