Leonardo's Formosa Forest 2

Your tank's definitely have an interesting look to them. Looking forward to seeing those acros shooting up into all that growing space!
 
Thanks guys!

I've been working until 3 am last night and today the whole day. Still made no progress, so I'm very frustrated right now.
Besides that the largest green Formosa colony completely bleached, because of the handling during the aquascape. Although almost always a hardy coral, this type is extremely sensitive, and I had a few cases of RTN on this species before. Another strand is still doing well. Because this coral is such a sensitive one, I'm hesitating to keep it.
All together I'm covered in seawater, tankroom is a mess, corals are stressed/bleached and my hand full of superglue. And no progress. It is one of these moments that you start to doubt the hobby and consider to quit :(

Leonardo
 
Leonardo_

your green formosa colony was a showpiece of your first forest,keep it,please ;) i bet that with your care it will flourish in no time. as for quitting the hobby,you should get a good nights sleep and awake tommorow with a fresh head and new strenght and determination to keep things going...
 
Hang in there Leonardo. In a little while you'll look back on days like this think it was all worth it in the end. You're good at this and have many people pulling for you and waiting to see what you'll create :beer:
 
I have been working on a tank for 2 years that is still not wet. One of the things that has kept me going is your work in the hobby. There is an old Japanese proverb (my mom is Japanese) that I pretty much live by and given your knowledge of garden design/wabi sabi, I think it's appropriate to consider. The definition of success is "failling down 7 times and standing up 8." Don't be discouraged. Failure is a natural and essential component of success. Keep your spirit up and cut yourself some slack. You've got nothing to prove and a lot of fans who believe in your vision. Nothing worth doing is ever easy.
 
Leonardo_

your green formosa colony was a showpiece of your first forest,keep it,please ;) i bet that with your care it will flourish in no time. as for quitting the hobby,you should get a good nights sleep and awake tommorow with a fresh head and new strenght and determination to keep things going...

Agreed. Hang in there Leo. Your unique creations inspire many, including me, to push the limits of the hobby, particularly SPS. Scaping is tough, now you know what doesn't work -this will help you to decide what does. Thank you for all you've contributed. Like many others-looking forward to following your progress:D
 
Thanks guys.... Means a lot.

Experiencing what looks like a crash right now. pH dropping fast, skimmer is completely flat, water smelling bad and start to look clouded.
I think I will pull the larger (RTN'ning) Seriatopora and Formosa colonies that are in a bad shape to save the smaller mariculture colonies that (still) show not much signs of stress.

I'll keep you updated. I think "Formosa Forest" won't contain that much Formosa to begin with :)

Leonardo
 
Thank you very much for all the kind words and support everyone. Unfortunately I lost some of the large colonies. I'm not sure what caused the rapid necrosis, but I think it is the transfer combined with the stress of aquascaping (some of the work was out of the water). Also the new T5 in the Sunpower pendants could have been MUCH stronger then I expected, although I reduced the lighting period. Nonetheless it will be a combination of factors that caused this.

The skimmer still isn't doing anything, but I placed a large bag of GAC in the sump, and hope for the best. I'm going to bed now, and hope to see an improvement tomorrow morning. I'll keep positive, at the moment I still have the smaller colonies :)

FF2Favia.jpg


Leonardo
 
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I'm so happy to see that your tank is transfer and sad that you're experiencing some problem :( The issue with the skimmer could come from the aquaspacing, body oil and such, unless you were wearing gloves ...

I have a question also, what is the name of the apogon on your website ? Orange with the black bar ??

Thank you and keep the good work :)

Hopefully everything will be better in the morning

Alex B
 
Leonardo

These things happen as you know. Don't let it get you down.
Your skimmer is flat because you need a ATB to straighten it out:fun2:LOL

Kevin


Thanks guys.... Means a lot.

Experiencing what looks like a crash right now. pH dropping fast, skimmer is completely flat, water smelling bad and start to look clouded.
I think I will pull the larger (RTN'ning) Seriatopora and Formosa colonies that are in a bad shape to save the smaller mariculture colonies that (still) show not much signs of stress.

I'll keep you updated. I think "Formosa Forest" won't contain that much Formosa to begin with :)

Leonardo
 
Thank you very much for all the kind words and support everyone. Unfortunately I lost some of the large colonies. I'm not sure what caused the rapid necrosis, but I think it is the transfer combined with the stress of aquascaping (some of the work was out of the water). Also the new T5 in the Sunpower pendants could have been MUCH stronger then I expected, although I reduced the lighting period. Nonetheless it will be a combination of factors that caused this.

The skimmer still isn't doing anything, but I placed a large bag of GAC in the sump, and hope for the best. I'm going to bed now, and hope to see an improvement tomorrow morning. I'll keep positive, at the moment I still have the smaller colonies :)

FF2Favia.jpg


Leonardo


Sorry to hear about your trouble Leonardo. I would give the skimmer a few week before it will brake in but I sure it will profrom for you.
 
Same happened to me when moving to my new tank and running temp t5 till the halides were hooked up. My corals just stressed and lost a few. Good luck mate.
 
Good luck moving forward. It's always a challenge when moving things around, and I know all too well the loss of large colonies.
 
Alex, I will search for the name of the Apogon for you.

Brian, the skimmer should have been broken in because I used it in my previous tank, and it worked for the first few days after the move.
I think some minor oil or grease traces entered the tank when using equipment to cut the corals. Combine a not working skimmer with the young age of the tank and the die-off, and there is trouble.
Skimmer still isn't doing anything btw, and is has been two days. Remaining colonies don't look good at all.

Chris, thank you. Sometimes your challenged to keep going, especially when losing such large colonies that you cared for for so long. I'll try to stay positive and see this as a chance to start over again and do things a bit different than I initially planned.

Leonardo
 
I have a question also, what is the name of the apogon on your website ? Orange with the black bar ??

Archamia Zosterophora.

Leonardo, this small setback will make you a more stronger and determined reefer, stay positive :)
 
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