Cubed & Squared

[Bello]

I know how annoying it can be when you look at your display and think that a change in aquascape is needed. I have made a lot of changes to arrive at a point where i'm happy with my rocks but it has not been well received by the SPS, the constant changes to light and flow conditions has slowed their acclimation and growth considerably i know.

+1 :lol:

I'm very guilty of this..... constant meddling!!! And now for round 2 or is it round 12? I'm losing count

And thanks for the support Biggles, feeling much more confident about the tanks :thumbsup:

Still waiting on the SSC and hopefully a couple stags/torts with it :lol:, it seems that I may have to take some desperate steps soon to source it out.... SSC's are in very high demand at the moment, and rightly so

It's ironic that you picked this time to try an angel. This guy is the culprit behind my recent desire for a re-scape,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLSFgHpGejY&list=UUCBEyBXDqFUa5_Y1s6qbHHg&index=2

Good luck getting that Multibar, I'm jealous already. I hope it's eating though, fingers crossed. A flame would be fine in the nano reef for a while. Assuming you were to get both (better to get the Multibar first, and then the Flame though), and if the Multibar is eating and bold, straight into the display it goes. If not, then the nano-reef for the time being till it adjusts. Later, the Flame can then be acclimated in the nano while the Multi adjusts in the DT. Finally they can be kept together, preferably the Multi should be the larger of the 2.

If you guys saw the link above, you can easily conclude that I now want to throw some dwarf angels in the acro tank. Initially I stayed away from angels as an attempt to reduce possible causes of problems, but the corals all seem healthy now, and I'm willing to take that risk. Angels in the Monti tank would be too difficult to remove in the event of nipping behaviour.

Quite a to-do list ahead :thumbsup:

 

[biggles]

+1 :lol:

I'm very guilty of this..... constant meddling!!! And now for round 2 or is it round 12? I'm losing count

And thanks for the support Biggles, feeling much more confident about the tanks :thumbsup:

Still waiting on the SSC and hopefully a couple stags/torts with it :lol:, it seems that I may have to take some desperate steps soon to source it out.... SSC's are in very high demand at the moment, and rightly so

It's ironic that you picked this time to try an angel. This guy is the culprit behind my recent desire for a re-scape,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLSFgHpGejY&list=UUCBEyBXDqFUa5_Y1s6qbHHg&index=2

Good luck getting that Multibar, I'm jealous already. I hope it's eating though, fingers crossed. A flame would be fine in the nano reef for a while. Assuming you were to get both (better to get the Multibar first, and then the Flame though), and if the Multibar is eating and bold, straight into the display it goes. If not, then the nano-reef for the time being till it adjusts. Later, the Flame can then be acclimated in the nano while the Multi adjusts in the DT. Finally they can be kept together, preferably the Multi should be the larger of the 2.

If you guys saw the link above, you can easily conclude that I now want to throw some dwarf angels in the acro tank. Initially I stayed away from angels as an attempt to reduce possible causes of problems, but the corals all seem healthy now, and I'm willing to take that risk. Angels in the Monti tank would be too difficult to remove in the event of nipping behaviour.

Quite a to-do list ahead :thumbsup:

You know that sharing links to stunningly designed displays like that is just doing you and i more harm than good Bello, that's the sort of thing that now adds to my new tank design dilema's - i now want that look as well
For the last 2 days i've been thinking about swapping the new 'pinkish' colony with the big olive 'greenish' colony that juts out from that rear rock shelf, actually tbh i'm thinking of removing that green thing altogether as it's growing fast now and only shows red tips on about 10% of the colony - that aint going to cut it in this display - hope this makes you feel less alone in your meddling affliction buddy lol :wavehand:
I thought when i scored that small SCC looking branch a few months ago that it must be quite common and intended to buy a few more pieces - that's the only piece i've seen for sale in the last 4 months so i now know i was super lucky to walk in the LFS the day i did in regards to acquiring that acro. I have my fingers crossed for you mate in your SCC hunt, don't give up trying as that acro is just too beautiful for words
Thanks heaps for your advice on the angels mate, really appreciate it and i'm fairly certain that you and i will be exchanging stressful observations of what our angels are getting up to in regards to coral nipping in the future - who dares wins right.... or gets their acros eaten lol. I won't buy the multi unless he's in great condition like the one i saw at my LFS a while back - i wish i'd bought him now - see what being responsible and not acting on impulse gets you - no bloody multi that's what !
If i can't get a multi today i'm not going by my usual LFS as they said they have some new Qld blue stags in that are much thicker branched and bigger than the ones i bought collected from W.A. and you and i both know what will happen if i go there...........

