Seeking aquascaping / coral trimming advice

scolley · 05/27/2013, 05:48 PM

Here's a look at my 33g. The colors are HORRIBLE. I know. I cannot get the hang of color balance to make pics look in photos like they do to the human eye. But while annoying, is color actually OT. I'm seeking opinions on coral trimming, not color.

And here's an FTS.

It's probably not visible in this pic, but the tank is really two separate rocks that get wider and taller as they move from front to back in the tank. Low pointy part of both rocks in front. High wide part of the rocks in back.

My question is about the Duncan on the left rock (near the middle of the tank), and the Pollicipora immediately above and behind it.

IMO the Duncan has gotten too large for the other corals, and needs to be cut roughly in half, shortened, and reattached to the rock in that same spot. And IMO the same thing applies to the Pollicipora behind it. And FWIW, what you cannot see (because the Pollicipora blocks it) is that there is a beautiful, uncommon plating monti that sticks out into the open space behind the top of the Pollicipora. But that's not visible with the Polli at its current height. Likewise there are a few other nice little corals behind and above the Polli that are just not noticed by the Polli. Sure they might be when they get bigger, but by then the Polli may be huge - all the more reason IMO to significantly cut back the Polli.

The only things that make me question whether I should make the aforementioned changes is because on the right rock, near the top, you can see a few other relatively large SPS that could balance out the size of the large Duncan and Pollicipora.

Thought or guidance anyone? This is a purely aesthetic question, and one where I can use some help.

Thanks!

ThreeMoneyJ · 05/27/2013, 06:17 PM

Both corals seem to be growing well and somewhat quickly for you. If you do the fragging and then decide that you don't like it then just wait for it to grow again. And yes I know that would take a lot of time and we all love instant gratification!

scolley · 05/27/2013, 06:33 PM

Thanks for the feedback. But those corals are not really growing too much faster than others. It's just that I've been populating the tank with corals for almost 18 months, and even then some of the corals I started the tank with were moved from a prior tank. Both of the two bigger ones that I'm considering trimming/shortening are from a prior tank. So they had a head start.

And I'm HAPPY for things to take their time to grow out - or grow back out - as it were. With very rare exception everything in the tank I acquired as very small frags. Honestly I'm proud of that (lack of instant reef tank) and am happy to watch things grow - assuming I can keep up the husbandry to keep decent growth happening (knock on wood)!

Thoughts cutting back those two pieces? I'm thinking 1/2 the current size - or less.

Thanks!

05/27/2013, 05:48 PM	#1
scolley ARKSC Founding Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: CT Posts: 2,823	Seeking aquascaping / coral trimming advice Here's a look at my 33g. The colors are HORRIBLE. I know. I cannot get the hang of color balance to make pics look in photos like they do to the human eye. But while annoying, is color actually OT. I'm seeking opinions on coral trimming, not color. And here's an FTS. It's probably not visible in this pic, but the tank is really two separate rocks that get wider and taller as they move from front to back in the tank. Low pointy part of both rocks in front. High wide part of the rocks in back. My question is about the Duncan on the left rock (near the middle of the tank), and the Pollicipora immediately above and behind it. IMO the Duncan has gotten too large for the other corals, and needs to be cut roughly in half, shortened, and reattached to the rock in that same spot. And IMO the same thing applies to the Pollicipora behind it. And FWIW, what you cannot see (because the Pollicipora blocks it) is that there is a beautiful, uncommon plating monti that sticks out into the open space behind the top of the Pollicipora. But that's not visible with the Polli at its current height. Likewise there are a few other nice little corals behind and above the Polli that are just not noticed by the Polli. Sure they might be when they get bigger, but by then the Polli may be huge - all the more reason IMO to significantly cut back the Polli. The only things that make me question whether I should make the aforementioned changes is because on the right rock, near the top, you can see a few other relatively large SPS that could balance out the size of the large Duncan and Pollicipora. Thought or guidance anyone? This is a purely aesthetic question, and one where I can use some help. Thanks! __________________ - Steve Longing for "fact based" reef keeping - with hearsay, non sequiturs, dogma and other types of bad “information” removed from our discussions.

05/27/2013, 06:17 PM	#2
ThreeMoneyJ Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Santa Rosa, CA Posts: 596	Both corals seem to be growing well and somewhat quickly for you. If you do the fragging and then decide that you don't like it then just wait for it to grow again. And yes I know that would take a lot of time and we all love instant gratification! __________________ -John (threemoneyj is an anagram) -120 mixed reef. 50 cadlights cube. 40B cardinal/dragonet breeding tank/frag tank.

05/27/2013, 06:33 PM	#3
scolley ARKSC Founding Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: CT Posts: 2,823	Thanks for the feedback. But those corals are not really growing too much faster than others. It's just that I've been populating the tank with corals for almost 18 months, and even then some of the corals I started the tank with were moved from a prior tank. Both of the two bigger ones that I'm considering trimming/shortening are from a prior tank. So they had a head start. And I'm HAPPY for things to take their time to grow out - or grow back out - as it were. With very rare exception everything in the tank I acquired as very small frags. Honestly I'm proud of that (lack of instant reef tank) and am happy to watch things grow - assuming I can keep up the husbandry to keep decent growth happening (knock on wood)! Thoughts cutting back those two pieces? I'm thinking 1/2 the current size - or less. Thanks! __________________ - Steve Longing for "fact based" reef keeping - with hearsay, non sequiturs, dogma and other types of bad “information” removed from our discussions.