semigodd154
Member
by looking at the tank im pretty sure he doesnt need to do it but at least with my way there would be no water changes lol
The Ultimate Reef
- Thread starter Robz
- Start date
Craig Manoukian
Well-Known Member
Simply awesome!
JB NY
Member
Thanks for the equipment shot. My wife would never let me have that stuff sitting next to the main tank like that!
So now that you saw it up close. How was the current? Was there a ton of flow? Was it just from those returns. Did you notice any algae or cyno in corners?
I think the biggest challange we SPS keepers face is, as the acros grow they cut off current to other parts of the tank. Also small algae problems always seem to come and go.
Also did you notice any warfair going on between so many SPS being so close together?
So now that you saw it up close. How was the current? Was there a ton of flow? Was it just from those returns. Did you notice any algae or cyno in corners?
I think the biggest challange we SPS keepers face is, as the acros grow they cut off current to other parts of the tank. Also small algae problems always seem to come and go.
Also did you notice any warfair going on between so many SPS being so close together?
JB NY if you think Mike Palletas reef is packed, take a look at Doug's nickname=1diverdown on RC. By the way either one of these two has far more corals than mine.
I will be more than happy to produce to you several gorgeous pictures of different reefs that are packed to the gills and have up to par water parameters and acros running into each other and around each other.
This hobby is not the same as it once was.
Better equipment(in water flow, skimming and lights) and understanding of parameters(PH, ALK, Phosphates and so on)have brought us to different levels of achievement.JMHO
Luis
I will be more than happy to produce to you several gorgeous pictures of different reefs that are packed to the gills and have up to par water parameters and acros running into each other and around each other.
This hobby is not the same as it once was.
Better equipment(in water flow, skimming and lights) and understanding of parameters(PH, ALK, Phosphates and so on)have brought us to different levels of achievement.JMHO
Luis
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dgasmd
Member
True, but corals are not static. They need room to grow even if you are planning on fraggin the branches to mantain them at a certain size.
Neither does his wife. He has a home with a 3 car garage. One of the garages is walled off from the other 2 and that is his fish room.
95%+ of the rocks had no algae growing on them whatsoever and he has no cleaning crue, unless you call his single cucumber a cleaning crue. He claims that by having intense skimming, light fish load, and phosphate removing media (rowaphos in reactor in his case) there is nothing for algae to feed on and so it does not grow.
As far as flow goes, that was one of my biggest surprises. I was expecting to find Hurricaine Isabel contained inside the tank and it was not the case. It is hard to define "a lot of flow" because what is a lot for one is not for others, but I was very surprised to see how little there was. This is my opinion only. He has 2 tunze streams on the ends shooting across the tank and a single sequence 4800 alternating the return (3 outlets on each side) from one end of the tank to another. That was it. About 1/3 of the tank is below the rocks and it is completely open space that has no flow at all either. He has maybe 1/4" of sand on the front and that is it. He syphons it out weekly and does a 20g water change weekly and that is it. Like I said, I was very surprised of the results with how little he does. That may just be more than enough for his system though.
There was no warfare that I could see. Most corals were pretty close to each other but not touching though. Some had at some point in the past and you can see tiny white spots where that happened, but nothing major at all. Something else very surprising too was that almost all of his acros tend to grow very bushy and upwards. There was not a single acro growing long and wide branches like stags. That makes putting corals that close much easier too.
Hope that answers your questions.
"True, but corals are not static. They need room to grow even if you are planning on fraggin the branches to mantain them at a certain size."
??? Common sense Doctor. These is why you cut if they are growing out of your tank. And if you can't sell enough, you give them away.
"Something else very surprising too was that almost all of his acros tend to grow very bushy and upwards. There was not a single acro growing long and wide branches like stags. That makes putting corals that close much easier too."
Amen Alberto. There are only a few species of acroporas that will actually show outward signs of growth. Most of them grow upwards searching for the light bulbs. This is why a tank can be loaded to the gills as long as you know what species you are dealing with and what patterns of growth in each specie. Needless to say this is assuming the water parameters and fundamentals for a peaceful environment are in place.