 

[buzzy]

Here's the current FTS's

This is a thing of beauity! It looks amazing just how it is

 

[Baros]

This is a thing of beauity! It looks amazing just how it is

+1.......looks perfect! :thumbsup:

 

[Bello]

This is a thing of beauity! It looks amazing just how it is

Thanks Buzzy, I can see that we're both fans of simple minimal scapes :thumbsup:. Thanks for your kind words

+1.......looks perfect! :thumbsup:

Thanks Baros, it's nice to have one's efforts appreciated , and I'm now inspired to get the other tank better scaped as well

 

[Bello]

You know that sharing links to stunningly designed displays like that is just doing you and i more harm than good Bello, that's the sort of thing that now adds to my new tank design dilema's - i now want that look as well

Tell me about it . I'm losing sleep over it :lol:. I love the simplicity, and the overall 'calm' about the scape. Found it to be very relaxing. I won't be able to translate the same ideas over to the cube monti tank, but maybe I can try to emulate the 'feeling' . I'd love to see yours done like that :thumbsup:... with the little dwarf angels of course :lol:

I liked the green acro with the pink tips :lol:, yeah, but I know you LOVE green acros . Apparently, the hunt for SSC's have made people quite desperate. The demand is huge..... you lucky (insert expletive here)

Am still awaiting your entry into the world of Centropyges. I've always loved the colours, but now, I enjoy their movements and behaviour a lot more (except when they're nipping on sps, then I just wanna strangle them ))

I'm off to check out the pics of your latest acquisitions/troops

 

[biggles]

C'mon Bello, spill the piccy beans on what you've been up to with the monti display matey

 

[troubadour11]

C'mon Bello, spill the piccy beans on what you've been up to with the monti display matey

+1 ... you know I need all the inspiration I can get too. And I promise not to copy you tooOooOoOOOooo much :lol2: I want to see what Hurricane Bello stirred up in that Monti tank...

 

[Bello]

C'mon Bello, spill the piccy beans on what you've been up to with the monti display matey

+1 ... you know I need all the inspiration I can get too. And I promise not to copy you tooOooOoOOOooo much :lol2: I want to see what Hurricane Bello stirred up in that Monti tank...

I made a couple of blunders :facepalm:

I pretty much went nuts and broke down the entire scape. Then I used cured live rock, but loaded with a buttload of NO3 and PO4 and god knows what else. So now I have an awesome diatom bloom going around!! Anyways, I did throw all the old rock into my sump, so that would increase the total amount of LR in system, and HOPEFULLY, that'll prove to be beneficial in the long run.

I'm still gluing the corals back together, its been 3 days thus far. Fortunately, I haven't had any losses....yet....fingers crossed....

It's not perfect...not close, but I prefer it a whole lot more than the previous scape

 

[biggles]

Sounds like wet and stressful times with the reef mate, it's frustrating stuff but the dividends will be worth it i'm sure :thumbsup: I ran Rowaphos until i had all the crap out of my rocks and sand and wherever else it was leaching from in the first few months and only pulled it when the algae was starved out. Are you running GFO atm Bello.
I used a full tube of putty and two tubes of super glue a few days ago and all the corals shut down and sulked until the skimmer had pulled a lot of the chemicals out, i should have broken the gluing up over a few days rather than over the space of about an hour - i know better :deadhorse1: I'm sure all your corals will survive the move, sulking is to be expected lol. Looking forward to seeing the new scape when you're ready mate

 

[troubadour11]

That's to bad on all those raised levels from the additional rock. Is that the rock from the FOWLR tank you were talking about taking down from the other house?

