How to keep corals looking good for a long, long time

[SylvesterGraham]

Ok, so, nothing's forever. But, I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding how one can maintain a number of species in an aesthetically pleasing way for a long, long time. That is, aren't they hard to sculpt, prune, and control? Personally, i am more interested in setting up a reef aquarium that is harmonious and pleasing to the eye, instead of a constantly rotating display of the newest species available. I've heard of lasers and "juicing", but how accurate are these really? If a coral starts to get too big or grow in the wrong direction, does the whole thing just have to come out? (depends on the species I'm sure)

I have the feeling that a lot of these awesome reef shots and totm I see might look terrible a year before and a year after the pic was snapped. I have read the occasional "going on ten years", and an even less occasional "going on ten years" on a tank I actually like. How do they do it?

Thanks, Sylvester

Ps. I'd also be open to suggestions of any books that cover the subject specifically...

 

[dcforester1]

Good question, I have also wondered this about certain corals. I was wondering if it was like bonsai where people trim it to keep them in shape?? I dont have that problem, mine never seem to live that long


Derek

 

[dz6t]

My oldest corals are from 2004 and they were in other people's tanks before that. They only look better and better (bigger and bigger).

 

[don in mass]

buy fake one's lol. i love my tank but it alway's seem's no matter how good my tank perimeters are i always have 1 or 2 corals that do there own thing htht don

 

[SylvesterGraham]

I dont have that problem, mine never seem to live that long


Derek

Maybe you should check into that...

And dz67, have any of your corals ever gotten "out of control", or just ugly, and what did you do about it? Obv I'm new at this, so forgive my ignorance.

 

[dz6t]

Maybe you should check into that...

And dz67, have any of your corals ever gotten "out of control", or just ugly, and what did you do about it? Obv I'm new at this, so forgive my ignorance.

my Xenia can be considered out of control but it forms a beautiful wall of pulsing movement. The best way is to frag the corals and sell or trade them to cover this hobby's high cost. Also, because those corals are all aquacultured, they are hardy and grow well in people's tank.

 

[MikeG]

Here is a good examplle of a tank growing out over years http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1674294&page=16 he is in CT and I would love to see his tank, he is selling off most of his colonies and is starting over though to do things a bit different. Page 16 shows pics from 2007-2011. There are some pics from 2012 on later pages.

When things grow in I think all you can do is constantly cut things back to keep them in check.

 

[SylvesterGraham]

When things grow in I think all you can do is constantly cut things back to keep them in check.

That's a shame. When wild corals are used, this hobby strikes me as extremely wasteful... It's a shame that even the best reef keepers are limited by the confines of their tank, when coral colonies live for eons in the sea.

Aquacultured corals, maybe not such a big deal, but still. I imagine that a lot of people will lose their corals anyhow when their live rock gets saturated with nutrients and algae and they have to scrape everything off to cook or sterilize the rock.

 

[MikeG]

That's a shame. When wild corals are used, this hobby strikes me as extremely wasteful....

I don't think this is wasteful at all, these cuttings can then be traded, sold or given to other reefers to grow in their tanks. Also probably less than 1% of my corals are wild colonies, everything else has come from a frag that was grown in captivity.

 

[dcforester1]

That's a shame. When wild corals are used, this hobby strikes me as extremely wasteful... It's a shame that even the best reef keepers are limited by the confines of their tank, when coral colonies live for eons in the sea.

Aquacultured corals, maybe not such a big deal, but still. I imagine that a lot of people will lose their corals anyhow when their live rock gets saturated with nutrients and algae and they have to scrape everything off to cook or sterilize the rock.

You might be in the wrong hobby, Good Luck