Pack it as full as you can get it!

[Scorpius]

I'm gonna say I'm more selective this time around. Less is more when it comes to coral.

 

[ca1ore]

I like the look of corals growing into and around each other, but I dislike a cluttered, overgrown tank. Once colonies get too large I destructo-frag them and start anew with the healthiest bits. The rest I give away.

 

[HB AL]

I'm in the pack the tank clan both fish and corals. Im definitely not in the minimalist group.

 

[User1]

I'm in the pack the tank clan both fish and corals. Im definitely not in the minimalist group.

Looks like it is working.

Sort of like a good bottle of wine. You go tasting, buy some, come home and put it in the cellar. Couple weeks later you fire up some pasta or steak, a nice dinner for two, and it reminds you of the trip. Flavors abound. But you say to yourself, self - we should stash a couple bottles, mark them for 5 years before opening, and revisit this gem. Years go by the wine ages, becomes fuller, you are tempted every once in a while to remove the marker and open it. But you wait. 5 years go by and you make another fine spread to feast and drink. Cork opens. Let the bottle open and breath. It breaths, you breath, and then you get to drink it...

Your tank reminds me a lot of aging wine and how it matures with time. Yes, it is full but it blends together with color, form, and shapes. Great job. Really. Super awesome sauce.

 

[McPuff]

An Assassi trigger in with clams??? Consider me jealous! I'd love to put my humu in my display but I think it would be unwise. :0)

Corals for me... I like to have fewer, larger colonies. Right now I'm in between. Have several really large colonies and several really small colonies with some frags. Similar to @ca1ore I get to a point where a colony gets too big and I decide to nuke it and keep a small portion, letting it regrow. Actually getting close to doing that with a beautiful milka stylo. Sometimes the colonies don't grow the way you want them to and they need to be trained (like bonsai!). :0) It's always a hard decision to make but once it crosses my mind, it's going to happen sooner than later.

Another thing that happens is I will "trade up" as I am able to obtain my more desirable species. I'll remove or diminish some "lesser" corals to make room. Have done this many times and need to do it again soon for 2-3 particular species.

 

[Leadfooted]

Just don’t stick Acros to the sides like
I did when you run out of room. Screws up the flow , less room for big fish to swim and obviously now blocking my view lol. The biggest regret I have is all the aggressive encrusting corals that take up rock space. Those are limiting new additions the most.

 

[Silverfish]

I wouldn’t say morons but it did strike me as strange. I’m not a big local club member so no one knows me but I posted pics of several 2-3 inch multi branch forest fire digi’s for $15 each. Think I paid $50 for a 1 inch drag. Posted twice and no one jumped so I took them to the LFS. Weird.

Wow, I would always prefer to buy fm local reefers. Corals are encrusted and colony sized. Almost always less expensive!
I’m interested in buying a variety pack if you feel so inclined.

 

[ca1ore]

I like the look of corals growing into and around each other, but I dislike a cluttered, overgrown tank. Once colonies get too large I destructo-frag them and start anew with the healthiest bits. The rest I give away.

Here's what I mean. Picture 1 is my current tank a few days after having done a transfer from the prior tank. Picture 2 is today, 18 months later. I personally prefer the look of the former.

A few colonies did not survive the transfer and died, but most did and have grown and been destructo-fragged.

 

[jwshiver]

PACK IT FULL!!!!!

 

[MnFish1]

I like the look of a 'packed full' tank (I.e. large colonies) filling the tank.

Im not so fond of randomly buying 100 frags killing 1/2 of them due to competition/toxin release - and ending up with a tank where only the 'strongest survive'. So - I guess I'm selective at first hoping for a packed tank in the future

 

[ThunderGoose]

I'm at a transition state. I bought lots of frags but now that I've passed the 2 year mark and things are starting to grow I need to remove some things.

But I love them all!

I know. I just need a bigger tank. Then I could get some new corals.

