Shaping your SPS

[LoJack]

Does anyone do this?

If a branch is growing in a direction thats unsightly, or in the way of something else "¦ do you trim your SPS like common shrubs?

Do you frag tips to try and get the branches to fork or anything of the like?

I'm just curious how much impact people have on the eventual shapes of some of their pieces.

 

[Radar1]

Thats how I did it. adjusting the water flow direction can also changed their growth direction. hopefully that makes sense not sure how else to put it.

 

[johnike]

My flow patterns from the closed loop make mine grow in swirling patterns, I like it.

 

[LoJack]

I have a couple that are swirling as well due to flow.

I was just thinking more along the lines of stags and digi's that like to grow more vertical … there are a couple I was thinking of lopping the top off and re-gluing at the base to form more of a complete colony rather than a single stalk 8 inches tall.

 

[johnike]

Nothing wrong with that thinking.

 

[MammothReefer]

I used to clip them to avoid touching other pieces. So it was sort of shaping them, or if I had a piece die off in the past I'll clip the top and put it down at the bottom to cover over the dead patches.

 

[biggles]

I kept bonsai for many years and i basically treat my acros like trees and cut and glue branches whenever i want to control the shape a colony is taking on. The stag branch was blocking my view to another colony so i removed it and simply cut a new angle before re-attaching it to the stump. I wanted more horizontal coverage with the horrida so i removed a vertical branch from one piece and glued it horizontally onto the piece on the right. I use pump flow to prevent some acros growing upright as they won't go up into too high a flow areas and will adjust growth to avoid areas they find not to their liking. I also smash tips to encourage multiple branches, the blue stag tip in the second pic sprouted many new shoots after i squished its single growing tip a while back. There's lots of ways to influence and control the growth of acros.

 

[johnike]

Very nice sir, thanks for sharing your shaping.