Progression of an SPS Tank

[Dez]

I'm kind of with Brad on this one . Short term "loss" long term gain. Think about it, is there ever going to be a chance for all 100 or so of those corals to grow to bigger colonies in that tank? No. Although it might be at it's "sweet spot" now, it will just keep getting worse. The top half of the tank will continue getting more gorgeous, especially from the top down, but everything underneath suffers. The top corals form an umbrella over the rest of the tank. The sides of the corals will start to lose colour due to less light, the growth pattern will change drastically due to reduced flow because of the large corals blocking it. The sweet spot in my tank was in 2010-early 2011, then the crazy growth cause the umbrella effect I was talking about. I removed a dozen colonies that had to be broken in order to even fit into 5 gallon pails. It didn't look as great at first, but I think my tank is reaching another "sweet spot". Half the fun for me is watching the corals grow. If your tank stays in it's glory forever, you as the owner will be completely bored of it. I was super bored of my tank in 2011 and it was almost more work pruning almost on a daily basis to keep the coral warfare down. I guess my vision for the next couple of years is to see how big I can get my colonies? I went from almost 100 sps species now to about 20. I'm imagining maybe 5 colonies down the road? Brad's got 3 options. 1. Let it do it's thing. Results, more corals dying and suffocating at the bottom. Tank will look top heavy, lower half will lose colour. 2. Keep prying on a regular basis. Results - annoying, he has trouble getting rid of frags in Vic, it won't look as natural. 3. Clean up and remove colonies. Results - will look "bare" at first, might regret a little, but corals will be healthier due to more room to grow, more light and more flow cause the flow isn't blocked by other corals. Long term results will def look more natural.

I used to ogle at the "fruit stand" type reefs. But you can essentially "buy" your way into one by purchasing as many colonies as you can and arranging them. But you can never buy 18" colonies or 14" clams.

Sorry for the rant. In short Brad - DO IT UP and I look forward to the 2015 update!!!!