Living Room Nano Peninsula

[teenyreef]

Wow, it looks great! I've been thinking about going bare bottom in my 10g and seeing your tank has pretty much made up my mind for me. 

[YHSublime]

On 10/5/2018 at 4:54 PM, teenyreef said:

Wow, it looks great! I've been thinking about going bare bottom in my 10g and seeing your tank has pretty much made up my mind for me. 

Thank you! Honestly, it was two fold for me going bare bottom. earlier when the tank was setup, the sand was getting mounded in the middle from the return nozzle. The only place I really want to have anything mounted to the tank is on the back side, being a peninsula. No sand, no giant sand dunes. Second part was, the floor immediately turned into a place I could star putting more coral and gluing it down! Now it's got enough coraline and zoanthids growing along it you won't even be able to notice soon! 

[Reefkid88]

I love sand,it makes a tank tank look the most natural it can be,but bare bottom is so much easier to keep. I have tried sand 2 times and just couldn't do it,at least with bare bottom water pushes all the poo to one or two corners of the tank and makes it nicer to keep up with. Like you said though,it makes more room for more coral which is always a nice thing. I have always wanted to cover the bottom of my tanks with Monti's like WWC did their big tank. 

[Tamberav]

I changed my 22g to bare bottom since I have so much SPS in there, I kept having to fix the sand from the flow, annoying. I am just not sure what I should grow on the bottom. I was thinking encrusting monti's, favia, or cyphastrea or maybe nothing.. idk!

[YHSublime]

2 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I love sand,it makes a tank tank look the most natural it can be,but bare bottom is so much easier to keep. I have tried sand 2 times and just couldn't do it,at least with bare bottom water pushes all the poo to one or two corners of the tank and makes it nicer to keep up with. Like you said though,it makes more room for more coral which is always a nice thing. I have always wanted to cover the bottom of my tanks with Monti's like WWC did their big tank. 

We have a local club member here that did monti's, and it's really awesome.

 

49 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

I changed my 22g to bare bottom since I have so much SPS in there, I kept having to fix the sand from the flow, annoying. I am just not sure what I should grow on the bottom. I was thinking encrusting monti's, favia, or cyphastrea or maybe nothing.. idk!

Whatever you do, think about having to trim in back, and your rock work. I have GSP that is obviously the fastest grower in my tank. Now any person could take GSP and grow it in their toilet, but I think it looks pretty, and in this case, like grass. I trimmed it all back tonight, because it was starting to get under the big rock, and grow up the glass. If any of it ever takes a hold of the rock, I'm done for, and will never be able to get it off! 

[Tamberav]

Well encrusting monti's are some of the most aggressive and that is my worry, it getting on the rock and stinging the crap out of other SPS. Also with muliple monti's... the meanest tents to grow right over the other. The LPS might not appreciate my lighting though. I may just try zoa's first and see if they do alright... they can handle any light/flow and take a beating, could vacuum debris right off them.... and as long as I avoid certain variety's, they wont be able to overtake SPS. The only downside is they might grow slow if the tank is too clean 😕

12 minutes ago, YHSublime said:

We have a local club member here that did monti's, and it's really awesome.

 

Whatever you do, think about having to trim in back, and your rock work. I have GSP that is obviously the fastest grower in my tank. Now any person could take GSP and grow it in their toilet, but I think it looks pretty, and in this case, like grass. I trimmed it all back tonight, because it was starting to get under the big rock, and grow up the glass. If any of it ever takes a hold of the rock, I'm done for, and will never be able to get it off! 

 

[YHSublime]

 

 

 

 

 

[MrObscura]

The key to keeping sand clean is turkey basting the hell out if it once a week. Make the tank super cloudy. Not only does it keep it clean but I feel it gives corals and other animals a chance to munch on everything just thrown into the water column before its removed via filtration and/or WC. 

[YHSublime]

2 minutes ago, MrObscura said:

The key to keeping sand clean is turkey basting the hell out if it once a week. Make the tank super cloudy. Not only does it keep it clean but I feel it gives corals and other animals a chance to munch on everything just thrown into the water column before its removed via filtration and/or WC. 

 

That's cool, but that wasn't my issue with the sand. My issue with the sand was the flow was too much, and it was mounding in the middle. I like the bare bottom look now. The coraline has nearly taken hold everywhere, this tank is just about it hit it's one year mark. 

[MrObscura]

As for encrusting montis. I have a number in my 10,right on the rock. They're too cool not to have. I've read some people say how aggressive they are and other say they stop whenever they meet another coral. So... seems like they are aggressive growers but lose most battles. 

[YHSublime]

The problem is like most things, in my instance, the GSP, the monti's will grow very fast. You'll run out of room quick in a 10 gallon with more than one kind, also your calcium and alkalinity will start to rage once they become of decent size. 

 

I've started with Ricordea, I think it'll do the job just fine outside of what the zoanthids can't cover. 

