Feedback on rockwork / livestock plan

[razorskiss]

Just started a build thread with my current rockwork for an 18" cube. Planning an invert only mixed reef. I'm not planning to jump in with all of this livestock of course, but I figured I'd be happier in the future if I put some planning in at this stage and build the rockwork with some ideas of what kinds of coral I'd place where in the future. If anyone would be willing to take a look and see if there are any changes they'd recommend to the rockwork or livestock choices at this stage, I'd appreciate it!

Thread '25 gallon cube reef in progress' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/25-gallon-cube-reef-in-progress.926557/

Tentative livestock ideas:

My main concerns at this stage are:
Favia are quite aggressive I've read so I built up a bit of a ridge along the "corner" of the arch that my hope is would slow growth up toward where I'd want to place some lord's. Would that be sufficient or will I find myself hacking back the favia (assuming I'm lucky enough to get good growth in my tank)

Is there anything that could grow on the vertical wall beneath the planned sps shelves that would do ok in shadows, add visual interest and not be too aggressive at growing up? Mushrooms?

Thanks!

 

[polyppal]

What is your flow plan? some of you species will want a low flow and some a moderate-high, that seems pretty much impossible to regulate by so many zones in a small cube

same issue with lighting

 

[razorskiss]

That's a great point! Here's my current thinking on the subject, but as a first timer I could be way off here. The basic plan is to start off softie, then lps with light and flow turned down, slowly acclimate light up and once the tank is well established introduce 1-2 pioneer sps while playing around with lighting and flow to try to meet their needs without ticking off the softie / lps.

In terms of flow, return pump can go up to 350 gph, current plan is to have the outlet in the back right top shooting out just under the surface with an ai Nero 3 on random mounted somewhere on the left or back left wall to move turbulence around and generate some lull zones. Both are adjustable so should be able to keep flow turned way down at first. There's about 5" of elevation difference between where I hope to place the stylos/birds nests in the future and the euphyllia rock / Lord arch. I was thinking I'd start everything low (light and flow), slowly work light levels a bit higher over time before introducing the sps. The sps area would also be close to the center spot of the light (kessil A360x) and I also have a narrow angle reflector that I could use to generate a more focused spot thus diffusing light in the rest of the tank where corals have lower needs. Not sure if that would actually work, but I feel like I have options and if I run into major difficulties with getting appropriate flow/light to a test sps a year or so down the line when I'd think of adding one I can always change up the plan and go lps / softie only.

 

[polyppal]

Well even large mixed tanks are hard to dial in and keep everything happy, id suggest looking at species with similar flow and lighting needs for the entire tank. And nothing too aggressive since there’s not a lot of space to keep things separate in a 25g

 

[razorskiss]

Thanks for the good advice! I think the favias are probably the most aggressive of what I'm considering, and I've definitely been going back and forth on alternatives.

 

[Tired]

I was going to suggest micro lords, but I see you're already planning on those elsewhere. Maybe cyphastrea? Sort of an SPS, but doesn't really care about flow, as long as it doesn't have gunk getting on it.

For what it's worth, if you can get SPS cheap enough to not be too sad if they die, it may be worth taking a stab at growing some of the less dense species (so probably not birdsnest) in lower flow. I've grown encrusting montis successfully in one of the lowest-flow spots in my tank, and this is not a tank with a lot of flow. Granted, branching SPS have especially high flow needs once they get to colony size, but you could always give it a shot.

 

[razorskiss]

I was going to suggest micro lords, but I see you're already planning on those elsewhere. Maybe cyphastrea? Sort of an SPS, but doesn't really care about flow, as long as it doesn't have gunk getting on it.

For what it's worth, if you can get SPS cheap enough to not be too sad if they die, it may be worth taking a stab at growing some of the less dense species (so probably not birdsnest) in lower flow. I've grown encrusting montis successfully in one of the lowest-flow spots in my tank, and this is not a tank with a lot of flow. Granted, branching SPS have especially high flow needs once they get to colony size, but you could always give it a shot.

Montis, chalice and cyphastrea are also in the running, good to know that at least some can thrive in lower flow

 

[Tired]

I had a Mystic Sunset monti do quite well in that low-flow area before an unrelated incident got it, and some sort of rainbow monti that seemed pretty happy too. Both encrusting. I have two psammocoras in that spot, also seeming to be fairly happy.

Or there's leptoseris! They have really nice colors without a lot of blue light required, and are fairly hardy. Another sorta-SPS. Jack-O-Lantern is the most popular (and can be overpriced due to it), but there are other varieties as well.

Heck, it could be fun to put two or three encrusting types on the same rock, separated, and let them fight where they meet. They'll generally be inclined to fight by trying to grow over each other, though they may sting a little eventually.

If you really want the favites/favia look, try the Fascination favites, or anything else of the same species. Small-polyped favias should have much shorter sweepers. Mine has, I think, attacked some zoas a couple inches away, but it seems pretty chill otherwise.

