So CONFUSED

[cookie]

I am really confused about corals. I know you are supposed to give them all room and their fair share amount of realestate however, I see tanks on line that are so beautiful and it appears the coral overlap and stuff. My tank looks so random with all of my corals so spaced out. I am misunderstanding something or so some people let corals overtake eachother?

 

[Myteemouse]

Don't mix up some corals.
I was just a tracy's yesterday and one acro frag fell on another and one got "zapped" by the other..
Most appear over laped but there is usually just a hint of space between colonies

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Some corals play well with each other, others don't. I often see pictures of tanks that have obviously been taken immediately after a BUNCH of corals have been added, all right next to each other. Y'know... bubbles right next to a torch, and the torch right next to a SPS. Looks great at the time, but down the road a couple months... it probably looks like a war zone.

I don't think you're misunderstanding things - just make sure you research your new purchases BEFORE you permanently place them (preferable before you buy them!) and try to learn from others mistakes!

 

[returnofsid]

Keep in mind that a lot of the pictures you see started out with small frags, separated by lots of space. But those corals have grown out and are now "keeping each other at bay," or being fragged, on a regular basis, to keep them from battling each other.

 

[Myteemouse]

it took a hairy mushroom all of ten minutes to kill an acan frag of mine..

 

[DonW]

You just need time, experience, money and photoshop.

Don

 

[Herefishyfishy]

My 180 sps tank had many different Acropora corals touching each other. Different Milli's, and Montis touching each other too. All grew fine and looked great!

THAT WAS UNTIL the tank experienced a small cycle and EVERY coral that had been touching RTNed within a few weeks. Lost a boat load of prized specimens

Under perfect conditions, almost anything is possible. When something becomes less than perfect, watch out below!

 

[cookie]

well good to know i am on the right track then. I think I just need to add more live rock so that I can better stagger my corals.

 

[Ed Hahn]

sorry read below..

 

[Ed Hahn]

Cookie,
The most common mistake for reefers is not mixing salt to Manufacturers designed recommended ratio. If a salt mix is designed to work at 1.025 or 1.026 for best results. Then mix it to that ratio.

A common mistake I see is people having saltwater with specific gravity of 1.020-1.023 having chemical issues. I hear the "I can never get Calcium and Alk and magnesium levels stable" is usually the complaint.

So when ever you test for Salinity do it at least three times and then estimate. You will thank yourself in long run.

Good luck, Ed

Oops sorry. Corals do compete for territory. Softies produce attringents.
LPS have sweeping tentacles, SPS slime or attack when touching. So remember this when you add any type of coral into your tank. Flow will help, spacing will help, charcoal is always advised with softies.

 

[roscoe]

You just need time, experience, money and photoshop.

Don

I love your answer Don except the photo shop:lol::lol: So so true.

 

[jag3534]

Frequent water changes and charcoal, and skimming, are the keys to keeping the coral allelopathy (chemical warfare) under control. Anthony Calfo recommends 6-10" between corals, and corals in the same family ( mushrooms, zoas, montis, euphylias) can be closer together, but still with caution. And remember those crazy show tanks are on mags & stuff for a reason! They are cRAzY Show tanks, run by experts, usually wqith incredible amounts of equipment.

 

[brandyrb]

We left like 5-6" between our sps frags when we first placed them and within a year and a half some were touching. That's when I start fragging. Some are really fast growers and some are really slow growers, so I cut back the really fast growers to give the others a chance. I had two montipora caps grow into eachother. They battled a bit then grew in around eachother. I've noticed the same thing with my sps.