sps's with leather corals?

[Herefishyfishy]

Never had problems mixing SPS and Leather corals! But that is just me!

Ditto

Wanted to add, that the only time my sps tank started a crash was when i removed all the softys. They were doing massive water filtration thru feeding

 

[as1720]

Ditto

Wanted to add, that the only time my sps tank started a crash was when i removed all the softys. They were doing massive water filtration thru feeding

I just looked at your tank are those red rics? or are they just orange? I have the same ones and just cant tell!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I just looked at your tank are those red rics? or are they just orange? I have the same ones and just cant tell!

Red. All from a single quarter sized one I bought as a pink years ago
Ditto on the greens. Have dozens of each now and some of the reds get 5" across at times

 

[travis_]

How do we know that GSP are toxic? I have had GSP in my previous tank and am growing a lot in my current tank and this is the first time I have heard this. I have a plan to have a GSP lawn on the bottom of my bare bottom 100 gallon tank. Is this a bad idea? I have had some issues with RTN and some SPSs.

tHaNkS

 

[jag3534]

According to anthony calfo, GSP, and leathers are two of the most chemically strong (you know what i mean) of all the corals. those two will release the most chemicals and attack the most. Toadstools are up there too.

 

[kdwal]

View attachment 33344

So Looking at these photos with all the leathers & GSP; is that the reasons that I can't keep much else going in this tank anymore? Use to have purple mushrooms and much more, but they all dwindled into nothingness.

Thanks for reply you very smart SWF people

Kathy

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Most likely the mushroom demise was from other reasons as they are not bothered by leathers. Perhaps they didn't get enough food or light or good enough water

 

[kdwal]

water parameters have always been good, new bulbs. Candy cane seen in pic started with 3 heads, umbrella on the left started as a small frag and splits like crazy, have several small babies. Would like to get more color in tank but I'm afraid to add much as I don't want it to die and if the leathers & GSP are partly to blame then I could easily get the majority out of the tank and make way for some LPS & SPS. Thanks for the guidance.

Kathy

 

[Sascha D]

My 180 had devil's hand leather mixed in with a bunch of lps, mushrooms and polyps. once I added a large toadstool, the GSP and yellow polyps died off within the week but nothing else seemed to be effected. I had kept the mix for about 3 years but never tried to add any polyps. The frogspawn and hammer corals did especially well, while the mushrooms did well individually (good color, full extension ect) but did not spread beyond each individual polyp. I'm not sure I would associate the two but its wierd to not have mushrooms spread for 3 years hehe.

water parameters have always been good, new bulbs. Candy cane seen in pic started with 3 heads, umbrella on the left started as a small frag and splits like crazy, have several small babies. Would like to get more color in tank but I'm afraid to add much as I don't want it to die and if the leathers & GSP are partly to blame then I could easily get the majority out of the tank and make way for some LPS & SPS. Thanks for the guidance.

Whats your light period?

 

[kdwal]

Interesting. I had some really nice mushrooms and polyps until I was given the leathers & GSP. Then the mushrooms started shrinking and falling off the rocks, have one very small purple left. I never associated the two until I read this thread. hence, the question. Very curious.......

 

[kevinpo]

Then the mushrooms started shrinking and falling off the rocks, have one very small purple left.

Hello Kathy,
I notice in your second picture just behind the Candy Cane/Trumpet (Caulastrea sp.) there is a Cabbage (Sinularia dura). The very large genera of Sinularia contains species that have the ability to produce chemicals called terpenes that they use to defend or increase their living space on the reef. In the tiny confines of the home aquarium they can quickly build up and overcome corals that do not have a resistance to them. The impact can be mitigated somewhat by the use of carbon and regular water changes (20% every 3-4 weeks).

That being said, Mushroom corals (Order Corallimorpharia) are not usually reported to be adversely affected but the description you gave (quote above) would be most often associated with an irritant of some type. Examples would be sudden changes in salinity, temperature or water chemistry. You don't mention the time frame between the time you added the new corals and the negative reaction of the Mushroom corals. What is your frequency/percentage of water changes?

