A very, very exciting update on my Waterbox 220 gallon build.
As you guys know, I've had a lot of issues with this tank recently, to say the least.
Having my aquascape break into pieces
after moving the tank into my new house and going through the whole process
of creating a new aquascape just to have it break again.
I mean, it's been tough, really tough.
Not even going to lie, I didn't even want to look at my tank much
during this time, which led to the tank being in a bit of a rough state.
However, however, things are finally shaping up y'all,
and I'm so excited to introduce you to my new coral placement layout and what
my future plans are coral wise, if you're new here.
Hello. Hi.
Howdy. My name is Stephanie,
and I make silly videos documenting my journey in the reef tank keeping hobby.
So if you too are also silly and enjoy
the reef tanks, make sure to smash that subscribe right now.
So now that my new aquascape is in
my coral layout and my plans for future corals is totally different, and honestly,
I quite like it more than the previous setup we had with my previous aquascape.
My little Goni garden I had was quite
small, and it wasn't really the best area for them flow wise.
Now, this time around,
I made sure to dedicate this entire area here just for Goni's
i have several in my collection now, and they're growing quite enormous, honestly.
So they really need that space.
I was a tad worried when placing them, actually, that they wouldn't have enough
space, despite dedicating the whole left section of the left structure to it.
But they seem really happy here, so let's just go with it.
I also have a lot of Holy Grail Torches at this point.
They have been growing like crazy,
which is awesome because it's my favorite coral in my tank.
After deciding on placing the Goni garden
here on the left side of the left structure, I knew I had to put the Torches
up in a high place that would balance the movement from the Goni.
So not all that flowy movey type corals are placed together in one area.
And plus, Torches need to sit up high to really get, like, great coloration.
So the only natural place to pop them was here on top of the right structure,
up nice and high so they can show that true gold color.
I really love the movement they bring
to the tank, especially these guys up here on the higher ledge.
I didn't place them all together because
I'm a bit worried about stinging any future corals that I put around here,
but I like to look better because it adds so much movement to the right structure.
Overall, definitely still my showpiece coral, no doubt.
I also have quite a lot of Hammer action going on here.
It was difficult thinking of where
to place these guys in a way that wouldn't just take up my entire aquascape.
I mean, especially these gold Rasta Hammers.
I definitely have a lot of gold Rasta Hammers, so it was difficult thinking
of where to place these guys in a way that wouldn't just take up my whole aquascape.
So I decided to place here on the left structure, the yellow Hammer and the gold
Rasta Hammer and the green Hammer here next to the Goni area.
I really like the color contrast these guys give when placed together.
I mean, that's why I really love Hammers
because they come in so many different colors, and then when you place them
together, it's just pop like it always goes pop in color.
It just looks great. So, of course I had to do that in my tank.
I also really love how their placement
makes them look like they're just trailing up onto the aquascape here.
Kind of like that. It looks pretty unique if you ask me.
I also have a few other miscellaneous corals that I kind of added randomly
throughout the scapes here on the right aquascape.
I saved this entire little space here for my rainbow Chalices that will
hopefully grow together in the future because they come from the same mother.
They're just kind of broken up.
This is a good spot for the Chalices because
it's shadowed and they should really like this space, hopefully.
And added my Duncan in here
next to the Chalice section to add some movement to this space.
I don't really want too much stillness in this area.
And also my pretty pink Frogspawn, which is just absolutely loving this spot.
I mean, it's really living its best life here this Frogspawn.
Also added some Digis and Anacropora like randomly
totally randomly over here on the higher ledges of both of the aquascapes.
Once grown out, I think they'll look really nice
in the background, especially against the Goni,
the Hammers and the Torches and stuff, which have a ton of movement.
I think it would be like a nice backdrop, you know what I mean?
I popped my Bernardapora. Bernardopora?
Bernardpora here on this ledge,
which I don't know, Bernardpora are kind of tricky because they sting everything.
They're really pretty, but they sting everything.
And they often get confused with Goni's,
which is really bad because if you place the Bernardpora next to your Goni or
in your Goni garden, it's going to brutally annihilate them.
When I first got this, I didn't even know it was a Bernardpora,
and thankfully that got pointed out to me before I actually placed this guy.
But it's so pretty.
Like, it's such a pretty coral to have so
kind of placed here on this isolated tip of the aquascape.
So I can't really mess with anything else, at least not at this point in time.
Monti's
added a lot of red plating Monti on the back of both
of the scapes, which I think makes the tank look really reef-y
and I don't know how to explain it, but it just makes it look reef-y.
That's what I think in my head when I look at these Monti's.
It sounds silly.
It is silly, but it just gives it this depth in this, like, certain I don't know,
I just love red plating Monti for some reason.
I mean, I really just love the shapes it produces.
I've never actually been able to get that kind of shape out of it in my 40 gallon.
It kind of just grew into a thick plate.
But I'm hoping these guys this time will
plate in that nice formation that red plating Monti is known for.
And I think it will look good back here.
Give it some more depth.
Can't have enough depth in this tank.
It's going to look good, hopefully.
And I'm going to add some green Monti
at a certain point to kind of contrast that as well.
Now, moving over to my sandbed corals, I have so much Rasta Hammer.
Like I said, I have so much Rasta Hammer.
I didn't have any other option than
to place the rest of them on the sand bed just because they're so big.
They're like these little
fairly big colonies and it's just like, where else am I supposed to put them?
So I decided to put them in the back behind the left structure on both sides
and some on the very right side of the tank.
And I love their location because it makes the tank have more visual depth.
It gives the tank more dimension,
like the corals just go off into the distance type look.
I really like that.
And I think it adds, again, more movement to a tank that I want
to keep a lot of SPS and stickies that don't have any movement.
