Cubed & Squared

[Bello]

:lol: Biggles, hilarious as usual :lol: I actually have some white EpoPutty that I really try avoiding, but it does make for a far superior hold than std glue ...

I've been telling my wife at least once per week that I haven't added any new coral for the last 4 months, and I'm due for a massive spending :lol:

You're spot on about the left side, and now when I look at it, I feel like this was a waste of time . It's just not hitting me, I'm sure you know what I mean . I know it'll look good once stuff grows out, but it just doesn't feel right.

I like the tall spire-like structure to the right. And I'm now thinking about a low lying plateau of rock, centrally placed, with the spire jutting out off-center. The downside to this, is the obvious reduction of hiding spots for fish, and a vague similarity to the scape of the Acro tank. What do you think? Have any better ideas? My brain is fried :lol:

Don't tell me I'm nuts, you and I already know that to be true :lol:

 

[diciple]

really likeing this tank keep up good work!

 

[troubadour11]

WOW... I couldn't imagine changing things around so much with all those corals on there :eek2:

But it's all looking good. Things seemed to have survived Bello-zilla coming through :lmao:

As it's been mentioned, once things grow in it will totally change. If you're still contemplating additional changes. I think Biggles is spot on with the comment about moving the far left piece forward some. Just doing that only will be an easy and worthwhile update from my point of view. That is if you are still looking to change awesome :beer:

If you're still looking for drastic change ideas... Here's a thought I'll throw out there :idea:

Leave the far right as it is. Move the far left piece forward as mentioned. Slide the back center just a little bit left since they'll be a bit more space after moving the other piece forward. Then, since you mentioned spots for :fish1: add a thin tall pillar/platform piece that leans forward and towards the right side.

Then again, I like your idea of the low island you have out front. A little easier then above. You could also just get an low arch piece that connects the low island to the back center (and just slide the left piece forward). That would give an additional hiding spot for fish, expand the raft, and give more room for that coral run I think you're about to go on :thumbsup:

Either way it's all looking awesome and you still got me beat... I still have no water :lmao:

 

[Bello]

really likeing this tank keep up good work!

Thanks for the compliment diciple, greatly appreciated, hopefully the tanks will get better :thumbsup:

WOW... I couldn't imagine changing things around so much with all those corals on there :eek2:

But it's all looking good. Things seemed to have survived Bello-zilla coming through :lmao:

Not quite, as the coral citizens of MontiTank, extend their polyps in the calm aftermath, the ominous shadow of Bello-zilla returns .... yet again......... :ape:

Thanks for the scape tips Troub, pretty good stuff :thumbsup:. It gave me a couple ideas, and based on those, we are now at scape 5.0 or rather 4.1, since I used most of the existing rock, and didn't really build anything new. Did have to move some of the corals around a bit.... again, but hopefully, things should be ok.

Figure it's better to get the look that I want now, rather than later, when the corals are really taking off. And I'm not always this nutty, I haven't really touched the Acro at all :lmao:........ I really hope this one sits well with me

The tips helped a great deal, and maybe scape 4.1 will look familiar to you :thumbsup:

Now off to troll your thread

 

[biggles]

You're spot on about the left side, and now when I look at it, I feel like this was a waste of time . It's just not hitting me, I'm sure you know what I mean . I know it'll look good once stuff grows out, but it just doesn't feel right.

I like the tall spire-like structure to the right. And I'm now thinking about a low lying plateau of rock, centrally placed, with the spire jutting out off-center. The downside to this, is the obvious reduction of hiding spots for fish, and a vague similarity to the scape of the Acro tank. What do you think? Have any better ideas? My brain is fried :lol:

Don't tell me I'm nuts, you and I already know that to be true :lol:

I know exactly what you mean when you say it just doesn't feel right Bello, you and i both know that in such cases there is no option but to attack the rocks yet again......... i like the low plateau idea and frankly the fish can get stuffed if they don't like it - you know me and fish lol. That right structure is spot on so a few tweaks should see things looking better in short order.

Troub - stop drawing stuff all over Bello's front glass you bloody vandal.........

 

[Bello]

Alright guys :lol:

The scape story continues....I'm now actually fed up, and will be leaving it like this for the next few months.... Can't keep redoing things..





I should have taken a shot from the side also, for better clarity.

