Acro about to touch surface- what to do ?

[Addicted2Reef’n]

I was proud of my aquascape when I built it but now a year later I am finding faults I should have done different. One is close to becoming a major issue. I created an arch and fortunately decided not to putty or cement them together so they could just be pushed together to make the arch. I did however make one arch much taller than the other and now my acro on top is about to run out of room. Options include moving the encrusted acro but doesnt fix the problem. The option I’m going to go with is to pull this rock out and hammer the bottom rock out and replace with a thin rock. Question - would putty be sufficient if I used a couple sticks to glue the new base to the tower or should I use the same Marco mortar I used the first time? I also have added other rock formations using quikrete hydraulic water stop cement with no issues other than the darker colored cement which in this case will be buried under the sand.
My concerns are that while hammering the base I break off the acro , I’m not overconcerned about it being out of water. When the return pump is off the top 1” is out of water and I have accidentally left return pump off for a whole 8 hours over night and it’s now months later with no negative effect that I see.
I’m really nervous to perform this “surgery” but it must be done if I want to continue to keep sps on that rock.
Ideas - suggestions ?
Thanks

 

[eggie]

Yeah I would definitely hammer that arc and just leave it like that. Corals grow and cover the rocks at the end

 

[Addicted2Reef’n]

Yea I’m going to hammer it off tomorrow. There is no way I’m gonna break off an Acro that is encrusting 1/4 way around the rock

 

[five.five-six]

let it grow out of the water, that's cool AF.

 

[Addicted2Reef’n]

let it grow out of the water, that's cool AF.

Yea I agree that wld be sick but only if my acro was twice the height and size it is now. It still has a lot of growing to do. If I cut the height down by replacing the base rock it still may reach the top and at that point it’s on its own !

 

[Gk5321]

I just leave mine but my tank is also completely full and there’s no more room.

they’re also on the glass and I’ve just left it alone.

 

[painter1982]

You could add more glass and raise the water level. Jk. The acro is only going to grow until the environment isn’t right. It’s kinda like air pruning.

 

[Addicted2Reef’n]

You could add more glass and raise the water level. Jk. The acro is only going to grow until the environment isn’t right. It’s kinda like air pruning.

I just leave mine but my tank is also completely full and there’s no more room.

they’re also on the glass and I’ve just left it alone.

dang your doing it right. That takes a lot of stability and knowing what you’re doing. Nice tank man.

 

[Bright Corals]

If I were you, and if I would want to see that acro grow larger in size, then I would move it down a bit lower. Otherwise, I will do what @Gk5321 does and just leave it where it is. It will just stop growing higher and stay flat at the water surface . ... Or actually, you can just frag that thing and glue those frags elsewhere and populate those around the tank or near the original colony and create a larger colony from separate, smaller frags/colonies?

 

[Gk5321]

dang your doing it right. That takes a lot of stability and knowing what you’re doing. Nice tank man.

Thanks! The crazy thing is it’s only 8 gallons. Maybe 5 gallons of water volume.