The secret to LPS success is......?
 

Any of my LPS seems to perrish after a month or two, whats up with that? I keep SPS, Clams, Anenomes, and all kinds of inverts and fish, but LPS,...I seem to have no luck with LPS, what's the trick? :sad:

PH 8.1-8.4
Kh 8.5
Cal 450
Mag 1350
Po3 - .00ppm
No3 - 0
temp 78.8
Sal - 1.025
ATI hybrid lighting.

in my experience the better my lighting set up got, the worse they did. I try to keep them lower in the tank these days while dialing my light back, and they seem to do better. they also seem to thrive a bit more when i let my tank maintence slide a bit.

Unless you are feeding your LPS twice a week, the problem could be that your water is too clean. Keeping your Phosphate and Nitrate at 0 can even be hard on SPS.
You may also be giving your LPS too much light. They certainly won't need the intensity your ATI Hybrid is capable of delivering them, for long periods of time.

Here are pictures of one of our LPS systems that we are having a lot of success with.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...psd6dc6591.jpghttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...ps965f4e86.jpghttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y75...ps199fa967.jpg

Douglas,
LPS and SPS are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it come to lighting, water quality and water movement. A picture and description of your system would help with any suggestions.

I wouldn't say they're at opposite ends. At least not for the euphylia that I keep. I have always maintained water parameters similar to the OP's, under 400w MH. I have 3 large colonies and they all do very well. I do feed my fish heavily, so there are nutrients in the water column. I never direct feed them.

Nice scollies Bill. What is the lighting schedule you have on that tank?

could one of the below issues.
if your .system is SPS dominant LPS will not do too well and slowly wither away.
Water movement is a big thing for SPS but LPS need a more settle flow.
High emission light is best for SPS and LPS but need very slow and gradual acclimation although LPS don't require the intensity.
In a mix reef system its best to keep up with your Carbon as it removes all chemical warfare.
Are you sure the fish you have are not bothering or picking on your LPS.
Your water parameter seems fine.
Like the earlier post always a photo helps.
Are you dipping your new corals.

+1

My past experience is with MH
Currently using LEDs

Under 400w halides I kept a mixed reef in a standard 180.
Didn't have a problem with keeping anything under high light.
Softies, ricordeas, Lps, sps, clams, they all did well.

I believe it has something to do with the light from LEDs. I placed a Lps near the bottom of my tank and pretty much melted it.
My Lps are now off to the side in the shade.

Go figure.

Your water permameters are fine so I don't think it would be that. I have a mixed reef loaded with sps and LPS. I have my sps up top and LPS on the bottom. I have my flow cranked at 100% and I never have any issues. However I have noticed that without wrasses in my tank for a few months the amphipods will get out of hand and eventually mow all my LPS. And for those non believers I have pics. They ate my acans, ricordias, zoas, and even some chalices. They only come out at night making it very hard to see. If I were you I'd go look at your tank a few hours after your lights go out. It's possible you could be having the same issue. If you have wrasses or other predator fish though then it could be something else.

"LPS" is a very broad group of corals! Maybe we need to take a look at this on a case by case basis. There are certainly LPS corals that are very difficult to keep under any conditions, while others are quite forgiving under almost any condition. What sorts of LPS have you tried ? Also, what wish do you have ? Some fish love LPS.

I think his wish is to keep LPS:biggrin: but a fish list would be nice:lol:

maybe check the potassium

:lol: good call! A fish list would be helpful too!

My fish stock consists of: 1 Yellow tang, 1 Naoko's fairy wrasse, 1 Sunburst Anthias, 1 pair of Australian Blacks clownfish, 1 Manderine, 1 scooter blenny, 1 blue neon gobie, 1 bubble tip anenome , 2 clams, 1 urchin, 3 shrimp, and several snails.

I'm trying to keep an Australian Elegant, and 2 Torch coral frags now, but everthing else is SPS.

I've tried several types of torch corals, a few acans, and some duncans.....but no success with keep them alive and triving. All corals dipped in Coral RX pro, prior to hitting the tank, and climatized with a drip method to try to increase my success. Fed coral snow, and acan plus, brine, and mysis shrimp.

I had excellent success with LPS in my last set up, but this new build, is now using different lighting, (LED/T5) as apposed to (MH/T5) like last time. And no Bio pellets this time, just GFO, Carbon, Skimmer, filter sock, and Cheato. Will try to post some pictures.

Well, yah...you could say that NPS would be at the opposite spectrum of SPS, but even then, NPS require a strong water flow to maximize the amount of food particles they capture.
LPS and SPS are pretty general terms.:smile:

Royal Blue and Blue LEDS 11 hrs., Actinic and Blue Plus T5s 6 hrs.