How much SPS is to much?

rckfsh44 · Mar 31, 2022

duke62 said:
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?

Wow !!

rckfsh44 · Mar 31, 2022

rckfsh44 said:
Wow !!

I’m surprised that you have so many corals in this tank wow

duke62 · Mar 31, 2022

rckfsh44 said:
I’m surprised that you have so many corals in this tank wow

I don’t like to cut my babies lol

duke62 · Mar 31, 2022

Oredigger77 said:
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.

I don’t like fish lol

duke62 · Mar 31, 2022

Anemone_Fanatic said:
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!

I appreciate it. I tell people all the time please don’t say you’re jealous. If this big dummy can do it anyone can. Only difference with me is I am around the tank all the time and can control it hour by hour if I need to. Many people can’t. Keep doing your thing every tank is amazing with just frags or with colonies

duke62 · Mar 31, 2022

thatmanMIKEson said:
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

Appreciate it. I screen shot this and sent it to my kids lol

GillMeister · Mar 31, 2022

Daniel@R2R said:
Is that like asking about someone having "too much fun" or "too much money" or a car that's "too fast"?

Or too much beer? I think not.

duke62 · Mar 31, 2022

TheDragonsReef said:
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

Waiting for a tank builder to send me one so I can show it off and get them boat loads of customers lol I’m kidding of course

BantyRooster97 · Apr 1, 2022

duke62 said:
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 to give some frags away. Help a local reefer out.

Rkdunn1 · Apr 1, 2022

duke62 said:
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?

If I can’t see what’s going on in my aquarium because things are over grown then it is definitely to much. I like watching my sea life interact.

Dburr1014 · Apr 1, 2022

duke62 said:
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?

Well, I think you have too much in there. You need to do some trimming and send them to me.

McPuff · Apr 1, 2022

I would agree that a reef tank probably needs a refresh about every 3 years. This may mean chopping up some huge colonies or starting over (not for me!), or just moving things around. Many times it's due to poor planning which I have certainly been guilty of in the past (coral weeds encrusting like mad). Even corals you DO like will encrust too much and start to kill other corals from the bottom (happening to me now).

I fall into a similar category as the OP where I simply don't have room for a ton of frags or chunks and it's often very difficult to even give away those frags. Consequently, I have thrown large amounts of corals in the trash or let them dry so they can go into my calcium reactor at some future date. In fact, I'm about to do a huge pruning of my pink cadillac so if anyone is local to SE Michigan, hit me up. :0)

jda · Apr 1, 2022

If you love it, then there is still not enough SPS.

Eventually, they will get to where they start to die back from the size and start to kill everything underneath, but that does not appear to be happening yet. It breaks my heart every time that I have to pull out colonies, but there comes a point where you have to do it. When you cannot even get your hand between the colonies and the glass, then you have to do something. It gets easier over time.

I live in a somewhat big community of Denver and I have a hard time selling or giving away so much stuff. I found a local aquarium that will take healthy colonies (need to be mounted on sturdy rock) and I donate a lot to raffle for the local club.

The only suggestion that I might offer is to think ahead about what you don't really care about. You will need to know what to just cull and what to cut back. I eventually got to where I do not allow any MPB&S in my tanks nor LPS. I removed most of my stags and A. Carduus (dragons) last time, but I miss them now and have already gotten back CITR Red Dragon for the next reboot.

Lavey29 · Apr 1, 2022

I think your tank looks amazing. This is one thing I like about this hobby is every tank is unique and set up to the personal preference of the reefer taking care of it. I personally love the lush full exotic reef look with everything covered in healthy covered coral. I cant imagine how much calcium and alk you go through daily but it is certainly a beautiful show tank. I hope I can get there one day.

GillMeister · Apr 1, 2022

duke62 said:
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?

Roughly how long did it take for your tank to get in this condition?

jkcoral · Apr 1, 2022

jda said:
If you love it, then there is still not enough SPS.

Eventually, they will get to where they start to die back from the size and start to kill everything underneath, but that does not appear to be happening yet. It breaks my heart every time that I have to pull out colonies, but there comes a point where you have to do it. When you cannot even get your hand between the colonies and the glass, then you have to do something. It gets easier over time.

I live in a somewhat big community of Denver and I have a hard time selling or giving away so much stuff. I found a local aquarium that will take healthy colonies (need to be mounted on sturdy rock) and I donate a lot to raffle for the local club.

The only suggestion that I might offer is to think ahead about what you don't really care about. You will need to know what to just cull and what to cut back. I eventually got to where I do not allow any MPB&S in my tanks nor LPS. I removed most of my stags and A. Carduus (dragons) last time, but I miss them now and have already gotten back CITR Red Dragon for the next reboot.

I was thinking about your post and others that have the same issues with finding enough people to sell/give frags of your corals.

I am sure there are people all across the country that would love to take some heavily discounted or free corals off your hands, but would need it shipped. This got me thinking that maybe people would be willing to pay to cover the shipping supplies, shipping fees, and like $20 bucks or something for your time (packing, dropping off packages, etc.) for some of your frags. Of course this would be without the expectations of a DOA policy or whatever given the coral is basically a free gift. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone give away overgrown corals like this, but it would be cool!

Wasabiroot · Apr 1, 2022

duke62 said:
I don’t like to cut my babies lol

You could sell a hundred frags and buy a big frag tank LOL

Shooter6 · Apr 1, 2022

The size of the colonies would be more easily enjoyed if that tank was 4ft tall and 5-8ft wide. Then corals would be opened up a bit and able to look downward from the front panel, giving a better angle of view.
That is definitely still a beautiful display and you should be proud of your work! Not many people achieve colonies like that.

McPuff · Apr 1, 2022

jkcoral said:
I was thinking about your post and others that have the same issues with finding enough people to sell/give frags of your corals.

I am sure there are people all across the country that would love to take some heavily discounted or free corals off your hands, but would need it shipped. This got me thinking that maybe people would be willing to pay to cover the shipping supplies, shipping fees, and like $20 bucks or something for your time (packing, dropping off packages, etc.) for some of your frags. Of course this would be without the expectations of a DOA policy or whatever given the coral is basically a free gift. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone give away overgrown corals like this, but it would be cool!

It's certainly possible. For me, it still seems like a huge hassle. I know some people don't mind shipping corals (and love doing it)... and maybe I should think about it. At least the corals could go somewhere to be enjoyed.