Do you favor Soft corals or SPS, or LPS

[Ed Hahn]

I have a mixed Reef. I know this is a bad thing. I have blue, pink and red zoos, softies, and SPS, along with a branching hammer, a medium sized scyolymia vitienis that wants to eat the tank, blastemussa wellsi, etc.

What type of Reef are you running?

thanks in Advance
Ed

 

[NaH2O]

I graduated to a Live Rock Reef, hopefully will be an SPS tank before too long.

Do you run carbon on a continual basis, and do you try to keep SPS out of the current from the softies?

 

[reedman]

I too have a mixed reef. It's dominated by SPS, but I do have LPS and some softies. I think plenty of current and a little attention to how the corals look like they are doing on a regular basis allows this. If you want to setup a tank and not look at it every day or two (why I don't know) then I would stick with just on type (soft, LPS, or SPS) in the tank.

 

[Schottman]

I prefer softies and lps. I am currently running a 20 gallon tank....... waiting on IAP to deliever my 120 by the end of July!

Dave

 

[Wolfesbane]

I prefer softies, but have a soft spot for the Euphyllia family of LPS.

~ Steve

 

[reedman]

Ed...Clean out your PM box.

 

[Macbeth417]

I have moslty Sps, a few Lps and some rics and zoos for flavor. I like some softies, but find that unless careful attention is put into placement that I dont like the appearance of softy tanks However, a well thoughtout one can look great, with all that movement.

-Erik

 

[MikeS]

I have softies and LPS....and a clam.....

MikeS

 

[johnsmb]

I love softies, shrooms, zoos and lps. I don't care for the look of sps - which is good because they are more difficult and more expense.

 

[MzWeazelle]

Lots of mushrooms and other softies & LPS, about a dozen fish, one anemone and one SPS - which is doing great as long as nothing comes along and knocks it over!

I know a lot of people are gaga over SPS - and lots of them are beautiful corals - but I like the movement you get with softies.

 

[dwall174]

Softies Here

Being that I'm just getting into corals I just have softies for now! I do plan to upgrade my current PC lights to MH lighting later this fall so I may try some SPS or a clam then!

 

[me35]

I am also running a mixed reef. I think that is looks better with a few soffties and lps with the sps as the major focus. At least thats what I want.

 

[CarlaW]

My 300 is sps dominated, mostly growing frags, with a few lps. The 80 gallon, where it all started is slowly but surely becoming my softie tank. I would really like to upgrade the 80 to something like a 120 or a 150, my sinularia is about ready to touch the sidewalls of the 80

 

[Witfull]

Zo's, Shrooms, Rics, Leathers, Gorgonians,,and,,,what else....oh yeah - CLAMS!!!!

 

[wrightme43]

Leathers, Zoo's, L.P.S., green slimer S.P.S. montipora S.P.S. hygraphora (sp?) clams, blue ridge coral, and quadricolor anemnoes, fish, shrimp, and crabs. Favorite has to be the Zoos. I can't get enough of them. Lots of varible current, Chemipure, polyfilter and skimming seem to keep the toxins in check.

 

[MINIATUS]

I prefer, some softies but have a preference for Torches, Hammers,Candy Canes,Open Brains, Zoos, blushing corals. I run 660watts of VHOs so in time some of the lower light loving clams.

MINIATUS

 

[kevinpo]

I have 109 types of SPS, 13 LPS, and 9 soft corals.

Ed,
It's not always a bad thing to have a mixed tank. It's just that certain soft corals are able to produce a high enough amount of toxins to affect other corals. If you avoid those (I know this can be a challenge) you still have many choices or combinations you can be successful with.

The worst are the Sinularia family, which have a negative affect on some LPS and more SPS but even then not all. So it is possible to keep other LPS and SPS with even Sinularia sp.

The next would be The Lobophytum family.

With the Sarcophyton family it is more hit and miss some (like the Yellow Fiji leather seem to have little or no effect) while other are very toxic.

Most of the Corallimorpharia families (Mushroom corals) are OK unless they come in physical contact in which case they usually win that encounter.

Zooanthids also fall into the category of OK except with physical contact.

The above recommendations are just from my experience but hopefully may be useful as a general guide.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Ed Hahn]

Kevin,
That is why I was hoping you could do a little presentation of this for the group...You have a lot of experience in this area. You know which corals are compatible.
thanks for the heads up
Ed