[MrObscura]

realestates an issue in a nano period, it's  just a matter of choosing corals you want and/or how packed you want it to look. As for alk and cal that's going to happen in any tank regardless if you have stonies of any kind of reasonable size porportinal to the tank volume. Your acros will likely eat up more elements than montis ever would. 

[YHSublime]

10 minutes ago, MrObscura said:

realestates an issue in a nano period, it's  just a matter of choosing corals you want and/or how packed you want it to look. As for alk and cal that's going to happen in any tank regardless if you have stonies of any kind of reasonable size porportinal to the tank volume. Your acros will likely eat up more elements than montis ever would. 

While I don't disagree, the montis, and just in my experience, have grown exponentially faster than, lets say, a Homewrecker. When I figure out how to get those choice SPS pieces growing as fast as I can get montipora flying, I'll have it made!

[MrObscura]

Back to the sand thing it also helps in my tank that my rock work takes up most of the floor space in the tank. So it's only like 5 pounds of sand around the very edges mostly. If I had a lot of room on the bottom I'd seriously consider going bare bottom simply because it's more room for corals. Lol

[MrObscura]

Oh, and when you figure out the secret to that acro growth you can sell me a frag of homewrecket at a price that won't wreck my wallet. Lol

[YHSublime]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vlangel]

Whoa, I need my sunglasses to look at those coral!  The colors are fantastic.  I love the zoas.

[Reefkid88]

I never realized the wide range of coral you had in the tank !!!

[mcs]

Awesome tank, really love your choice in colours for all the corals, nothing looks out of place.

[brad908]

Looking good man 

[YHSublime]

10 hours ago, vlangel said:

Whoa, I need my sunglasses to look at those coral!  The colors are fantastic.  I love the zoas.

Haha, thank you! I started this tank as a zoanthid tank, got side tracked along the way!

 

6 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I never realized the wide range of coral you had in the tank !!!

I don't think most people do, unless they've seen it in person. For the first time on this tank I broke out my camera portal. My biggest obstacle with this tank is photos, because it's so tiny, I don't have the proper lenses to get up close and personal. I am borrowing a lens from a friend for another project, but it's versed enough that I was able to grab these. All the photos I put up are usually FTS because of my lens restrictions, so it's seemed pretty vague of what's actually in there, lol. Eventually I'll be fragging, and able to put some of that money towards some camera gear!

 

6 hours ago, mcs said:

Awesome tank, really love your choice in colours for all the corals, nothing looks out of place.

Thank you! That was something that was important to me as I put it together. I fear though, that sooner than later, all those sticks are going to have to be rehomed, or re-situated so they're not growing into one another. 

 

1 hour ago, brad908 said:

Looking good man 

Thanks brother! Ever since I started 2-part it's been like little shop of horrors in there! 

[Tamberav]

Looks really great! Makes me realize how i have like no coral.. Ha! I been meaning to put some orders in a few places. I like the mushrooms... Maybe I need to cover my bare glass with them. 

 

I kind of want to cure some kpa rock and see what I get but then I would have to add a sump to have somewhere to put it or remove my encrusted corals somehow. 

[YHSublime]

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Looks really great! Makes me realize how i have like no coral.. Ha! I been meaning to put some orders in a few places. I like the mushrooms... Maybe I need to cover my bare glass with them. 

 

I kind of want to cure some kpa rock and see what I get but then I would have to add a sump to have somewhere to put it or remove my encrusted corals somehow. 

 

Go with zoanthids, the rics are nice as well, but I’ve been actively searching and collecting for a few months, but they’ve been splitting and spreading fast, just look at my old posts! Either way, even to start in the bottom covering up will take a bit of time and planning. 

 

I fully support all the endeavors. Gsp has obviously been the fastest!

[YHSublime]

Been a while since I updated. I have been pretty tied up with work, but home for a few days and snapped some quick and dirty photos:

 

 

 

 

 

Can anybody tell the difference? I found a nice Yuma rock local that I added to the side I had the big piece of Pocci. Because they pack such a sting, I moved the birdsnest up to the top of the nem rock, as it was the only place I had space for it! I had some different colored pocci that was growing on the ric rock (just popped up, rock came from another tank) and the yuma's are stinging it to death. I'm wondering if the combo of the yumas with the rics are what is causing everything to split like crazy? Pretty soon I won't be able to do the floor with zoas, as it'll be mushrooms. There is a Yuma on the other side that has stung another acro I had on the floor to death as well. Warfare is the only big problem I'm having right now!

 

Acros are starting to pick up pretty fast, numbers have been stable, and I've calculated just the right amount of dosing. I had a millie get stung because a hermit crab swung another acro into it, turns out the Fox Flame won. I covered up the millie burn with some super glue, and moved it. It's not dying, but it's polyps haven't come out for over 3 weeks. I'm hoping it rights itself eventually. 

 

Other than that, we're just chugging along over here. Coraline building up on the floor even more, looks like it's dirty, but it's just coraline spots everywhere, will be a PIA more than anything soon. Will take some actual pictures once I have a chance to clean it up and clean the glass! 

 

[Reefkid88]

Wow... this tank is just TOO good !!!