Definitive read on sps care?

[Anonymous]

I would like to know your opinions on who has written a good book on the care of sps corals.

TIA

 

[Anonymous]

Quite a few people. I think you should start with "The Reef Aquarium" vols. 1 & 2 by Delbeek and Sprung.

-Jim

 

[Anonymous]

TRA has sps coral care? I guess I missed that part. No books I'm aware off, just give VERY high light (higher than you consider high) and good alk/dkh and you'll be ok. L8r mega

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http://megadeth.clan.net

 

[Anonymous]

Your will find much more info on SPS in
"The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium" by Nilsen & Fossa.

TRA is a little sparse on SPS, but they are great books!!!



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brian
atlantisaquatic.com

 

[Anonymous]

D&S have a new book in the works. TRA vol 3. Where did they come up with that name??? Anyway, it is supposed to fill in the blanks so to speak.

 

[Anonymous]

Yup, not much in TRA on sps care. Don't waste your money there. They are pretty out of date and incorrect on a number of issues.

Stick to 250W + MH, proper Ca and ALK levels, and strong varied water movement, water with little dissolved nutrients, and you'll be fine.

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Dan
Minotaur15 on #reefs
Reef Obsessed Surfer

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies.
I've already read TRA vol 1 when it first came out.A great book but a little shy on sps.
The reason I asked is that recently I've lost 3-4 frags of montipora and one pociliopora for no good reason.

Water quality checks out fine Ca 460 Alk is little over 3.lighting is also sufficient at 880w over a 135.

I'm beginning to suspect foul play on the part of an inhabitant(rock beauty)

The mystery to me is that all of my Acroporas are doing fine.In the scope of things they're supposed to be harder to keep.Go figure...

 

[Anonymous]

Minotaur15,
I am curious about your statement that TRA is: "They are pretty out of date and incorrect on a number of issues."
No Flame, just curious...
What are they incorrect about?

 

[Anonymous]

Monster of the Labirynth15,
What parts of TRA did you find out of date? I have not given it a detailed study, but upon the once over I did give it, I found the information without any blairing technical flaws.
To be honest I would not be too suprised......JS is kind of an ass in some ways. Because of his popularity I will probably be burnt for the blasphemy of that last comment, but I have spoken to him personally, and despite his relative brilliance, he does lack some in humility.

I hope the reefgods don't curse me for that.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok fellas,

Lets start with an easy one. Iodine. D&S still recommend its use... But there have been no scientifically documented cases that prove that iodine is essential or even used by corals. Eric B. and Ron Shimek have done extensive research of the litrature into this subject and have found 0 instances of a scientific study corraberating this hobby myth. Rob Toonen, found one....dealing with the rearing of baby octopi. So if that's what you're doing...then go for it.

Their general stance on errant polychaetes is wrong. They make them out to be horrible monsters.

There is more, however, I don't have the books with me and its been so long since I've read them, else I would be typing for a long time.

Once I get my books back and scan through them a bit, I'll post some more of their fallacies.

Give me a week or so, I'll give you a better response.



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Dan
Minotaur15 on #reefs
Reef Obsessed Surfer

 

[Anonymous]

I had forgotten about that Iodine thing.....duh
The closest I've come to putting iodine in my tank was once I used my friend's lugols solution to disinfect a cut........

 

[Anonymous]

If you don't want to be "spoon"

fed and can think a bit for yourself then Veron's book on Stony Corals of the Indo Pacific is the best book around currently. For the majority of species contained in the book it gives an indication of the more common reef zones and locations it is found in. There is also information at the start of the book on the conditions of each of these zones. So if you know where it is typically found, then you can infer the type of conditions that it requires. By far the most useful book I have found to help with keeping a wide range of hard corals.

Note also, don't fall into the trap that you can group "SPS" corals all together under the same sorts of conditions. It is a grouping that is based solely on the size of the polyps, nothing more than that. There is no taxonomical, behavioural, structure etc reason for it other than that. Be careful with generalisations, because they are exactly that, general. They do not apply to ever case.

Hope this is of some assistance.

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DBW
OZ REEF Marine Park
<A HREF="mailto:dbw@ozreef.org">dbw@ozreef.org</A>

 

[Anonymous]

I've read TRA vol1 and 2, and the modern coral reef aquarium vol 1 and 2. I like all four and have learned alot form them. Although none of them really get very deep on keeping specific species. I have a 120 and run 400w 6500 iwaski with great success. I also think a cal reactor is something to think about, since the addition of mines 2 yrs ago my tank has taking off.