 

[Surf985]

What kind of Euphyllia are you going with? You'll want to be mindful of their sting as well on the edge next to the SPS rock and you'll also need to monitor compatibility if you want more than one. Just be mindful nothing large like a torch is blowing the sps direction. That'd be a disaster.

Believe it or not my purple stylo is one of my favorites. It's a good reminder that something can actually be explosively happy in your tank lol. I've had no luck with birdsnest, so I'd say start with a stylo.

I'd second Leptos; I have the Jack-O-Lantern too in a fairly shady spot that goes fairly vertical. At the least, it'll live. Cyphastrea is good too if you can keep it - it's been hit and miss for me. I've mounted Candy Canes, Blastos, and Duncans on similar surfaces with some glue. They seem to do fairly well in weirdo spots like that. Would probably advise against mushrooms simply because they multiply like MAD. I have some on a similar spot so it will work, but make sure you're ok with eventual takeover. Actually, you may have some luck with rock nems if you want that look but something less invasive. Mine don't really move and I've had 0 sting issues.

Only other thought is if you'd even really see that wall? Looks like the zoa rock may cover it. I'd actually recommend getting something for the sandbed space between those rocks, like a small brain colony of some sort. Even if part of it wraps behind the rock, I think it adds tremendous interest when you have those little pops of color you have to look for like that. Obviously may not be your first piece, but it could definitely be worth it.

 

[razorskiss]

Leaning towards hammers or frogspawn, but I'll definitely shape the flow to push tentacles down and away from where any sps might go.

I think I'll most likely wait until after the zoas start growing out before deciding whether to mount anything to that wall. I like the lepto suggestions!

Rock nems sounds like a cool idea! I'll do some reading on care.

Depending on the final positioning of the zoa rock there could definitely be enough sand space to put either a brain or a flower pot on a small rock somewhat isolated from the rest.

Thanks a ton for all of the words of caution and advice folks!

 

[razorskiss]

Would probably advise against mushrooms simply because they multiply like MAD. I have some on a similar spot so it will work, but make sure you're ok with eventual takeover. Actually, you may have some luck with rock nems if you want that look but something less invasive. Mine don't really move and I've had 0 sting issues.

Do ricordia and rhodactis also multiply like crazy or is that more for discosoma?

 

[Tired]

Ricordia are generally more chill about multiplying, I think. They're also reasonably in demand, so it should be pretty easy to rehome any spares.

Oo, rock flower nems are a good idea. They're pretty easy to keep as anemones go, they don't tend to move once in place, and they come in all sorts of fun colors.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

Just started a build thread with my current rockwork for an 18" cube. Planning an invert only mixed reef. I'm not planning to jump in with all of this livestock of course, but I figured I'd be happier in the future if I put some planning in at this stage and build the rockwork with some ideas of what kinds of coral I'd place where in the future. If anyone would be willing to take a look and see if there are any changes they'd recommend to the rockwork or livestock choices at this stage, I'd appreciate it!

Thread '25 gallon cube reef in progress' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/25-gallon-cube-reef-in-progress.926557/

Tentative livestock ideas:

My main concerns at this stage are:
Favia are quite aggressive I've read so I built up a bit of a ridge along the "corner" of the arch that my hope is would slow growth up toward where I'd want to place some lord's. Would that be sufficient or will I find myself hacking back the favia (assuming I'm lucky enough to get good growth in my tank)

Is there anything that could grow on the vertical wall beneath the planned sps shelves that would do ok in shadows, add visual interest and not be too aggressive at growing up? Mushrooms?

Thanks!

How about GSP? I've seen it grown like crazy in all light levels, and have seen many people have it covering the whole back glass - looks really cool! Also I am following this build - I think an invert only tank would be super cool.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

Do ricordia and rhodactis also multiply like crazy or is that more for discosoma?

Definitely don't multiply like discos, in my experience anyway. To me, that's a negative, lol. But you may like that.

 

[razorskiss]

Whoops, I haven't updated in a while so I guess I should. After scoring some good deals the tank is a fair bit more stocked. I have a rock covered in hammers and frogspawn that's doing great, managed to get flow dialed in just right for them too.

 

[razorskiss]

Dealing with a breakout of the uglies but growth has plateaued and a few snails are now working hard but slowly to clear it out. Got some beautiful ricordea and a smattering of zoas. A blue ricordea almost came off its plug when I cut the stem so I have it in a Tupperware with rubble and holes hoping it reattaches. Not going to touch it for a few weeks...

 

[razorskiss]

As part of a live sale I scored a free frag of stellaria chalice. I had a fun idea to build a floating mountain for it on the back wall using a piece of foundation Marco rock and epoxy coated magents. It looks pretty sweet, can't wait for the chalice to encrust out.

 

[razorskiss]

After initially dosing nitrates and phosphates, nutrients have been steady and I'm starting to see consumption of alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium, roughly 2% per week so I'm going to start dosing a tiny bit manually to keep levels more stable day to day.