So got to get all the movement we can.
I cannot emphasize that enough here with my coral plan.
I also have this little Scoly / Meat section right here.
They're really bright and obnoxious and beautiful.
I really love Scolies and Meat corals for that reason.
But they're so bright that they really
just suck the color and brightness of everything else around them.
So hopefully if I stick them together,
maybe it won't, I don't know, but they're beautiful.
But they really make your other corals look kind of ugly.
So no hate on my Scolies and Meat corals, but I just placed them here.
I don't know why. I don't know.
And the Bubble monster back here,
this coral is big and it has these long tentacles that come out at night and just
absolutely sting the heck out of everything near it.
So placed back here, with the amount of flow coming in this
region, it should keep it at bay, hopefully.
Also, of course, adds more depth to the tank, which is always a good thing.
I'm always going to say that throughout this video.
Depth is good.
Try to create depth in your own tanks as much as possible.
It really makes a difference.
Acans.
I have this lovely green Acan rock here, which is actually a green and orange Acan
rock, but it lost a lot of its orange for some reason.
But I'm hoping it'll grow back eventually. I don't know.
I feel like as time goes, it's just going to lose that.
I don't know. Acan's are weird, you know what I mean?
Popped it here next to the left structure, and it does nicely contrast the movement
of that Hammer here as well, and height of that Hammer.
Also have these
random green Mushrooms and Ricordia that will just not stay in place.
It's really bothering me.
There's a lot of flow down here in this area.
They're just not having it.
Not sure what to do about it yet, but hey, they just stuck here and I don't know.
We'll figure it out in the future.
And then there's mega Duncan.
Truly, I mean, this thing truly is an absolute unit.
Not many places you can pop this guy, really.
I'm not even going to try to guess how many heads are on this thing.
If you want to take a guess of how many
heads are on this thing, let me know in the comments.
It's a beast of a Duncan.
This is like long term growth here.
I just acquired this coral recently,
and I don't know, it's like almost the size of my aquascape itself.
So like I said,
there's not really much places that you can put this guy.
So I just placed him on the sand back here in the background to add more depth.
I kind of really like it here, though, not going to lie.
I really think it makes the tank come together in a certain way.
I have become a bit of a Rock Flower Anemone collector.
Not collector. That makes it sound like I really have
high end Rock Flower Anemones, which I don't.
I have some nice ones, but I don't know.
I'm not a collector, but I just have a ton of Rock Flower Anemones now.
I'm totally obsessed with these guys.
Despite my slight hatred for anemones.
They always have a mind of their own.
You place them here, they decide to move there,
they never want to stay in place, which is why this time around,
I'm dedicating a whole rock to them in hopes that our back and forth battle
will finally finish and I will be victorious.
But of course, in typical anemone fashion,
they're still not sitting anywhere where I would like them to.
I guess at the end of the day, you can really only force an anemone to do
so much, but it's just so annoying because it always seems like my favorite ones are
the ones that you can't see, and the less nicer ones are all big and bold and open.
It's like, no.
Can we share an equal amount of okay, I'm going to stop right there.
But at least they won't move around
and potentially hurt any other corals on their little solo rock here.
I'm definitely thinking of adding more
on here, though, because, like I said, they don't all open fully.
And I want this rock covered, so hopefully it will look bright
and colorful in the future and get some more variety, not so much red.
And speaking of anemones, I have this awkward rock here on the left
side that you're probably asking a question.
Why is that there?
Well, I attempted to house an anemone here.
I had this beautiful, long tentacled orange and pink anemone.
It was beautiful that I planned a place here is beautiful.
Made this rock for it.
It's like to be like a trap for its leg.
So it's, like, hollow.
If you think of those, like, egg holders, that's, like, the weirdest example.
I don't know why I just thought of that.
But you know the egg holders, how they cup the egg?
I'm essentially cupping or my idea was
to essentially cup the foot of the anemone here.
So it's shaped like a hole,
so it can trap its little leg there so it doesn't move right.
Great. Sounds great.
And it should be great.
But I got the flow wrong.
I got the flow wrong.
And anyway, I was really excited to place it here and watch it blossom.
But it didn't like that flow as much as I thought it would.
And in the middle of the night, it crawled into the powerhead.
It didn't make it, unfortunately.
I caught it early enough
that it was just sick, and then I kind of isolated it.
But it just didn't get better,
and I didn't want to hurt my corals if I were to place it back.
But I still heard about it.
I'm still dream of placing a big old 'nem
here in the future, like one of those long, tentacle, sexy things.
I've always wanted a Colorado Sunburst.
So maybe this will be a future spot for one.
I don't know.
And in terms of future coral additions, y'all already know.
Y'all already know.
I can't wait to add my Acros.
I want tons of Acros.
Beautiful, sticky Acros on all of these ledges here.
All of these ledges will be beautiful, sticky Acros.
You know, counteract
all that movement from all of my LPS.
Sticks are really all that's on my mind right now.
I'm obsessed. I'm addicted.
Not too sure about what other corals I should look at adding otherwise.
Maybe a Trachy?
I don't know.
I've been burned by Trachy's in the past, but I really love them.
So it would be something I would definitely consider.
And, of course, the Colorado Sunburst anemone.
I mean, come on.
I don't know,
what other corals do you think I should add?
What should I add?
Where should I add it?
Let me know in the comments.
I really, really love the way the tank is
shaping up, I think it's starting to look pretty sexy.
Maybe even better than the previous aquascape and coral layout, honestly.
I think it holds a ton
of potential for the future, especially once some of those sexy SPS are in there.
I'm just happy that everything is finally
coming together and like, the nightmarish stage of my tank just
being ugly and me having nothing to report on is finally over.
It's about time.
Seriously...