Regards,
Kevin

 

[kdwal]

Kevin:
Water changes usually weekly, about 20% sometimes every other week. (actually have an aquarium guy that comes weekly) Checks water parameters etc. I can't really recall when the mushrooms started to go away in relation to the the leathers being added but I also had an outbreak of hair algae and I thought that was what caused the problem. I have tried adding some small rocks with mushrooms since and they just don't seem to like it. I do know that at one point "water for change" in the winter was too cold and almost lost the plate coral, but it recovred nicely.
I do appreciate your input on this subject. I really do want to add some color to the tank but not at the risk of new stuff dying. Willing to make changes as necessary. Oh yeah, use carbon in the filter every other week.

Thanks again,
Kathy

 

[brandyrb]

I figured I'd add to this thread. When we first started the hobby we had all soft corals and I thought I got all the GSP and mushrooms off the rock before adding it to the 300 gal. sps tank. Anyway, I missed a few and they took off. About 40 lbs of rock got mushrooms or green star polyps growing on it, but I didn't have any sps on that same rock. I did have a RBTA on the same rock though.

A couple weeks ago our RBTA split and in doing so decided to travel all along the GSP. At first I didn't think anything of it, then I noticed that a really pretty purple sps turned completely brown and lost polyp extension. A few days later, one of my garf bonsai colonies started to STN from the base up. Then a few days after that, both my ora chips acro colonies started losing flesh on their tips and sliming and my oregon tort stopped polyping. Overnight, a becker tort frag and yellow tort frag started to lose the flesh on their tips.

We finally figured out that all of these corals were on the same side of the tank as the GSP and down wind from them. I think the anemones ticked the GSP off. All the corals, even the same species on the other end of the tank are unaffected. Anyway, we just spent a couple of hours removing all the rock with GSP or mushrooms and placed it in another tank.

I had cured LR in a 40 breeder that was going to be a sps/lps tank so it replaced the rock we removed from the 300.

I'd like to move some zoas to the 40 breeder that now houses the GSP, mushrooms and anemones and was curious if they would be affected by the toxins released by GSP? I wanted to break all the GSP and mushrooms off the rock, but just moving it all was a lot of work and Mike doesn't want to break all the big pieces of rock as they're really nice looking.

 

[kevinpo]

I'd like to move some zoas to the 40 breeder that now houses the GSP, mushrooms and anemones and was curious if they would be affected by the toxins released by GSP?

Although they can be affected they have a much higher tolerance than SPS type corals. They are found in similar habitats and are often kept together in home aquariums without problems. Monthly water changes and the use of carbon will help reduce the accumulation of toxins.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[brandyrb]

Thanks. Do you know if zoas release toxins that can affect sps?

 

[kevinpo]

Do you know if zoas release toxins that can affect sps?

Only if crushed or cut and fluid is released into the surrounding water.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[brandyrb]

Thanks again. One last question. I want to run carbon on the 300 which probably has a total water volume of 350-400 gals (with the sump), but all the filters I've seen aren't rated for more than 125 gals. Any recommendations? Will water changes be enough to remove what the GSP released?

 

[kevinpo]

1/2 cup carbon per 50 gallons in a bag will be more cost effective and work well. The bag must be placed so water flows through it, not just floating in the sump.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[brandyrb]

Thanks, I had posted my last question before I called you. I rinsed the activated carbon in fresh RODI water and put enough for 400 gals in media bags. Then I made a rack out of eggcrate the whole length of our baffles and placed it inbetween two baffles with the activated carbon on top. It did slow the flow down a little bit, but the water is flowing through the carbon. The black soot I rinsed out of the carbon turned my hand and fingernails a lovely shade of grey. It took a few hand washings to get it off.

 

[kevinpo]

Then I made a rack out of egg crate the whole length of our baffles and placed it in between two baffles with the activated carbon on top.

One of the most effective ways to utilize carbon IMO.

Regards,
Kevin