Luis
??? Common sense Doctor. These is why you cut if they are growing out of your tank. And if you can't sell enough, you give them away.
"Something else very surprising too was that almost all of his acros tend to grow very bushy and upwards. There was not a single acro growing long and wide branches like stags. That makes putting corals that close much easier too."
Amen Alberto. There are only a few species of acroporas that will actually show outward signs of growth. Most of them grow upwards searching for the light bulbs. This is why a tank can be loaded to the gills as long as you know what species you are dealing with and what patterns of growth in each specie. Needless to say this is assuming the water parameters and fundamentals for a peaceful environment are in place.
Luis
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SunnyX
Member
While we are on the subject of Coral Kombat, My Beast of a fish(Pacific Blue Tang) decided to play fetch with one of my small Monti. Cap frags the other day. The cap ended up on top of one of my acro's. within minutes the cap began spewing slime. Now 1/4 of the monti. is white and dead. I get very nervous about sticking corals really close to one another. Im just amazed at how close some people have their corals grouped.
Craig Manoukian
Well-Known Member
Too cool, great discussion. Answers a lot of my questions, thanks Alberto and Luis!
JB NY
Member
Yeah and they grow like crazy as time goes on. I'm sure he regularly prunes his tank.
Ahh that makes sense.
I would say it's mainly from the low fish load. Most big SPS tanks I see have few fish in it.
Sometimes as long as there is enough flow to remove any waste around the coral, that is enough.
Probably lots of trimming going on there. That kind of attention makes for such a successful reef in the long run.
That is surprising, IME all acros want to grow to the sides rather than upwards. Horizontal growth allows the maximum amount of light to hit the overall colony. I bet the upwards growth was from the pruning being done over the years. They eventually stopped growing to the sides as much.
Thanks! It does indeed.
dgasmd
Member
I am with you there. Also, I think that the coral selection has to do with it. Tehre are many acros that do grow open branches outwards, rather than packed in. I just don't think he has any of those. Pruning must have a lot to do with it.
As far as the fish bioload, it is quite small actually. Maybe 10 fish altogether and they are small fish with the exception of 2 medium foxface and one medium size angel. I certainly have about 3 times as much in about the same water volume. This is one thing I have learned the hard way. I love fish and over time have gotten too many larger fish or fish with the potential growth to become large. Once I redo my tank, I will be going with a much lighter load. Maybe about 15 anthias, 1-2 med fish, and no more than 5 other smaller fish.
Luis:
I may be wrong here, but I don't think this is correct buddy. The deeper the water where the coral is, the thicker the branches and the wider it tends to grow to shelter from the much stronger currents of the deeper water and to be able to increase surface area to catch more light. Bushy corals tend to grow in areas where coral growth is very dense and so corals growing sideways tend to spend a lot of energy repairing itself due to burning with neighboring corals.
Look at that picture Alberto. And the sad thing is that I know that deep inside you think I have way to many corals. My tank looks empty compared with his and Doug's. Then again it takes a long time to be loved sometimes, and even then it might not even ever happen.
As far as the growth patterns on some acroporas, I was refering at their growth in reef tanks, not the ocean. I am also going by how I have seen corals grow in many many reef tanks. But if you and JB wish to think otherwise I respect your opinion based on your own experience. Like I have said before many times over I am just a rookie at this.(no lie)
Peace,
Luis
As far as the growth patterns on some acroporas, I was refering at their growth in reef tanks, not the ocean. I am also going by how I have seen corals grow in many many reef tanks. But if you and JB wish to think otherwise I respect your opinion based on your own experience. Like I have said before many times over I am just a rookie at this.(no lie)
Peace,
Luis
JB NY
Member
Luis,
I really don't want to get into it here. But this tank has been set up for 9 years with this amount of corals. Any observation of anything being done wrong is nullified by the fact that this tank has been up longer than almost any other SPS tank I have ever seen.
Your tank is only in it's 5th month, which is why we are trying to give you some direction and point out potential pitfalls. I would like nothing more than to see pictures of your tank 8 years from now, my friend.