 

[HB AL]

An Assassi trigger in with clams??? Consider me jealous! I'd love to put my humu in my display but I think it would be unwise. :0)

Corals for me... I like to have fewer, larger colonies. Right now I'm in between. Have several really large colonies and several really small colonies with some frags. Similar to @ca1ore I get to a point where a colony gets too big and I decide to nuke it and keep a small portion, letting it regrow. Actually getting close to doing that with a beautiful milka stylo. Sometimes the colonies don't grow the way you want them to and they need to be trained (like bonsai!). :0) It's always a hard decision to make but once it crosses my mind, it's going to happen sooner than later.

Another thing that happens is I will "trade up" as I am able to obtain my more desirable species. I'll remove or diminish some "lesser" corals to make room. Have done this many times and need to do it again soon for 2-3 particular species.

And a Clown and sargassum trigger too!

 

[RichReef]

I was advised by a long time reefer that corals were the best filter you can have so pack them in.

 

[Auquanut]

Up till now I have tried to be somewhat selective and allow space for the corals to grow. Particularly the Acros. After seeing some of these amazing packed tanks, I may cut loose a little and pack them in a little tighter. Thanks for the excuse to visit the LFS!

 

[Matt Carden]

This is my first reef tank. I am trying to go the route of not overpacking but I don't really know what things will look like when the grow out from a 1" frag. So I'm going the selective route for now. Besides it's more about the fish right now.

 

[ZoWhat]

Pack it full? Dear lord, who has $5000+ to spend on such a big buy?

Also takes the pleasure out of watching a frag grow from the size of a dime to covering like a 3in area.

Slamming all that coral HAS to cause all kinds of CHEMICAL WAREFARE..... leading to 25% or more in losses.

Bah humbug.


.

 

[GrumpyAlison]

I mostly keep shrooms and acans because I like their texture, so I have frags shamelessly sitting all over each other like a maniac. Pic is the 'organized' version of my acan pile in the corner of my 10 gal XD
I usually keep differeing things sectioned off in different parts of the tank, but I haven't noticed anything declining/looking worse for wear in my tank and I have shrooms, acans, lots of encrusting montis, birds nests, poccilipora, duncans, a dendro, zoas, a candy cane, some blastos, a few types of gorgonian, sponges, tunicates and 4 types of leather (which I'm probably going to make a dedicated tank for at some point because they're huge and the most likely to cause issues with other things imo).

 

[HB AL]

Pack it full? Dear lord, who has $5000+ to spend on such a big buy?

Also takes the pleasure out of watching a frag grow from the size of a dime to covering like a 3in area.

Slamming all that coral HAS to cause all kinds of CHEMICAL WAREFARE..... leading to 25% or more in losses.

Bah humbug.


.

Hard to tell if someone is being serious or sarcastic on the net so with that said, in my case what I call my tank is a big cluster f.....(edit for bad word) of fish and corals, it was gonna be a fowlr when I set it up but one frag led to another and so on. I'm not a hardcore know it all when it comes to corals, I actually like my fish more but 95 percent of the corals in my current tank where all cheap small frags when I bought them and have really enjoyed watching them grow from what they were when I got them. I haven't ever noticed any chemical warfare other than a frag getting pushed over onto another coral by a snail but it heals up quickly anyways, maybe point out what type of corals cause the major warfare that kills of 25% or more of the tank so I dont get one of those cuz that would be a bummer. I guess it's possible to spend 5000$ on frags to fill up a tank but they would probably being all bought online from some of the way overpriced coral stores. I was also actually thinking of starting a sister tank tied in to mine and filling it with the beautiful Aussie colonies my lfs's have been bringing in and talking with the owner the other day it was gonna be well north of 5000$ and but under 10000$. People all have different tastes for fish and corals so if it's what you like who cares what others think, well maybe back in high school.

 

[B-ridge]

WOW. All beautiful tanks. I look forward and strive to get my tank looking as good as you guys.
With that said if anyone has some beginner sps to donate or sell please let me know. I have no problem paying for the frags or shipping. I’ll buy lps also.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

packed reef at 8 yrs

I so enjoy seeing this little reef vase. Thank you for posting.

My vote is selectively pack the tank full!