aquascaping with the furture in mind

[Chrisrush]

Anyone aquascape or place corals with the future growth in mind? I going to re-do about 90% of my aquascaping in my tank this weekend, including adding sand and 2 reef ceramic peices. I was looking through RC and I found a couple of nice examples of what I'm looking for. I'm guessing that it's a way of grouping certain corals together (i.e. stags, tables, plates, etc.)

This picture was taken from cwards tank in OH.

I really like the depth of the tank, which, unfortunately, I won't be able to duplicate, but also, I like the general layout.

What does everyone else think?

 

[SERVO]

My tank was totally AQS with the corals in my mind at their full glory.

I told Anthony Patrick that I had too many corals and I didn't want to put anymore in my tank. He looked at me like I had 3 heads. I placed stags at the bottom of the tank to grow up and more bushy corals on the higher edges with tables placed where they wouldn't obstruct too much light when they grow up.

 

[Corn]

SERVO do you have any pic of you new tank set up ??

 

[Cody Ray]

Such full pieces, though it looks like the millepora has a bald spot in the middle

 

[dots]

I think most when they start out want a dense field and get pickier as they grow in.....in the beginning when they are all frags....the small ones bunched up kinda give that effect, I would assume as they grow in they should "thin the herd" and be only left with the best of the best.....at least thats what I am going to do......

and yes I like his tank so much, I almost hate it, it really should be something for all of us to shoot for.....ALL LARGE colonies, thnk about how long it takes to grow that from frags, the care, and the uncertainty of the next blackout, redbug or AEFW

Cward's tank gave me the idea of the next big thing in SPS, it isn't really the LE frags you have, but the real skill in caring for them and defending them from people who want frags long enough for them to grow to full/large size, because I think a tank full of colonies is more "rare" than a tank full of LE frags currently.........:eek1:

 

[Chrisrush]

That's kinda what I was thinking dots. I've got a couple of caps and more common frags that I'll be moving to my frag tank after the renovation. There are a couple of frags that I will still be on the look out for, but for the most part, I'm going to try and space the ones that I've got a little farther apart then they are now.

 

[Reef NuTTZ]

Well heres a picture of my AS with future sps in mind.

cheers

Huy

 

[Chrisrush]

Interesting Huy. What did you use for the backwall?

I think one of the neat things about cwards tank is the birdsnest in the middle of the cap.

 

[cward]

Thank you very the kind words. The tank looks a bit different now because everything has grown so much more. The mille and slimer are now touching and overlapping each other, and the cap in the front is about an inch from touching the acrylic, which means I'll have to frag it to make room for my magnet cleaner. I like Ryan's game plan for his tank and I'm sure it will look fantastic once everything grows out.
I saw the big round tank at MACNA and I was thinking how cool it would look with one huge slimer and a dozen or so Anthias in it.

 

[Reef NuTTZ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8273048#post8273048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chrisrush
Interesting Huy. What did you use for the backwall?

I think one of the neat things about cwards tank is the birdsnest in the middle of the cap.

The back wall is all LR, I followed the DIY LR and made a wall out of it.

Huy

 

[Chrisrush]

Very interested. How are you planning on aquascaping?

Thanks for chiming in Chris. What influenced you in the aquascaping your tank?

 

[cward]

I liked the look of Steve Weast's tank with the valley in the center that he used to show the depth. My main goal was to make it look more natural, instead of the "fruit stand" look.

 

[Chrisrush]

Well, having those huge colonies certainly helps. How many different species do you have in the tank? I think that having a deep tank with a black background helps add to the depth as well.

 

[cward]

Believe it or not, there's about 26 colonies in the tank. That's not including the babies of the Pocillopora that are all over the place.

 

[cward]

Note to self: Do not add Pocillopora or green star polyps to the next tank

 

[Reef NuTTZ]

Im planning on haveing 80% of the sps glued to the wall and have it grow outwards. Some sps will be glued to the rock work i placed in the tank. Zoos/softys/clams ect.. would be placed on the lower half of the rock work or in the sand. BTW, nice looking tank cward :thumbsup:

Huy

 

[cward]

Thank you Reef NuTTZ, I love your tank as well. I think the back wall idea you did will look fantastic when the corals start to grow off of it. I had a cool millepora growing out of the side of a rock in my tank, but it really never encrusted enough to support it's weight once it grew to a decent size. It eventually fell off and landed next to my fungia, which stung the crap out of it before I discovered it.

 

[MiddletonMark]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8271917#post8271917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sacramentodots
Cward's tank gave me the idea of the next big thing in SPS, it isn't really the LE frags you have, but the real skill in caring for them and defending them from people who want frags long enough for them to grow to full/large size, because I think a tank full of colonies is more "rare" than a tank full of LE frags

IMO it is, was, and likely will be.

Less so the hoarding frags, moreso the grown-out [age/time/health] status, I think. Then again, I aggressively fragged [small tank] for a while, so am just trying to excuse that :lmao:

It's so hard not to fill the tank with purchase vs. ginving time for success ... we all seem to fall prey to that, IMO. But good to remember, as I've gotten rid of far more Acropora than I've gotten in the last year or so [should have saved my cash a few years ago, invested all that into equipment/QT/energy-efficiency] ... and am much happier with how the tank looks.
Now to get my new camera taking as good of pics as the old/dead one could.


These tanks look great, more natural to my eye ... and the skill of the keeper is evident with the older, fully-grown colonies.
Less truly is more. [much much more]

My compliments to the chefs.
[Cward, Joefish, Steve W., among many unmentioned others]

 

[Serioussnaps]

I dont have anything productive to add---but Cwards tank is still bad ***...i want my 55 to be simply 5-7 Large colonies that have been grown out...looks more natural and is more viable in the long run....

I see these tanks like a 120 with probably 50 frags in them and thats cool in all but you can tell they just didnt consider the future...unless they get a much larger tank..i dont like that look but of course to each their own....

cwards is in my top 5 right now just because of the obvious aesthetics...its not that his corals are bling like "what is that" but just bling because how grown out and natural his tank looks

 

[Fliger]

One of my favorite examples is Invincible's tank. I did mine the same way - picked out very large pieces of Marshall Island and laid them across the bottom. Only in one spot do I have a rock on top of a rock. Worked great, my SPS really stand out (sorry website is down now)

Invincible's tank before and after (obviously some rearranging but not much)

I also think Steve's tank is aquascaped with growth in mind (reefer714)