JD_Inshore
Community Member
Ok, so I have a 90 gallon that's been running for about 4+ years now. I go through phases with it when I'm really trying to make it look great and others when it's just neglected and on autopilot with just minimal effort dosing/topoff and occasional glass scraping maintenance. I just want to vent about it and maybe get some ideas or opinions on what, how or if I should even do anything at all. Everyone that comes over says it looks great but I don't know anyone else in the hobby. I just find myself looking at it constantly picking it apart and feeling like I'm missing something. Im feeling motivated and I'd really like to get this tank in amazing shape!
There's few things that are bothering me about it.
1. When I started the tank one of the first corals in was a single yellow spotted mushroom. There are now tons of them and drive me crazy out competing and smothering other corals. I occasionally grab whole rocks that are now covered with them and remove them. I'd like to be completely rid of them and be more decisive on what I place in the tank focusing on lps corals moving forward
2. The aquascape. It's basically just rock piled up on more rock. I think about making something more thoughtful and free flowing like a negative space style scape. I would like to see more of the sand creating overhangs and arches with mortar. Lots of the rock I have looks great and being old as they are would hate to just replace it all with dry rock. Should I make what I want in the display with new rock and cram the sump full of my existing rock that doesn't have mushrooms on it? Have all my livestock live in Rubbermaids for a few days?
3. I have a 36 Trigger Ruby Sump with a nice refugium area that sits empty. I've tried twice to grow macroalge with little success. It's lit with a kessil H80 tuna flora and I ran it on opposite lighting schedule as display. Tank usually runs around 25-30 nitrate and .02-.03 phosphate. Also, I've tried dosing Cheato-gro with no luck. So like I said it just sits empty now and feels like totally wasted space to me.
Here's a couple pics to show what I'm working with. Tank is lit with 2 Radion xr15's G4 on LPS template and pics taken with red lens. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
There's few things that are bothering me about it.
1. When I started the tank one of the first corals in was a single yellow spotted mushroom. There are now tons of them and drive me crazy out competing and smothering other corals. I occasionally grab whole rocks that are now covered with them and remove them. I'd like to be completely rid of them and be more decisive on what I place in the tank focusing on lps corals moving forward
2. The aquascape. It's basically just rock piled up on more rock. I think about making something more thoughtful and free flowing like a negative space style scape. I would like to see more of the sand creating overhangs and arches with mortar. Lots of the rock I have looks great and being old as they are would hate to just replace it all with dry rock. Should I make what I want in the display with new rock and cram the sump full of my existing rock that doesn't have mushrooms on it? Have all my livestock live in Rubbermaids for a few days?
3. I have a 36 Trigger Ruby Sump with a nice refugium area that sits empty. I've tried twice to grow macroalge with little success. It's lit with a kessil H80 tuna flora and I ran it on opposite lighting schedule as display. Tank usually runs around 25-30 nitrate and .02-.03 phosphate. Also, I've tried dosing Cheato-gro with no luck. So like I said it just sits empty now and feels like totally wasted space to me.
Here's a couple pics to show what I'm working with. Tank is lit with 2 Radion xr15's G4 on LPS template and pics taken with red lens. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
