does anyone have an SPS *only* tank ?

kien · #1 11-13-2009, 10:23 PM

As the title is asking, if anyone is running one I'd like to hear from you! Also, I don't mean SPS dominant, I mean SPS ONLY, no LPS, no softies, no fish, no inverts, just a tank full of SPS.

Reason being, I've been looking at some reefs from japan and a lot of those are just crammed packed full of SPS and that's it, nothing else. Was curious to try one of these in a new setup.

untamed · #2 11-13-2009, 10:29 PM

While setting up my new tank, my previous tank ran as SPS only for a few months. Even though I continued with my regular water changing schedule, the corals declined due to the lack of fish feeding/pooping. All other aspects of the tank were unchanged.

My guess is that those tanks you are looking at are plumbed with natural sea water.

kien · #3 11-13-2009, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by untamed

While setting up my new tank, my previous tank ran as SPS only for a few months. Even though I continued with my regular water changing schedule, the corals declined due to the lack of fish feeding/pooping. All other aspects of the tank were unchanged.

D'oh! Hmm.. maybe I will have to inject fish poop from the DT into the SPS tank??

I don't want fish in the SPS tank because I don't want to have to feed it every day like the DT tank.

Delphinus · #4 11-13-2009, 10:41 PM

I've had a couple over the years .. just not right now or lately.

To be honest, they were kind of boring to me. Yes colours and whatnot, but .. meh. It's not just SPS that get me excited in the hobby. Lots of others things to be interested in. So to each their own.

kien · #5 11-13-2009, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I've had a couple over the years .. just not right now or lately.

To be honest, they were kind of boring to me. Yes colours and whatnot, but .. meh. It's not just SPS that get me excited in the hobby. Lots of others things to be interested in. So to each their own.

Sure, rain on my parade :P~ Actually, you are right, I much prefer the mixed reef with fish, critters, etc. Its just that I have so many other things I'm curious about and want to try without upsetting my display tank. Hence I want to set up a second tank to "play" with. One of the first things I want to "play" with is an SPS only tank. :-) I want to play with flow, dosing, lighting, all sorts of stuff, again, that I'm very curious about.

P.S. welcome home :-)

Delphinus · #6 11-13-2009, 11:02 PM

(Thanks. Just got home from the airport. It's been a long day but I'm coming tonight.. will I see you there?)

Sorry, there's nothing wrong with the idea. What's one person's panacea is another person's ho-hum. I like the SPS but they also aggravate me to no end, which obviously influences where I take my tanks. But others will take theirs in other directions. It's all good.

These days my finances influence what I can do with my tanks.

So gone are the days I had 4 reef tanks going. Two (and a planted FW) is quite enough and in some ways even possibly beyond really what I'm capable of. The point I'm sort of randomly stumbling towards here is that I've noticed smaller tanks are not my forte. A bigger tank I can keep stable much easier than a smaller tank. So one thing to take into account when you're thinking of "toy tanks on the side" is that if you go smaller volumes, yes they're cheaper, but they are also less forgiving.

Which sort of leads me to the other random stumbling towards goal and that's of economization of scale by consolidating into a common system. A "frag growout" tank is the same idea for the most part, and then you are tieing into the same parameters, equipment, etc. and thus you can afford bigger things for the one system.

Anyhow those are only one person's considerations though and everyone is different. Sometimes it makes sense to run disparate systems, sometimes it makes sense to consolidate.

fencer · #7 11-13-2009, 11:30 PM

I did but when you run Ultra you need fish poop for a balanced tank

lorenz0 · #8 11-14-2009, 12:18 AM

kien, do what I am doing. Just a small nano if you want something to just play with. I think total cost of the tank so far has been $600

But ya, with a strickly sps tank your going to be feeding the tank alot. fish poop is the best way to go. has worked for me

kien · #9 11-14-2009, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorenz0

kien, do what I am doing. Just a small nano if you want something to just play with. I think total cost of the tank so far has been $600

But ya, with a strickly sps tank your going to be feeding the tank alot. fish poop is the best way to go. has worked for me

Yes, that's exactly what I'm after :-). Somethng smallish and inexpensive. Sounds like um going to need a fish or two in there though, which I was hoping to avoid.