 

[cFloor]

Bello- I think it looks phenomenal. Easier said than done, but I wouldn't touch it again, just let it grow. One day you won't see the rock anyways. Great work!

 

[Bello]

Thanks for the vote of confidence!! :thumbsup:

You're right, it's about time I stop messing around and let things be

 

[troubadour11]

I still think it's looking great Bello! :beer: And I agree... once it's got a grown up reef on it, you'll be looking at the corals, and not seeing the rock anyway

So now that aquascape... is it 5.0?... is done, what's next? It looks like you've got a big empty rock on top that is begging for a coral run.

and Biggles: good thing I used a dry erase marker to draw all over his glass. It looks like he got it cleaned up just fine :spin2: Spotlessly clean now!

 

[Bello]

:lol: We're at 4.1 or was it 5.1? Don't remember

I just picked up 4 mari pieces . Will probably relocate a couple pieces to the sump. Real estate is at a premium

Here's a pic of the scape from the side


And wondering which one to frag.......

 

[Andyf30]

Nice pieces. The thing I love about mari's is they are already placeable anywhere in the tank. They are so used to getting blasted by sunlight in shallow water they are almost bleach proof. Now if only they didn't brown out so easily...

 

[rodneyri]

good scape man, dont touch it anymore it looks really good

 

[Bello]

Nice pieces. The thing I love about mari's is they are already placeable anywhere in the tank. They are so used to getting blasted by sunlight in shallow water they are almost bleach proof. Now if only they didn't brown out so easily...

Thanks! I completely agree. I'm pretty much forced to purchase mari or wild pieces only. Very rarely do I purchase wild, so usually mari.

I started running LED's over my systems about 4 years ago, basic leds (MaxSpect G1 units), and I've yet to bleach a mari colony. Though I'm a bit wimpy, and move 'em up gradually . I've lost corals for other silly/noob reasons, but never bleached a mari

By the time a mari piece is available to me, its usually brown or green. So I've to purchase a lot of brownies. Most of have coloured up so, but with my nutrients on the rise, I'll have to observe with the new lot of 4.

good scape man, dont touch it anymore it looks really good

Thanks Rodney, feel a lot better about it now. Been following your thread for ages , albeit a bit of a lurker.

Waiting for your updates with your new ATI Hybrid :thumbsup:

 

[troubadour11]

Ah, ah, ah, ah, STAYING ALIVE!!!! :bounce3:

How is everything going over there... those new mari pieces come in and get placed?

My newbie vote would have gone to frag the greenie 'cause I like the look of the other guy. But greenie looks happy to grow out front and not as much towards the light purple. From the looks of things, light purple may try to climb on greenies shoulders all the time. Which way did you end up going? Or did you let them decide :blown:

And :beer: to the new scape! I like it even more now with that side view shot. I wasn't picking up the chasm separation between the new front and back islands on the left hand side. I like it a lot :thumbsup:

Now to plant a coral on that newly exposed rock and let it grow :celeb3:

 

[Bello]

Ah, ah, ah, ah, STAYING ALIVE!!!! :bounce3:

My newbie vote would have gone to frag the greenie 'cause I like the look of the other guy. But greenie looks happy to grow out front and not as much towards the light purple. From the looks of things, light purple may try to climb on greenies shoulders all the time. Which way did you end up going? Or did you let them decide :blown:

:lol: Troub, staying alive.... barely

I ended up not fragging either of the 2 corals, and they seem to be enjoying an extended makeout session at the moment :lol:. Hopefully, I won't regret not taking action sooner, we'll see.....

On a sour note, despite my best efforts and dips, I discovered AEFW eggs on one of my acro frags. Hopefully, that's all there is, but I wouldn't be too sure about it... And I've also found a couple small patches of aiptasia, that I need to get rid off too.

On a brighter note, the rest of the corals seem to be doing well :thumbsup:, coloring up after the introduction of excess nutrients through my additional scape live rock.

Can't really complain

The chasm isn't obvious at all from the FTS, was wondering about rotating the rockwork to make it obvious, but I think I've already overdone the scaping , and it's kinda fun to create a slight illusion

 

[troubadour11]

Oh no! Sorry to hear about the AEFW eggs. I know what they are, but haven't had to deal with them myself yet. Fingers crossed that's always the case. How do you go about solving that? Do the acro crabs I've heard about help?

