Too large?

[ROJOREEFER]

I plan on removing all the broken off stuff on the bottom. Just figured i could use the extra live bacteria if its really coated. I was gonna cut a lil more on the rod and cover the middle with a coral. Any thoughts? Is the main structure too large or poorly designed for light? My first post here btw!!

[mcarroll]

Do you have any plans for livestock yet?   Most of your "sculpting" work should be done with the specific livestock in mind.

 

Let us know!  🙂

 

 

FWIW it looks great as is so far.  

[ROJOREEFER]

47 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Do you have any plans for livestock yet?   Most of your "sculpting" work should be done with the specific livestock in mind.

 

Let us know!  🙂

 

 

FWIW it looks great as is so far.  

Soft corals a clown, goby, and dragonet. I have no clue what the soft corals i have seen that i like are named tho lol. Mostly go on totm and look at pics from tanks around the same size. Any recommendations based off the scape on what to stay away from or certain places stand out to not put “x” livestock there?

[mcarroll]

2 minutes ago, ROJOREEFER said:

Any recommendations based off the scape on what to stay away from or certain places stand out to not put “x” livestock there?

Nope.

 

In fact, I'd say put your tank plans on temporary hold until you get a better grasp on which corals you're building the tank for.  This might be the most important thing for you to figure out!!  🙂 

 

If you don't have any good books yet, I'd suggest taking some time to get/read one to two at least before proceeding further.  Lots of good suggestions here! 🙂

 

"Soft corals" is a catch-all term for any coral that doesn't have a stony skeleton.

 

Check out a coral book like Sprung's "A Quick Reference Guide" or Borneman's "Corals..." as well as your LFS's and try to pick at least one or two specific corals that you'd like to keep.  Use those to ground your research and tank design.

 

The only recommendations I could give right now would be this:

 

Do NOT automatically assume that so-called "beginner corals" are the best corals for beginners.  Sounds weird, but it's true.   Most beginner corals are the "weeds" of the coral world.

 

They're still fine to keep if you really like them best.....just make sure that's the reason for keeping them.....not that they are "easy".   Almost all corals are "easy" if you do it right.   Fish are MUCH MUCH harder, require more guesswork.

[Jakesaw]

17 minutes ago, ROJOREEFER said:

Soft corals a clown, goby, and dragonet. I have no clue what the soft corals i have seen that i like are named tho lol. Mostly go on totm and look at pics from tanks around the same size. Any recommendations based off the scape on what to stay away from or certain places stand out to not put “x” livestock there?

I'd say livestock and Light is a factor too.  If you have a center wide LED light I'd think you would have alot of dark spaces in middle and maybe the side.  I'd put your Reef light above and see how it illuminates your tank.  Then plan for some grow out of your intended corals. 

 

My limited experience ( only 1 yr in my 10 gallon Nano ) is to leave a little extra space for Coral growth.  Needs vary wide with coral species.  

[ROJOREEFER]

8 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Nope.

 

In fact, I'd say put your tank plans on temporary hold until you get a better grasp on which corals you're building the tank for.  This might be the most important thing for you to figure out!!  🙂 

 

If you don't have any good books yet, I'd suggest taking some time to get/read one to two at least before proceeding further.  Lots of good suggestions here! 🙂

 

"Soft corals" is a catch-all term for any coral that doesn't have a stony skeleton.

 

Check out a coral book like Sprung's "A Quick Reference Guide" or Borneman's "Corals..." as well as your LFS's and try to pick at least one or two specific corals that you'd like to keep.  Use those to ground your research and tank design.

 

The only recommendations I could give right now would be this:

 

Do NOT automatically assume that so-called "beginner corals" are the best corals for beginners.  Sounds weird, but it's true.   Most beginner corals are the "weeds" of the coral world.

 

They're still fine to keep if you really like them best.....just make sure that's the reason for keeping them.....not that they are "easy".   Almost all corals are "easy" if you do it right.   Fish are MUCH MUCH harder, require more guesswork.

Yea i am starting a fish in cycle today and know i have a solid month before i am looking at getting corals. I just look at pics and read on the ones i like. 

[banasophia]

I love it! Let’s see with the bits and pieces removed. 

[empresto]

I really like your scape, and I feel the bits and bobs on the sand really add to it looking like a realistic slice of the ocean.

[Ratvan]

Definitely looks good, i too like the rubble zone at the bottom

[Murphs_Reef]

Yep im a fan of rubble zones 👍🏼

[banasophia]

4 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Definitely looks good, i too like the rubble zone at the bottom

 

2 hours ago, Murphych said:

Yep im a fan of rubble zones 👍🏼

 

Oh that’s really interesting guys… I personally would not do rubble up front like that because you won’t be able to stir/siphon the sandbed there very well and I think it will get funky looking right at the front of the tank… also I like having a clear area for keeping some sandbed corals. 
 

I do have a rubble pile in the back right corner to have a spot for pods to grow and I always like to have some rubble pieces cycled in case I want to attach a coral frag to one. 

[Ratvan]

18 minutes ago, banasophia said:

 

 

Oh that’s really interesting guys… I personally would not do rubble up front like that because you won’t be able to stir/siphon the sandbed there very well and I think it will get funky looking right at the front of the tank… also I like having a clear area for keeping some sandbed corals. 
 

I do have a rubble pile in the back right corner to have a spot for pods to grow and I always like to have some rubble pieces cycled in case I want to attach a coral frag to one. 

It's most likely since I have a mantis shrimp and see her collecting rubble a lot. Also makes a natural place to frag corals like gsp, xenia etc 

[banasophia]

8 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

It's most likely since I have a mantis shrimp and see her collecting rubble a lot. Also makes a natural place to frag corals like gsp, xenia etc 

Oh yeah totally… my kenya tree branches drop all over the place and some attach to the rubble pieces in the back corner before I get a chance to remove them.