SPS and leathers, 2 tanks, 1 sump?

[BradB]

I know you are a big fan of not mixing SPS and leathers in the same tank. I am tempted to run 2 tanks, 1 for SPS, and 1 for leathers. I can save 1/2 my budget and 1/2 the maintenance by combining this to a common sump (1 skimmer, 1 pH meter, 1 place to replace water, etc). But do I lose the advantage of having them separate if the water eventually gets mixed together?

 

[loohunter]

i think this is a subject of great debate.in my opinion leathers are very toxic. sending out chemicals to keep other corals from over taking their space.i would think that even though the corals are in different displays they are still sharing the same water. alot of people on this forum do have mixed reefs with great sucsess. if you use lots of carbon keep up on your water changes, heavy skimming and maybe even a little ozone, i think that would help take care of some of the " chemical warfare", of course all of this is just good husbandry. on the other hand if both displays appear to be doing well, could they possibly be doing better if they were in totally separate systems

 

[Scooterman]

Well I've mixed corals like that in the past & still have some. I found if done incorrectly some will dominate while the others will suffer LOL!
Doing strict & though research, I do believe you can find mixtures that won't be so toxic & they will fair well. One last thing would be shear water volume, enough filtration, carbon etc & that would also make a big difference, If kept up consistently.

 

[krisfal]

I recently posted a question regarding mixing leathers and SPS here is that thread if you want to see the responses I received
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36884&highlight=SPS+leathers

I think if your tanks are sharing a sump that it is almost the same as having them in the same tank, the only advantage would be that any toxicity from the leathers would be fully diluted by having gone through the sump prior to reaching the SPS tank. As you will see if you read my thread, it was recommended that I pay attention to the placement of the leathers so that they were not directly up-flow of any SPS.

 

[BradB]

Is there any way to measure this toxicity?

 

[Gordonious]

Probably would be best in two tanks with separate sumps, but it is possible. Lots of carbon would be the most important thing you would want to use to remove toxicity I believe. I've kept many leathers in with a yellow monti cap and it has lived, but they haven't been in together that long.

If you plan on ever cutting up the leathers I would highly suggest different systems. They always release a little bit of toxins where are detrimental to hard corals, but when you start cutting them up it is on. You'll realize how much so the first time you cut one as you will smell it, especially sarcophytons.

Just my two cents.