112 gallon mixed reef is looking like a reef again

Blutspitze

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Thanks. Most major losses are well in the past. This wilsoni is really a regrettable purchase though. Assuming a miracle does not happen I'll eventually replace it with a nice colony of something, probably a more conventional coral like a lord, or maybe a bowerbanki.

With the tank nearly full the main challenge will be carefully balancing everything. I feel like it's nearly at it's peak, but maintaining a peak is almost as challenging as getting there. If I was more satisfied in my location I'd be looking to upgrade this tank but I really don't want a new display in this house. I do keep adding frag tanks / satellite tanks though. So realistically this will be my main display for 1-2-3 more years hopefully more in the 1-2 range.

For sure - once you've reached that tank capacity it can be really difficult to manage properly. Bit more prone to changes when you're riding the edge. Hopefully I'll have that problem at some point :D
 
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andrewkw

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Tank is still looking great this month. Added a new piece of rock to accommodate a bowerbanki frag. Hopefully it will take just a couple of weeks to colour up. It's now been about 3 years since the tank was setup in this place (I have had this actual tank since way back in 2006).

I do have a few more pieces in my frag tank I'd eventually like to move over, and of course I'd always like to get some new coral, but who knows when that will be. I was planning on adding 3 pajama cardinals but 2 died in qt so I'm keeping the survivor in qt for an extra month since I'm not really sure what killed the other 2. I probably could add a couple more fish, but there isn't going to be room for anymore big corals anytime soon. Fortunately I do have other tanks, but this one gets most of my attention.

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Monthly video update :

As always constructive criticism is welcome.
 
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andrewkw

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I've managed to fit a few more corals in. The tank just continues to get fuller and fuller. The new rock I added last month has coloured up. I decided to add a few more pieces I had in my frag tank. I really try and stay away from the artificial look. I've had fruit stand style displays in the past. I now have the one tile visible in the full tank shot, which I'm willing to make an exception for since cespitularia is one of my all time favourite corals and I don't really want it everywhere.

If I upgraded to say a 180 gallon that was 6x2x2 I would still say it would be full the first day. The only reason why I am not considering an upgrade at this time is I'd like to move within the next few years. I know I will probably lost a bunch of livestock when that time comes but hopefully I've learned enough from the previous time. It's not imminent so I'm enjoying having a great looking display tank now for as long as I can. I do still have other tanks which I should probably focus more attention on but this one has really come together great. That being said I welcome any and all constructive criticism so if you see something strange, or think I should do something feel free to say so.

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andrewkw

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October video update :


Trying to come to terms with the fact the tank is basically full, yet still jamming in new frags. Next weekend I will hit a few reef shops which will probably be my last opportunity to pick up anything for 2019. When your favourite stores are 7+hrs away it's not easy.
 
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andrewkw

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I'm not going to rush into anything but I am starting to contemplate rebooting this reef a bit. Everything is pretty much doing great and the tank looks great but there is just no room between corals and everything is growing into each other. I do have other corals I'd like to add as well. That being said I'm not really keen on cutting things back and then having to wait 3-6 months or whatever time frame to get it back to looking like it does now.

Ideally I would just move the entire tank to a bigger tank but an upgrade is not in the plans for at the very least 1-2 years. I have no interest in a bigger tank in this house as I would eventually like to move and moving what I've got is going be hard enough. This is not going to be anytime soon so I want to enjoy my display tanks as much as possible in the mean time.

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Blutspitze

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Very tough choice; maybe the best thing would be to frag/trim some of the current corals to make room for new ones? It's a problems I wish that I had, so can't say much to it....
 
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andrewkw

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Very tough choice; maybe the best thing would be to frag/trim some of the current corals to make room for new ones? It's a problems I wish that I had, so can't say much to it....

First step is cleanup of my frag tank. I have a really annoying invasive macro algae growing in there. I added 2 fish (yellow tang on loan + permanent rabbit fish. They are eating it but it's slow going so I've been helping them out with manual removal. Once the frag tank is cleared out I'll have space to make some changes. I probably won't decide for a few months if I want to do major or minor changes to my reef. I'm not bored with it, but I don't want to just watch everything grow into each other.

The other "display" I have is a 90 gallon that really doesn't get much attention if I do remove a lot of corals from this tank I could certainly step that tank up..
 

Blutspitze

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oooooo yes, definitely need to get the other tank going. Because of reasons. You can't let the coral down!
 