Hopefully you can make it through with no major problems and then watch it all explode and recover as they settle into their new scape. Can't wait to see what you come up with

 

[madreefer2013]

Would a two island aqua scape be good for cube?

 

[Bello]

Are you running GFO atm Bello. I'm sure all your corals will survive the move, sulking is to be expected lol. Looking forward to seeing the new scape when you're ready mate

Yep, running GFO since I stopped Zeo. But I'm more concerned about the other nutrients that may be popping out, seeing that I have so much diatom growth. Was gonna put up the FTS today, but that just irritated me a bit too much. Will have it cleaned up soon.

I've also slightly increased my carbon dosing to reduce NO3, gradually. I don't dose much, so increasing means...moved upto 0.5ml per day :lol:. God knows how much of a difference this will make . Skimmer's been sulky as hell thanks to all the glue and crap, and just found out that my impeller's jammed in one of the pumps....and I'm out of vinegar. Hopefully, its just calcium deposits jamming it, else it's gonna cost me a bundle. Luckily, I keep a spare skimmer for these crappy situations

That's to bad on all those raised levels from the additional rock. Is that the rock from the FOWLR tank you were talking about taking down from the other house?

Yep....Do as I say, don't do as I do!!!! :lol: Common sense evaded me that day. It started off as a mild rearrangement, and then I went bonkers. I should have cured the rocks for a couple weeks at least in one of my other not so important systems, but one thing led to another, and there we go....... If you haven't realized by now..... I lack patience!!!! Not good!!

Anyways, the basic scape is more or less done. Will probably modify things, corals, a bit in future, but unlikely to such a large extent. Hopefully, I'll have some pics up tomorrow :thumbsup:

Would a two island aqua scape be good for cube?

Yep...that would look great :thumbsup:

 

[biggles]

How are things going with the reefs mate, you know the rules - if i update my journal with pics you have to do the same...........

 

[Bello]

Lol biggles

My net connection at home is down. Will reply properly once i'm at work. Still haven't completed my madness on the monti tank

 

[Bello]

Aquascaping tale of Woe

Aquascaping tale of Woe

Here's the sequence from the beginning
It begins....

1st Real scape

The Monolith

Post tank ripping session

And a direct view.....


Comments, critics are welcome :thumbsup:

 

[Bello]

And a couple pics from the Acro tank.... I'm no longer at ULNS

 

[NeilFox]

The first scape and monolith were awesome! Don't worry aboul ulns. You can be successful anyhow. Look at JPMagyars tank. Straight up Berlin School...

 

[Bello]

Thanks Neil ... Yeah looking back I still like the first scape a lot. Somewhere down the line I thought about adding more rock to place more coral...that's how it goes I guess

I pretty bummed about the spurt of algae in the system now, and that's bugging me . On the bright side, the corals all seem to be doing great, which at the end of the day is most important

 

[biggles]

Wow that was a big re-aquascape mate, i think the new open scape will look much better when filled in with coral growth as you'll have a lot more contrast between the different outcrops and the corals growing out from them. :thumbsup: That far left rock structure might look better if you bring it forward 3-4" but that's the only possible tweak i can see and that's only going off your front shot so i might be seeing a perspective that's not there really.
The algae isn't anything to stress about and as long as your corals are doing well i'd take care of the problem slowly by a reduction in nutrient addition or increase the phos removal - you know what you're doing so it won't be a problem

Considering i get criticized for sticking my frags too close together, using white putty and not hiding it with selective coral shots and misleading fellow reefers by simply posting a pic of my SPS i feel i need to point out that your frags are going to clash and any of the wild ones you have will turn brown after 6 months......... use some white putty next time so i can slag you for that as well mate.

Time to shout yourself a few new frags Bello - tell the wife Biggles said you need them.......:lol2: