WTB - Colonies of SPS.

How long has your 180 been setup?

 

Right on. I would advise to take it slow buddy. Add those colonies in a year when your tank has gone through the ups and downs....

 

I think most people will agree the potential to kill stuff in your first year is huge. I added sps almost right away. Some of them died, but most of them lived but they didn't really grow or thrive. During this time I was steadily adding lights, calc reactor, skimmers, ato, and all kinds of various equipment. There is a learning curve on the equip....what works, what does not work, etc. And your equipment can fail and cause problems.....ato freshwater dump, calcium reactor tweaks for ph, skimmer overflows, pump failures, powerhead crash, loose currents. In your first year you really learn what works for you and what does not work. You will be tweaking endlessly....it is fun!

My point is wait to spend the cash on sps colonies when you got your system bulletproof and the way you like it. Buy some of the 'cooler' lps or zoos. Maybe stay away from softies that grow like weeds and are hard to eradicate. I wish someone had told me this, or I had found GIRS before I spent a lot of cash.

 

Its also cheaper to buy a frag of something vs a colony, as I'm sure you are aware. If you lose a frag of something, you don't feel quite as bad as you do when you've spent 3x's the money on something larger /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

Its also more rewarding to watch a colony grow from a tiny frag........I guess it would be *nice* to have a full tank of mature colonies handed over to me, but I can't say I'd be proud of that tank like I would be if I had grown everything in that tank from 1" frags.

You learn more from growing things up from small frags yourself too. One thing you'll learn is some patience! But you'll also learn what each coral prefers/needs to thrive in your tank. Sure you can read about what each needs/likes, but each tank is so individual, so many variables.........

 

Plus 1. Get some LPS or zoas in there and happy, and let that sucker mature before SPS head into it. You'll save yourself a ton of heartbreak.

 

I have a bunch a green nd brown zoas that grow really well. Ive had them for three years. They were my first coral that I bought. I also have some red pumping xenia that I could sell

 

+1 Phishcraze nailed it. Very good advice.

 

Potroast's point is very valid. He has colonies with dead areas bigger than most colonies i have seen. Those bleached areas are only because the living branches are the sizes of basket balls surrounding it.

 

lol ...thats all i can say ...

 

You can do whatever you want man. No worries.
Since you asked, I don't have raw 'science' for you. I am not a scientist. However I can tell you what will be different for you in eight months. For one you will have eight more months of reef keeping experience(s) under your belt. In eight months you will have experienced equipment failures, break in periods, fluctuations, etc. and will have experience with fixing and tweaking your equipment. And in eight months you water, rocks, sand?, bacteria, pods, chemistry, etc. will be stable and operating full steam. If you experience sudden fluctuations in your system, your reef will be able to 'absorb' it much better than it will be able to now.
If you want to grow sps colonies while you ride the learning curve, go for it. You will probably do fine. But I won't be surprised if you post here in a couple months with questions about 'RTN'

 

By saying your lights wont change in a year is a newbie saying all the way.

ATO's can fail and dump a bunch of water in the system. What about poer outtages? There more things that can go wrong that you think. The more automated your system is, the less likely you will notice it in time. a lot of people had to figure that out the hard way. We are telling you this now so you dont lose a bunch of money when you are starting out.

 

If you want mature colonies of SPS, you probably won't find a better place than Live Aquaria for selection and customer service.

 

Yep live aquaria divers den is about the only place to get nice sized helthy sps colonys for a great price. Be sure and dip and put in a q-tank for a couple weeks as they are wild and maracultured.

I think if you feel you have the experence to pull it off go for it man! My current set-up was filled and compleatly stocked with sps in the same week. The old wait a year before sps thinking is totaly old school. There are many ways around the common problems with a new set-up. But like I said experence is the key. And I would add that my first year with sps growth and color sucked big time so there is deff a lerning curve to sps.
-Bill