How much SPS is to much?

[duke62]

So I post a lot on IG and I get the same responses. “ Your fish have no where to swim” or “ do you even have any water in the tank” . What would you say is “to much” SPS or even corals in general?

 

[rtparty]

I definitely think there comes a point where tanks are overgrown. Like a nice garden. Having the plants cover every square inch and growing all over each other doesn't mean it's the best looking.

A tank is the same way IMO. At some point you have given the fish 4 20g tanks to swim in instead of the 250 you (in general) started with.

Too much coral also blocks flow at some point and corals start dying from the inside out. It can start a snowball effect and before you know it corals are dying left and right.

My opinion is most tanks need a serious overhaul around 3 years old. (Maybe it's 4-5 years with dry rock tanks.) At some point, you have to get in there and cut it all down to start over.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Is that like asking about someone having "too much fun" or "too much money" or a car that's "too fast"?

 

[shakacuz]

it’s a subjective matter. everyone will have different opinions. going off of your picture, for me, that is too much. but to you? probably not.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

If you can still see the water, you don't have enough coral!

 

[X-37B]

My 120 is 33 months old. I am in the process of a full reboot. The corals were growing into each other causing issues.
Too many disco mushrooms detatching and killing corals.
Clove polyps overgrown along with palys, mujanos, and some aptasia were all causing stress.

I removed many coral weeds but could never catch up with the above.

So most have been fragged and are in my frag system.

Yes tanks can have to many sps, imo.

 

[piranhaman00]

Post some pics under normal lights looks nice

 

[jkcoral]

A pretty picture and an interesting tank. It is both claustrophobic and captivating.

I only had 2 thoughts. First, I wish the fish had more space! I can’t imagine too many species would be able to navigate thriugh that and are losing their own space. But maybe this is me projecting my claustrophobic feelings onto the fish haha.

And second, I would absolutely love to see that tank be fragged and refreshed. If the tank is the proverbial china shop, letting the bull lose in that thing would be awesome! The before and after pictures would be so satisfying lol.

 

[Helter Skilter]

The only way you can have too much SPS is if you're trimming everything before it has a chance to grow out just to make room for or afford more frags. A display with 30 decent sized colonies looks a lot better than a large collection of frags that lack the room to grow into a natural shape.

 

[duke62]

Post some pics under normal lights looks nice

Why are my lights abnormal lol

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Its all subjective of course. If you like them as big and grown out as possible then your tank is perfect. I personally have a space i want each colony to fill and as it grows out of that area i cut it back. But thats only my preference.

 

[duke62]

A pretty picture and an interesting tank. It is both claustrophobic and captivating.

I only had 2 thoughts. First, I wish the fish had more space! I can’t imagine too many species would be able to navigate thriugh that and are losing their own space. But maybe this is me projecting my claustrophobic feelings onto the fish haha.

And second, I would absolutely love to see that tank be fragged and refreshed. If the tank is the proverbial china shop, letting the bull lose in that thing would be awesome! The before and after pictures would be so satisfying lol.

My fish in this tank have been the healthiest fish I’ve ever had in any setup I’ve ever had. So not sure if Fish mind it.

 

[duke62]

Its all subjective of course. If you like them as big and grown out as possible then your tank is perfect. I personally have a space i want each colony to fill and as it grows out of that area i cut it back. But thats only my preference.

Problem is I have no where to put them once cut lol. My 40 gallon shallow frag tank is already busting out the seams lol

 

[Oredigger77]

I like fish way more than coral. For me the coral are just about adding an interesting background for the fish to interact with. I would definitely frag your tank hard to open it up for the fish.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

If the fish are happy, the corals are happy, and you are happy with the tank, you don't need to change a thing. My guess is that everyone on IG is jealous of your corals. I know that I am!

 

[Whispers]

Problem is I have no where to put them once cut lol. My 40 gallon shallow frag tank is already busting out the seams lol

Where in ny I could use some frags soon

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

So I post a lot on IG and I get the same responses. “ Your fish have no where to swim” or “ do you even have any water in the tank” . What would you say is “to much” SPS or even corals in general?

Absolutely not, if they aren't growing out of the water yet your good! And forget the fish and all their precious room, they're coral food anyway. Everyone with their opinions but I'd love it if I could achieve that, thats a very hard level to reach congratulations, you could obviously grow the "normal" reef with no problem, not many could grow your reef! I think its sweet as s#!+ !! Do you have any normal light pictures

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Problem is I have no where to put them once cut lol. My 40 gallon shallow frag tank is already busting out the seams lol

Time for a bigger frag tank then lol i have a 50g lowboy filled with frags so im in the same boat. Ive had to start throwing away my montipora cuttings. Ive always loved your tank though, i do really like seeing the massive colonies youve grown. Maybe you just need a bigger display haha

 

[Labridaedicted]

My wife: yes, and you passed that threshold long ago.

Me opening an new box of acro frags: uhhhhh..... oops?

 

[duke62]

I don’t like to see my rocks lol. I see rock a coral needs to grow there