Leathers with SPS

[krisfal]

I am contemplating taking down my softy tank and focusing my energy on one large tank (the 400g I am having built). I have a few corals in the softy tank that I am fond of and am wondering if I can mix them with my SPS. 2 of the corals (open brain and frogspawn) I am thinking should not be an issue. But I also would like to keep my toadstool and a rather large Yellow Figi leather. Would there be issues with putting the leathers in a predominantly SPS tank?

Thanks in advance for your replies

 

[russellaqua]

As long as there aren't a lot of leathers in the tank it should be just fine. Keep in mind that the leathers will not like the sps tank as much as a leather/LPS tank. They prefer higher nutrient loads in the water that will doom sps. That being said, it can certainly be done. You might want to add some supplements from time to time to give everything some extra nutrients. I find a good Strontium & Molybdenum supplement like that made by Kent Marine makes things look great afterwards.

 

[krisfal]

Thanks for the reply. Although I was thinking more along the lines of will the leathers hurt the SPS, you make a good point about the nutrient levels that the leathers prefer, something I had not thought of. I know my softy tank does well with neglect. I only do water changes once every 3 months or so (when I notice the water looking a little yellow) and everything grows well in that tank. So is there someway I could target feed the leathers that would be effective in providing them the nutrients they would need, so that they could continue to thrive?

 

[russellaqua]

It's hard to target feed specific nutrients. Mainly you'll have to do water changes more often. I also like to feed a variety of foods for filter feeders. I use Kent Marine Phytoplex and Microvert the most. Those will also help out your sps as the particle size is small enough for them too. Just make sure to use foods that are phosphate and nitrate free or the sps will die. The growth of the leathers might be slowed a bit, but they grow so quickly anyway it will still be noticeable. There are many instances when the two are kept together successfully. Just don't overload the tank with leathers or their toxins will kill off the sps, and never allow them to touch. Aggressive carbon filtration and skimming can help with the toxins released by the leathers. That will allow you to keep more that you otherwise could if you chose to. With a 400 gallon tank you can keep a lot anyway since there's so much water volume to dilute any toxins. You could probably put everything from your 46 bow in there and be just fine.

 

[krisfal]

Thank you Mark! Just what I was looking for in advice. It will help alot in making the decision.

I think I will pass on putting in everything from the 46 bow I have a lot of mushrooms in there that would quickly fill up the 400g given the chance, those things grow and multiply like weeds

 

[russellaqua]

No problem. Always happy to help.

 

[Coral Ranch]

russellaqua gave very good advise the only thing I would add is to try and keep the leathers down flow of the sps to avoid mucus shedding off the leathers getting on your sps

 

[krisfal]

Thank you Coral Ranch. I will keep that in mind. I think I about have myself convinced to just run one tank.