I ended up not fragging either of the 2 corals, and they seem to be enjoying an extended makeout session at the moment

:love2::love2::love2::love2::love2::love2::love2::love2:

The chasm isn't obvious at all from the FTS, was wondering about rotating the rockwork to make it obvious, but I think I've already overdone the scaping , and it's kinda fun to create a slight illusion

I think it looks great and doesn't need to be tweaked anymore unless you're REALLY feeling the need to meddle with it. Having different view points and "areas" of the tank is cool to me. I like it!

I designed my rock work with a similar idea. To look "best" from the full tank primary viewing angle (a 3/4 view from the front right). But when you look from other angles, there's all sorts of pockets, caves, overhangs, chasms, etc that are built into the sides. I tried to make a landscape from 1 angle, and then a whole bunch of "micro landscapes" from the other angles.

But I'm glad to hear the corals are liking the addition of the new rock and coloring up. And good luck on the pest battle. I still envy your tank over mine right now, pests and all :fun2:

 

[Sean626]

Live the tank! Are you gluing or using epoxy for most of your placement?

 

[Bello]

Do the acro crabs I've heard about help?

I designed my rock work with a similar idea. To look "best" from the full tank primary viewing angle (a 3/4 view from the front right). But when you look from other angles, there's all sorts of pockets, caves, overhangs, chasms, etc that are built into the sides. I tried to make a landscape from 1 angle, and then a whole bunch of "micro landscapes" from the other angles.

Thanks Troub

So far, with my limited experience, the acro crabs unfortunately, don't do squat with AEFW's . But I like 'em anyways. Unless they're hairy crabs. You don't want them hairy buggers :lol:. Right now, my method for solving is..... prayer :lol:. I'm just hoping that there aren't many. Found a frag today that had 'em, so dipped it in CoralRx and moved to the drop off. Haven't noticed any other frag with them, so fingers crossed.

I'm hoping that my usage of wrasses in my systems, helps me somewhat with these pests, Tamarin Wrasse (Acro) & 6-line (Monti). Let's see....

I'm waiting to see your scape.....wet!!! :lol:....Yep, I sound like a broken record.

Live the tank! Are you gluing or using epoxy for most of your placement?

For frags, usually just cyanoacrylate glue
For mari colonies, usually epoxy (epo putty)
For 2 wild tabling pieces, KZ SpeedGlue (this really holds!!!)

Thanks for looking Sean :thumbsup:

And a better pic of the setosa, since we all like pics

 

[biggles]

Damn mate i was sorry to read about the AFEW discovery. Hopefully you caught them in time buddy - brutal sanitizing is the approach i take in such cases rather than risk a spread.
That setosa is very yummy, i've never seen one of that color. Is that the same cultured one i see in many US reefers SPS tanks. Btw i ordered one of those WP25 things today along with 3 of those tiny little $6 powerheads on your recommendation so i'll let you know what i think of the WP25 once i get it - since i have no controllable pumps running at all, as long as it doesn't explode it will be an improvement for me lol.
Oh btw, 'which one to frag?' - one of them is green so i think the choice is rather obvious Bello...........

MORE PICS !

 

[Bello]

Yeah, irritating about the AEFW. Still I haven't seen it anywhere else, and all other corals seem to be doing well, and growing. I have a frag that seems unusually pale, will keep an eye on it. I really don't wanna be dipping all of them.... still hopeful that there aren't many

The setosa is a mari piece, pretty difficult to get hereabouts. In my opinion/experience, it turns this colour under high lights and low nutrients, growth also gets slower. I have another piece, same colony, different tank, doesn't look the same. Will take a pic of them side by side, a lil later. I actually have a whole bunch of frags from this colony, all in the drop off now. It's done really well :thumbsup:

Good pick on the WP-25, waiting to see your results :lol:. I have to apologize about the other $6 pumps, mine isn't working anymore, so if you can exchange for something else, it'd be better. Sorry about the inaccurate recommendation, should've updated earlier.

As for the frag battle, turns out greenie was no match, and is being eaten alive as we speak :lol: I can see that silly grin on your face right now :lol:

And, now for the fun part of the day, my return pump failed, and I have wasted most of today, fixing the problem. :furious: