Toadstool-dominant 10 Gallon

[CenlaReefer]

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Below is a pic of my 10 gallon toadstool dominant tank from June of last year. I will post an updated pic tomorrow. I really love this tank! I hope that this is the beginning of an even larger collection of toadstool leathers. I have been really wanting to get long-polyped ones of any colors.

My minimalistic setup includes:

• 1 gallon HOB pump-driven refugium- 80% full of chaeto running on a 12 hour on light cycle
• Small HOB Rio Nano Skimmer- Man is this thing LOUD!
• Dual compact fluorescent light fixture- one 50/50 bulb and one Coralife colormax bulb, running on a 12 hour on/off light cycle.
• 1 blue 10 watt LED flood light between the 2 compact flourescents.
• 2 Hydor mini powerheads, one on each side of the tank.
• Live rock (30% that I made from white portland cement) yet mostly bare bottom to allow the tank to be super easy to maintain.
• The only livestock in this tank for now is one stomatella snail, one emerald crab, and 2 sexy shrimp. I plan to keep this tank without fish so that I can use it to quarantine invertebrates that I will put into my 75 gallon mixed reef.
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[sundog101]

Really cool! I love toadstools, but so does my urchin

 

[Tahoe61]

Very cool.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Anyone know about how to do some modifications to make this thing run with less noise? This is my Rio Nano skimmer. I read somewhere that the impeller too loose by design and one person wrapped Teflon tape around part of it. It seems that it would come loose rather quickly.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Here is an updated picture from today. The tank has been re-scaped a few times. The blue LED floodlight has been raised up a bit to make it more diffuse. You may also notice a couple of additional corals. Some of the larger toadstools were cut and fragged out. If I don't do that, there's no way I'm going to keep so many toadstools in a 10 gallon tank. I heard that these corals can get as big as Volkswagens if you let them.

 

[Jimbo662]

Very cool...one of my favorites too. Hope you're planning a big upgrade...they'll outgrow that tank pretty soon. The last one I had grew from about 2" across to over 12" in about 8 months.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Very cool...one of my favorites too. Hope you're planning a big upgrade...they'll outgrow that tank pretty soon. The last one I had grew from about 2" across to over 12" in about 8 months.

I bet you I can keep this tank running for at least five more years as long as I keep pruning them back as needed.

 

[Jimbo662]

I guess that's true. I could never bring myself to trim mine.

 

[CenlaReefer]

I am very apprehensive to cut the yellow Fiji. I heard they do not heal as well as the others. Iodine dip is recommended after cutting on them. I have cut my other toadstool corals more times than I can number. Thankfully, I have lost only a few of the frags due to bad technique on my part. I will never use rubber bands again to help them attach to rocks. If slightly too tight, the rubber bands cause damage to the coral. Wedding veil is my go-to stuff instead. I gently wrap it over the coral placed on top of a flat rock, fold it under, and then gently wrap rubber bands around the edges of the rock to keep the veil in place. It is best to put your frag in a depression of a piece of liverock. The wedding veil can be obtained very affordably at Walmart and fabric stores.

 

[revhtree]

Nice! This is going to be even better as they all get bigger!

 

[CenlaReefer]

Nice! This is going to be even better as they all get bigger!

Thanks Rev! I love this tank so much.

 

[TylerMoralez]

Any new update? I LOVE toadstools!

 

[CenlaReefer]

Any new update? I LOVE toadstools!

Tyler,

Thanks so much for your interest! It is nice to have folks with a kindred spirit. I am still on the lookout for more variously-colored, unique toadstools.

This likely needs to get moved to another build thread. I upgraded the tank to a 20 gallon tall. Here is a pic from today. It looks less full because of the size upgrade and because I got rid of some mushrooms because they were too stinky (literally). My wife complained of the smell when I did water changes.

 

[ksanfranfan]

Nice toadstool collection. I've always loved toadstools. When I first started in the hobby I used to have a yellow fiji toadstool. It's still one of my favorite corals.

 

[TylerMoralez]

Once these guys are grown out, it's going to look so cool with the bare bottom. Can't wait to watch the growth

 

[CenlaReefer]

Thanks! I will plan to keep you all posted with picture updates. I do not plan to change the lighting or aquascape for some years. I may want to add or move some toadstools minimally. I hope to add a toadstool with extra long polyps one day.