sps and clams?

[clownfish]

I will set up a 70 in a month. It should take a couple weeks to cycle with cured LR,LS, a fluidized bed, a Remora Pro, and maybe a bacterial additive. I will add 2 clowns when the cycle is done. The other fish will slowly go in, one by one, after that. My parents will give me a 4x96 PC system for xmas. The corals, starting with easy stuff like shrooms, will go in then. I plan to use 3 powerheads blasting maybe 300 gph apiece. My question is, will I be able to have a crocea or derasa clam, as well as a SPS coral or two, later on? I will put calcium and stuff in there too, along with a little invert food sometimes. If I could keep SPS, what kinds would be good? I am not too familiar with the SPS group, but I saw a SPS at a LFS once and it was very nice.

[FishDaddy]

Clownfish,
I would not even think about sps or clams until your reef has been running for nearly a year. You will experience many algae blooms and instability in the tank for a long time as the system matures. Sps and clams need excellent water quality and conditions, not to mention intense lighting. 4x96 on a 70 would be marginal though many keep these with that lighting.
There seems to be a "9 Month" syndrome that I have observed and experienced where tanks at 7-10 months experience cyanobacter and algae blooms. I have no scientific data for this observed phenomenon other than the certain knowledge that a 9 month old LR/LS system is still undergoing the maturation process.
I would recommend getting Puterbaugh and Borneman's A Practical Guide to Corals and TRA I & II and use this time to read and study and, when the time comes, make your own best judgments as to what corals you will keep.
As to your timetable for fish; again, I would recommend going more slowly. The end of the cycle doesn't necessarily mean the tank is ready for fish. Your clowns would stand a much better chance of long term survival if you would wait about at least 2 months after the cycle is complete to let the conditions settle down and begin to mature.
Dick http://www.thereeftank.com/ubb/smile.gif
Patience isn't just necessary in a reef tank; its a necessity!

I completly agree with FishDaddy's philosophy re the maturation time on a reef tank. I have archivesd a few of the very good posts that cover this subject. I have 440 watts of VHO on my 55g and will up that on my 75g and still wouldn't keep clams or SPS. Most of the serious stick freaks are going to 400w MH for a reason. Even multi 400w MH arent anywhere as near as intense as mid day tropic sun

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I thought I was me, but I was wrong

[marine machine]

They are right about the lighting clownfish.
a 70 is kind of deep so it would need MH
fixtures of some kind. though the remark
about all the 400w MH i dont know. iv had
freinds keep all kinds of nice sps and clams
before in their tanks using VHO but they werent
as tall as a 70. as for the algal blooms
you can try and cut back on the amount of
nutreints in the water by using a powerful
skimmer. the two main things algae needs is
nutrients and light and that causes alot of
blooms. how about this one, i now someone
at my work that is keeping soft corals and
other kinds of inverts alive using only PCs,
live rock, live sand, and one 200 aquaclear
power filter. oh yeah no skimmer either. i know soft corals arnt sps but i still think
thats pretty good. try and keep things simple. its not as hard as you may think.
and it wont cost you as much either.

[Sue Truett]

I totally agree with geedoug and fishdaddy, as someone who keeps sps and clams exclusively in one of my tanks, this tank was 2 yrs. old before any sps was added. I have have very good success with the lights I have. {2 250w 6500k iwasaki, 2 96w power compact actinics} I have great color and have great growth rates on these corals, but they will not thrive in a undermature system. I think you should absolutely go with the reading{Bornemans book is excellent, as is Sprungs Corals A Quick Reference Guide} as you will be able to advance to the harder to keep corals with time and knowledge. I'm not afraid to say I'm still learning and hope I continue to. Oh and BTW, my tank is a 120 gal.

[bill-e]

clownfish,

Not wanting to contradict my esteemed colleague ;-) I keep, successfully, a derasa clam (1 yr), psamacora, and I just put in 3 sps frags which are looking great.

I have a 24" deep 65gal tank lit by 4x96w pc's. While I'm sure that there are plenty of SPS I cant keep, perching the ones I do have at the uppermost peaks of my LR seems to be doing the trick. They look good and are growing...what more could I ask.

I think that once your tank is established, you should be able to keep some sps and clams, certainly a derasa clam.

I just got a baby maxima and will try to see how it does once it gets bigger. If he doesnt take to the lighting, I'll just bring him back.

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Bill Esposito
bespo@cereal.mv.com
http//cereal.mv.com/reef
The box said "Use Win 95 or better", I chose better so I run OS/2!

[clownfish]

I will follow y'all's recommendations and wait a year or so before really considering a clam or an SPS. I know I can make the water great with that Remora Pro, fluidized bed, LS, LR, and so on. Water quality probably won't be a problem after the first few weeks. I will add the fish slowly to avoid ammonia spikes. It's tough to be patient though, especially when you've waited, studied this, and saved up for many months. What kinds of corals would be good for me to get come christmas? I was thinking of slowly adding these corals:
shrooms
soft/polyps
LPS

[FishDaddy]

Errrr, Bill-e,
Correction:

4x96 on a 70 would be marginal though many keep these with that lighting

Should have read:

4x96 on a 70 would be marginal except by experienced and highly knowledgeable reefers from New England though many keep these with that lighting

Dick http://www.gifs.net/animate/sun.gif


[This message has been edited by FishDaddy (edited 09-21-2000).]

Bill, point taken http://www.thereeftank.com/ubb/smile.gif, on the other hand you have a mature tank and a lot of knowledge to go on.
Clownfish, with LSA and LR why would you spend the money on a fluidized bed filter, its really not needed for the same reason wet/drys are no longer considered the hot setup for reeftanks. They are very efficient at reducing ammonia to nitrite to nitrate but do nothing to reduce nitrates like good live rock and deep sand bed will.As far as what corals its hard to pick for someone else but a good starting point are the hardy mushrooms, button and star polyps. Colts, leathers,like toadstools,cabbage or flowers are usually good hardy choices. I would recommend holding off on LPS for prolly 6 months till you're past the algae blooms and have a good understanding of the pH, Alkilinty, calcium relationship, as LPS will use quite a bit of calcium amnd need supplementation IME

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I thought I was me, but I was wrong

[bill-e]

we gotta take away Dick's gif posting priveleges http://www.thereeftank.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Bill Esposito
bespo@cereal.mv.com
http//cereal.mv.com/reef
The box said "Use Win 95 or better", I chose better so I run OS/2!