Overcrowding coral

[Wiehow]

Everything you read says corals need distance from eachother because of stingers and long sweeper tentacles (some sweepers 6 inches). However, many pictures of reef tanks I see on this forum show many corals crowded together in same tank, many touching or nearly touching eachother. It looks good and that is the look I'd like to achieve but is it really OK. Is the talk about keeping distance between corals overhyped? Any input you have on this is much appreciated. Thanks.

[sporto0]

What you see is a carefully choreographed plan that has come from years of experience, good & bad in coral placement, but the fact that corals sting each other is not hype! Here is a quick & simple rule of thumb, SPS corals can be kept together, no problems, LPS are the most agressive corals with sweepers that can sometimes be 3 or 4 times the length of the coral, IME LPS can be kept together with caution, Soft corals have a different weapon, toxins, they should not be put directly next to SPS, but generally get along with most LPS. SPS corals have the least defenses & are better kept seperately or away from other agressive corals. This of course is a very general statement & there will be examples of what I have described that won't work, or will work over the course of time. Nightime observation is the key.

[tmz]

Study the individual species you plan to keep and place them accordingly. Stiinging tentacles are not over hyped and can be surprisingly long on some specimens .Often they extend at night when you're not looking and leave evidence a good distance away on a damaged neighbor. Even sps sting each other when they grow to a point where they touch.