SPS to LPS

[Viv]

Well, after a long hard try fighting the atmospheric condition of my basement I have decided to give up on having an SPS tank. For me there just doesn't seem to be a way to meet the poor air quality of my basement to making a pristine tank that has the quality of water the SPS corals need. I have never seemed to have any problems with LPS corals, so I have finally decided to grow what I know I can provide a good home for.....there are some SPS that have taken but its been a constant battle. I've been looking at tank pics and I've noticed substrates with the majority of LPS tanks. I know they tolerate less pristine water, but I think I'll continue the BB and just go LPS... I think the conditions will be excellent for the LPS...so -- do you think there will be any difficulties running an LPS tank BB?

[luvmylo]

the only problem I could see with this is some of the lps like a sand bottom. Elegance, Fox, etc.... Otherwise I don't see any other problems with that.

[Casey]

I have better luck with them when I use sand.

[Loverotties]

Sand is better.

[Leonardo's Reef]

I have several LPS in my tank, and they are doing fine. (Favia, Fungia, Pectinia) Also the species that needs sand (Fungia)

I've seen many BB tanks on forums with LPS flourishing. The only problem I see can be (less) flow, LPS don't like very high flow. But because the water quality don't have to be perfect, a little detritus on the bottom because of less flow won't be a problem.

I can send you some BB pics with LPS if you like... Good luck!

Leonardo

[Viv]

I would love to see some pics if you get time! I'm really not sure what to do. My basement gets damp and in the summer with the warmth I get mold. Yeah, I've got fans and dehumidifiers going but I think the mold spores are in the air and affect the water in the tank. I've got two SPS that have encrusted onto the rock. The others just will not grow. I am forever changing water to have proper parameters. The corals, I don't think have the time to adjust because I have to change the water sooooo frequently. I thought maybe the LPS would fare better under the circumstances. Though maybe not. I'm looking for suggestions. I would like to have some sort of tank...just not sure what to do. Maybe even bring it down to a softie tank?...........

[DarthOcellaris]

I'd love to see those pics too Leonardo!

[mborn]

I have a dedicated softy/LPS BB tank and it works just fine. I run less flow (to let a little detritus build up between water changes, i.e. I run it a little dirtier) than my SPS BB tank, but still skim pretty wet. The soft corals grow like weeds. You shouldn't have any problems.

[Casey]

Bottom line is it can be done either way,I personally will post pics soon to show you them with a sandbed, its just easier to keep em fat and healthy when I run the sand and a litttle dirtier my BB tank is way to much flow and to clean so they dont plump up as nice and fat as I would want them to.

[mborn]

Why do you have to change so much water? What are your water parameters? What happens to your SPS? What do they look like? Do they lighten up and start to bleach? Is there good ventilation in your basement? How about moving the tank out of your basement?

[Viv]

No way to move the tank. Its about a 300gal. tank with close to 200gal sump. Its gonna stay where it is forever! I change a lot of water because I develop algae. For the longest time I really thought it was something I was doing-but I've come to understand its the dampness of the basement. I have ventilation in the basement - run fans and a dehumidifier (although I don't know how much the dehumidifer is doing with the tank having an open top! ) Even with that and open windows its still enough to have mold spores. I believe this affects the water. Seems the only way to combat this never ending problem is to frequently do water changes-but I think those unmeasurable phosphates are getting into the water. I change about 150 gal every 3-4 days, and still have problems (more at this time of year, summer, than any other). I truly stay on top of this tank. Rarely is there detrius around. So I thought -leave some around maybe it is needed (yes, SPS, lighten up) but a very small amount led to a major algae outbreak. It happened sooo fast that I think I must be on a very fine line. The SPS live in my tank about 6-9 mos. doing well - then start taking a turn for the worse. I feel bad causing their death no matter what I do...so thats why I thought the LPS. I have had success with the LPS, they seem to tolerate less that pristine water, which I just can't seem to acquire. I am hoping to run the tank BB with LPS, 'cause it takes less than a month to see crud on substrate bottoms. (Not detrius as much as algae-black and red). On the other side with all the equipment running, I'm not that far from enclosing the entire setup. Maybe I should put a hood on the tank (the sump already has a top) get a UV, chiller. But would completely enclosing everthing work? Just not sure what to do...sure could use everbodys' thoughts!

[Viv]

Just went through some archives. I really have to stop fighting this tank and provide an environment which can handle my basement conditions. Is a lagoonal type environment one which would carry more algae. Could anyone recommend a type of environment that would thrive with a small amount of algae. Another question, will changing the environment cause harm to the fish. My fish have always seemed resilient to anything that goes on in the tank - but I wouldn't want to cause them harm. Unfortunately, I have a mix of things that probably really don't belong together...they look great and are healthy...but don't belong together-should this ultimately be changed out? Argh! Maybe just start all over again. My nephew is truly gonna love me....what a mess, I'm alll over the place, but I think giving up on the SPS environment that I can't provide and changing to something that will work with the surrounding air quality that is always there is the right way to go...at least I think so...but checking here before I do anything.......

[hng]

Viv, I'm not sure if the high humidity in the basement is causing your algae problems. I would think that a tank would not be affected much by relative humidity - we're atlking about a water environment with 100% humidity already. perhaps your tank is creating more humidity problems for your basement than vice versa. I don't know if mold spores will survive in slat water - the osmolality may actually kill the spores. But let's say the mold survives, it would lead to mold problems in the tank, not algae problems. I'm not too familiar with your setup, but have you thought about other sources of phosphate? Maybe your rocks need to be cooked? Maybe more wet skimming? Wasn't your skimmer malfunctioning? Maybe it's just not working right and phosphate is building up faster than you think. how about a UV sterilizer to kill algae (and mold spores)? I'm still gonna believe that phosphate and nitrate is an issue before I think of outside influences. I hope you don't take this post the wrong way, i was just "thinking out loud" about your algae problem.

[Aquaticman74]

You don't need sand for LPS. Cut pieces of pvc and lay their base on it. Just keep their flesh untouched.

[Viv]

Beautiful tank! Is it new? Your bottom looks so clean! Nice to see that the corals are doiing so nicely. Did you just lower the flow? No matter what I would like to stay with the BB. I like seeing where the detrius is and then being able to clean it away rather than just guessing, and unlike many others I actually like the look of the BB! On a different note, that is truly embarassing, it appears my problems have been due to mechanical problems. Evidently one night when I was at work my right tunze was alarmning. My family just unplug the one side to make it stop. I never noticed and because I didn't have had a major algae bloom. My sump socks were out and I accumulated detrius not only in the sump but on the top of the CA reactor. Found the reactor problems last nite when I did a major - major cleanup. Although I believe the reactor was working it probably wasn't to its optimum being that there seemed to be a hardened coat of detrius about 1/4 way around the top. That has now been removed. Yes, I also had a problem with the skimmer. The air intake needed cleaning. The porcelain intake was dirty, but the little (cup?) had the slightest line of Ca deposit and I think both these things were causing the problem because its back to working like a champ. As far as going LPS, well I may still do this as SPS just don't do well for me. I just can't get the water as pristine as they like it. Well, I can if I am constantly doing water changes about every three days - but changing out that much water leaves very little time to enjoy the tank and for me, well, I'd like to enjoy the tank a bit more. So, for now I just want a little time to go by so I see that everything is back on line and no major damage comes from fixing everything at the same time. Thanks for everyones input-it kept me from throwing in the towel!