Coral placement plan

[Susan Edwards]

Didn't see a general coral discussion so I'll put this here. Got my coral map done. At least a general plan. Looking for any input or advice

Tank is 125 gal, 6'. Started Feb 2017. Crashed in 2018 (strong primer on walls-smell was bad--wiped out 3 tanks), neglected 2019/2020, and rebooted sept 2020. Old sand out, all new in.

Lights: vipar spectra. Blue 60/white 5%

Blue=what I currently have in tank
White=what I still need to order or find
Yellow=Coral on order. 2 orders should be here Friday (tomorrow!) (except the sun. That should be white) Another order ready to go in a few weeks. All new corals will all go sandbed for now

To make it easier for me to print out and read, I split the tank into thirds. I also used hi res images. Pic of full tank is the 3 images pushed together.

Left side of tank. Have a totally free shelf/ledge. Lots of sand space as well. Galaxy to be moved but not sure where. The sun will probably move to another place. Maybe lower left corner. I want it accessible for feeding. Had one right on top with old lights but these new lights are probably too much.

Middle. Both rock sections are free from other rocks to put zoas and palys and any mushrooms

End
Not sure hammer there or in corner on sand. No idea what the viper acro is. Favia? When I order it, I'll ask.

 

[X-37B]

Never thought of doing a map. Thats a great idea!
I had a general idea when I setup my 120.
I will use the mapping on my upgrade.
Thanks!

 

[Susan Edwards]

Never thought of doing a map. Thats a great idea!
I had a general idea when I setup my 120.
I will use the mapping on my upgrade.
Thanks!

I use coral draw but any graphics program like adobe will work. It's just what I know. Haven't tried adobe. Hate learning curves lol's.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

This is an awesome idea!!! Now I want to do one!!

 

[Susan Edwards]

I also do a word document: a page or column for each type of coral, and then basics for the corals I have/getting/want. Sort of a cheat sheet. I print this, and a map to keep near tank.

I'll expand the word doc to include more info, but want it basically short and sweet

Example:
Under LPS
Name/Type: Cyphastrea
Placement: lower 2/3’s
Lighting: low to moderate
Flow: moderate
Temperament: Semi aggressive
Other: Atlantis Red Star, Tyree Cyphastrea decadia, blue planet, pretty eyes

Bold & italic indicates what I just received, the others are possible wants

 

[Susan Edwards]

Oh, depending on what program you use, I used the group feature after I imported image and did all the text. Then I converted a COPY to a bitmap, so I can go back, ungroup, and make changes without redoing the entire map

 

[ApoIsland]

Nice work. I tried doing this for a 55g tank once. Wanted to get the perfect layout of color contrast and movement. I’m guessing it worked for about 25 of the 30 frags right away. You just can’t predict how corals will react to current and light. Those few I needed to move ended up displacing others. Differing growth rates lead stinging which lead to moving others. The end result after 2 years was maybe 5 corals were in their original planned placement. This was many years ago though when I had too many leathers. Your results will be much better I’m sure.

 

[Susan Edwards]

@apolsland I figure it is a guide to give me an idea of basic placement and a view of where to put like encrusting corals, low light, etc so I don't end up with too much of one type of coral. I've done it in the past, and yeah, it never works out totally. This time around, I redid rocks with corals in mind like terraces and ledges. Before I had a nice pretty rock wall lol's. the hard part will be those aggressive and semi aggressive with long stingers!