45 Gallon Shallow Reef Build

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CBonito

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Those are really cool. The color combo is great.
I never took much stock in zooanthids and I don't know why.

For a long time I was obsessed with exotic lobophyllia and had over 30 of them in my 90 gallon.
It was an impressive display. Especially when they opened up at night.
 

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Those are really cool. The color combo is great.
I never took much stock in zooanthids and I don't know why.

For a long time I was obsessed with exotic lobophyllia and had over 30 of them in my 90 gallon.
It was an impressive display. Especially when they opened up at night.
Mine are Stratosphere. JoJo has some Stratocasters which are another cool looker.
 

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Just some shots I liked. I think tomorrow I'm getting off my butt and getting 2 more female lyres. long as they're larger than the redbelts, they're not getting bothered and the color just brings a completely pleasant atmosphere to the tank. Anthias are one of my favorites.

Check out my Aussie Gold. It's been baking up there in the light for a 2-3 days now and the colors are already coming in strong. It's growing too. So there are going to be multiple branches on that one soon I guess. I figured this would be a really slow one, but we'll find out. What's cool about that one is how the colors show strong in daylight.

If you look down to the right of my aussie gold, that's my judge judy HAHA!!! It looks like a dog turd.
But the base green color is getting strong and I see the very light pink coming in on the tip. It's also growing a new branch at the base, so that's cool and it's starting to grow over the putty. It's going to be nice.

My digitata on top is going through changes. It arrived pink with yellow tips, then sort of faded which I think was just the stress of being in a different tank now, but if i look at it from the top down, you can see that lightening they get just as they are about to explode into growth...so it is growing. What it will look like remains to be seen.
I think if I wanted it to have the colors it should have, it would need to be lower. But we'll just leave it and see what happens. If it's growing it's ok.

Another one that looks really good is my rainbow rommel. I'm thinking that one is going to start growing soon too.

My green slimer which will be an important part of the tank is growing upwards, but I'm still waiting to see any encrustation on the base yet. I mean, it's only been a few days since they were moved up, so it'll happen. I want this coral, my candlelight stag, my teal stag and a really sweet indo purple tip stag to be kind of the large centerpiece corals.

Everything is running good. I have like no concerns at the moment. Just need to keep things where they are.

ph peaked at 8.45 today which is fine with me. ORP around 405 which is surprising. Good water movement, good oxygenation, lots of current.

I think the tank is getting like 180 watts of light total right now at peak. I am starting to shift the peak spectrum whiter, not because I like it, but because it's correct.

It's going to be so cool with the 10 more acros I have coming. The right side of the tank is visually boring and I'm gonna fix that. In whiter light the 3 stylophora colonies there have a nice contrast, but in bluer light it all disappears, so we'll fix that.

Does anyone put their Acans on their rocks? I''ll have to see what spots I have after all the stags I have coming are put in. I'm tired of them being knocked over, but I've been feeding them and there are all new heads forming under the existing ones. It's shocking. They're going to get big so I'm not buying more of those. I have like 9 of them.

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And a useless top-down but it shows the nice footprint this tank has and the room and rock structure i have. This is why I think I can have more fish. There's more footprint which I believe to be a lot more important than height.
It gives more territory.

I love to just stand here like an idiot and ponder what it's going to look like when everything grows in. I get a lot of inspiration from other members, and I've constructed my own vision for this tank out of all of that. How to bring that awesome big tank scape and appearance into a smaller tank.

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The top down isn't a useless view. I really like the sort of double crescent thing you've got going on with your scape and then all of the open space, that looks really cool. Never would have known you made it this way without posting that picture.
 
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The top down isn't a useless view. I really like the sort of double crescent thing you've got going on with your scape and then all of the open space, that looks really cool. Never would have known you made it this way without posting that picture.
That's because one of the places I've failed in the past was water flow. It's mostly branch rock with the exception to the pieces up front center. So I get a good water flow through everything. I still have to blast the rocks off with a turkey baster once a day, but other than that, there are no piles of crap accumulating anywhere that will rear their ugly head later on.

Plus I need all fish to have multiple hiding spots so they feel safe. I don't want the fish to be nervous. I want them to be happy.

When the time comes for a nice top down shot, I'll turn the pumps off and bust out some lenses.
I just wanted to convey the rock work because I realized I never showed it.
 

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Like these? I just throw them to the hogs over here...

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I'm not big on Zoas but those are really something. I just may have to get some someday. I don't dislike Zoas it's just that Zoas and shrooms were always just freebies when you bought a rock or a coral 'back in the day' I have a hard time justifying paying for them.
 

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Ok so I have a Battle Box coming. I got in on the sale.
So there are 8 pieces coming from BC and 10 from Barrier Reef.

I have 17 acros and 1 montipora coming. 😂
It's going to be pretty crazy.
Just tried to buy one of the Battle Boxes at discount. No go.
 

tbrown

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I'm not big on Zoas but those are really something. I just may have to get some someday. I don't dislike Zoas it's just that Zoas and shrooms were always just freebies when you bought a rock or a coral 'back in the day' I have a hard time justifying paying for them.
I mean... You know a guy.
 

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