Softy take over

[ahud]

Are there any dangers of letting fast growing corals such as pulsing xenias, zoas, pallys, and kenyi trees dominate a tank? Are the chemicals released by corals dangerous?


Will the corals limit themselves to only taking over the rock?

I love the look of softies flowing in the current, so for my 40b I want to just let them tank over.

[joejoe1055]

i've seen plenty grow up the glass

[johnwonus]

It is a good idea to keep the fast growing coral like xenia from taking over. They will move about your tank and over other corals. If left unchecked they will completely take over. I frag mine and sell them to a lfs. I don't think you have to worry about chemicals being released unless they get stung by aggressive corals and die in the tank. Zoos and palys are quite aggressive and can kill weaker corals but I would let them grow, grow, and grow. Just keep a hadle on the xenias and kenya trees. JMO.

[Canadian Reefer]

If that is what you like let them go crazy. They will leave your rock and go on your substrate and glass but that is easily enough taken care of, and you can take the frags and trade them for money or credit at your LFS. Dont worry about chemical warfare between these corals.

Consider yourself lucky that you took a liking to some of the easiest corals to take care of not to mention some of the fastest growers

[ahud]

Everybody tells me that I won't be satisfied with the easy corals for long lol.

Are there any corals that grow so fast that I would be better off doing without them?

[Canadian Reefer]

Dont worry about what everyone tells you about your tastes. You like what you like. GSP grow pretty fast but if that is what you want enjot them and all the other softies you put in there. Remember my friend this is your hobby, and its up to you how you decide to enjoy it.

[S13<3]

Originally Posted by Canadian Reefer

Dont worry about what everyone tells you about your tastes. You like what you like. GSP grow pretty fast but if that is what you want enjot them and all the other softies you put in there. Remember my friend this is your hobby, and its up to you how you decide to enjoy it.

this

[WhoDey64]

Originally Posted by Canadian Reefer

Dont worry about what everyone tells you about your tastes. You like what you like. GSP grow pretty fast but if that is what you want enjot them and all the other softies you put in there. Remember my friend this is your hobby, and its up to you how you decide to enjoy it.

Somebody who gets it for once. Like Canadian reefer says, don't go for what people tell you to like, keep what makes you happy.

[ahud]

You guys are right, but it feels like there are levels in the hobby. People give a lot more attention to tanks that have more fragile species.

I think it looks like a fruit stand when people have tons of frags and are trying to arrange them so you can see every one. I just want to more or less let my corals take over naturally. I have done planted tanks in the past and I want to apply the same aquascapeing techniques to my reef.

Thanks for the feedback guys,

[Mylilreef]

i agree with you on the fruit stand look. you dont see fruit stands on the natural reefs,so why do it at home. i have a couple randomly thrown in piles and get compliments all the time, usually from fruitstanders!

[Chris27]

I keep a softy and LPS tank, and there isn't a soul who comes through the door and asks where the SPS is.....they just stare. Softy's are beautiful, and look spectacular when waving with the current.

[ahud]

Thanks guys!

I really want to do a biotope type tank, but I can't find much information that is specific enough. I think it would look really cool to have only three our four different corals in large amounts. It's frustrating because I don't know many coral species.

I need to get a camera so I can do a build thread.

[jefathome]

Originally Posted by Mylilreef

i agree with you on the fruit stand look. you dont see fruit stands on the natural reefs,so why do it at home. i have a couple randomly thrown in piles and get compliments all the time, usually from fruitstanders!

+ 1,000,000.... That is why I went with this setup (Pic from before I started adding corals)

[SwampyBill]

+1 on going with what YOU like...& watch that xenia & kenya tree don't take over. I'm always finding broken branches of kenya tree sprouting all over my tank; & a buddy with a 105 gal tank has a xenia 'bush' about 4'x3' that has literally taken over his tank. Not much else in the tank; that much pulsing xenia is mesmerizing & it's quite impressive, but multiplies quicker than rabbits or guppies... Good luck & enjoy this addiction, er, hobby!

[dmarkham]

I picked up a second tank set up not to long ago and it will be a softies tank. I have sps and lps coral in the other tank. I am looking forward to having a tank that does not need as much time and $$$ as the other one. I also think the corals moving in the current are nice to look at. The colors are not as bright. The movement more then makes up for it.

[dmarkham]

Originally Posted by jefathome

+ 1,000,000.... That is why I went with this setup (Pic from before I started adding corals)

Did you do the background with foam or cement? I tried a foam wall once and it failed to stay attached to the back glass.

[aleonn]

Wow, that's a great rock wall back!

[Lynnmw1208]

Originally Posted by WhoDey64

Somebody who gets it for once. Like Canadian reefer says, don't go for what people tell you to like, keep what makes you happy.

I agree with this as well. I don't care if people want me to keep SPS, I love softies and I'm sticking to it!

[jefathome]

Originally Posted by dmarkham

Did you do the background with foam or cement? I tried a foam wall once and it failed to stay attached to the back glass.

For the main two sections (everything to the right of the overflow) I did the build "external" using a plywood "jig" I built. It is foam over egg-crate.
Since I too attempted this in the past and had a "floating" wall I took some additional steps this time.

1) About 10min after spraying the foam I then pressed it down to get most of the air out. This makes it harder AND less bouyant. The back wall is only maybe 1in thick.

2) The back sections and the bottom sections are connected... and the bottom sections have a bunch of marble slabs embedded in them for weight.

3) I went WAY overboard applying silicone to attach the pieces into the tank.

4) The sections were made tall enough that I actually had to press/wedge them in under the Eurobrace, so they can't go up at all even if they did separate.

5) I did an additional silicone job around all the edges then tossed some dry send on the silicone.


Here is my build thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5#post17062895

[jefathome]

Originally Posted by aleonn

Wow, that's a great rock wall back!

Thanks... where are you in OC? I'm in Mission Viejo.

[jeff@zina.com]

Originally Posted by ahud

I really want to do a biotope type tank...

One problem is that in any natural setting, corals expand to fill the available space. That means many biotypes have only a single coral covering a reef. It also gets tough when you want only three corals, but one's from the Red Sea, one for the Caribbean and the third from a tiny atoll off Palau.

Jeff

And I'll say it -- I like Xenias!

[Sk8r]

Enjoy them. THey'll work out their own territories. If they go onto your glass, scrape them off, rubberband them to a rock, and sell them as frags.

BUT, once they're on your structural rock, you may have to unbuild and get new rock, selling the rest as specimen rocks.

I'm all for new reefers enjoying what tank life does uninhibited. Softie-keeping is a very nice tank. I started out in sps and my lps did so well I just keep to them, mostly. I have one the size of a basket ball, and a once moribund brain has rebounded and started coming back from dead rock.

Life is just fun to watch go.