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andrewkw

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Video update for November :


I also ordered all new parts for my very old inland bandsaw, new wheels, springs, blades, as well as glue, tiles ect. I am prepping for a major redo but not rushing into anything. I love the way the reef looks right now but there really is no room for growth plus too many corals have been shaded long term ect.
 

Blutspitze

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Gorgeous video and update as always. Hoping things go smoothly with the fragging/trimming in the next weeks/months.
 
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andrewkw

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I'm not done the redo yet, but I'm pleased to say it's going well and I have not had to remove much coral. Today I managed to jam another rock into the aquascape :

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I used a ton of this stuff
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The above pictures were taken with my iphone so not the best quality.

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Looks like I will still have to trim the leather slightly it actually can still touch the goni when they are fully extended. There is room for a few other corals on the new rock, perhaps some encrusting lps or zoas. I might even try and jam my cespitularia in there.

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I wanted to fix this, but I already cut into one toadstool thats base was as thick as my wrist so I let it be. They don't seem to be especially bothered by touching anyway.

I've got some more minor rearranging but this modest rescape has turned out well thus far.
 
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andrewkw

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Last update for 2019! Well I took some video footage which I will edit either later today or tomorrow too. My reef is looking great and full! The new rock I added a few weeks ago is quickly colouring up. I have less corals touching this month then last month but still a few.

After not using it for years I replaced most of the parts on my inland bandsaw so I can frag / cut rocks again. The tank of course is soft coral dominated but I do have lost of encrusting lps as well. During the rearrange I did trim a couple of rocks just to give them a flatter side to rest or so they locked in better.

I did loose one fish a lyretail damsel (basically a chromis with a yellow tail). I don't know what happened but he was splashing around and got seriously injured, possibly from jumping (tank is covered but with hood not net). Sad to see a fish go that I've had for more then 6 years. I started with 5 one died right away, but lost one a year or 2 ago and now I'm down to 2. They have a weird dynamic where they go through phases of looking beat to hell then back to normal. They spawn monthly and spend a lot of time hiding and protecting the eggs. Now that I have just 2 it will be interesting to see what happens. I do find myself wanting more fish. Unfortunately the dead of winter is not the time to be getting new fish in the middle of nowhere..

This time of year I really really miss fish store shopping. Boxing Day in Canada was black friday before black friday came here and I'd always visit a ton of reef shops and come home with boxes of fish and coral for cheap prices the day after Christmas. Getting new fish and coral is exciting as well as seeing all different varieties of livestock in person but missing out on this has not effected my love of the hobby in the least. For 2020 I'm going to try hard to work on my other reefs and continue to improve this tank. More trimming is certainly coming. I will have to snip a tiny bit off the big green leather, but I think I've decided I'd rather cut corals around it and give it more room to grow.

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Blutspitze

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Wow! The tank is absolutely gorgeous! Still has a decent amount of negative space, but plenty going on at the same time. It'll be interesting to see just how big that green leather can get.
 
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andrewkw

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Wow! The tank is absolutely gorgeous! Still has a decent amount of negative space, but plenty going on at the same time. It'll be interesting to see just how big that green leather can get.

I hope one day it ends up in my dream tank and gets really massive. While a bigger tank is likely a couple of years away I think a lot about a 30" tall tank just so I can have bigger colonies then 24".

My last video update of the year



Constructive criticism is always welcome! for 2020 I want to get some new fish but that's really all I have planned for this tank.
 
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andrewkw

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After some pictures with nothing but sunlight my monthly video update is slightly bluer than normal



Still white by today's standards I've just made a slight adjustment to the lighting. Despite being a relatively early adapter to led I've always gone with simple on/off schedules. That being said I have some additional black boxes just for blue light. One of my kessil lights is the old a350 and thus is not controllable.
 
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andrewkw

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I tried and tried to get a beautiful dinner plate sized flat piece of rock into the aquascape. I just couldn't do it without major changes. So after some debate, and helpful discussion on R2R I decided not to make any major changes. The tank is just full and with some little adjustments I fit a few more small pieces in.

The big problem with tiny frags in a system with giant colonies is they get lost. Either fall into the rock or just plain overgrown. Since I have some BIG softies there are also times where it's deceiving. Oh look at that some empty rock. Wait the leather is only 75% expanded he will cover that spot in another hour...

So here are the moderate changes. I actually removed one of my favourite corals. Cespitularia. It was not doing great due to space, and I put it in my other tank so I'd be forced to pay more attention to that tank. My other display tank is just home to a pair of mean lightning maroon clowns.

Here are some new pictures. I will post a view in the next few days.

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The large micro is a new piece.

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A true acan! I haven't had an orange crush in many many years.

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