Question about coral tentacles

Vaesive · 10/11/2015, 10:04 PM

Hey all!

So I know some corals can spread out tentacles at night that can sting other coral and could possibly kill them. My question is this: will members of the same species but different frags kill each other? I mean, at first thought I figure they would (survival of the fittest and all) but then started thinking that coral live in colonies. If I were to have a green hammer coral and a purple hammer coral near reach other, would one or both kill each other? What if one was a frag from the parent coral? Has anyone experimented with this or have any input?

Bent · 10/11/2015, 10:59 PM

I've been wondering the same thing, and I don't see how they could hurt one another.

Ron Reefman · 10/12/2015, 03:54 AM

Corals are just like people. Some of them get along just fine and some like to fight with everybody and the rest fall somewhere in between. And just like people, some can be the same genetic make up and some can be very different genetic make up, it doesn't seem to be any hard fast rules as to who gets along and who doesn't. Think of your tank as a big city with thousands; tens of thousands; maybe even hundreds of thousands of people... I mean polyps, all living close together. Sometimes things work out well, sometimes gang fights breakout and sometimes there is even civil war!

10/11/2015, 10:04 PM	#1
Vaesive Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Loveland, CO Posts: 37	Question about coral tentacles Hey all! So I know some corals can spread out tentacles at night that can sting other coral and could possibly kill them. My question is this: will members of the same species but different frags kill each other? I mean, at first thought I figure they would (survival of the fittest and all) but then started thinking that coral live in colonies. If I were to have a green hammer coral and a purple hammer coral near reach other, would one or both kill each other? What if one was a frag from the parent coral? Has anyone experimented with this or have any input?

10/11/2015, 10:59 PM	#2
Bent I got nothin' Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The anals Posts: 6,420	I've been wondering the same thing, and I don't see how they could hurt one another. __________________ Quitters never lose. [QUOTE=CStrickland]Who gets mad at a starfish?[/QUOTE] Current Tank Info: 75g DT, 30G refugium, 10g chaeto tank, 50g stock tank basement sump

10/12/2015, 03:54 AM	#3
Ron Reefman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Coral, FL Posts: 10,431	Corals are just like people. Some of them get along just fine and some like to fight with everybody and the rest fall somewhere in between. And just like people, some can be the same genetic make up and some can be very different genetic make up, it doesn't seem to be any hard fast rules as to who gets along and who doesn't. Think of your tank as a big city with thousands; tens of thousands; maybe even hundreds of thousands of people... I mean polyps, all living close together. Sometimes things work out well, sometimes gang fights breakout and sometimes there is even civil war! __________________ The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. (Neil deGrasse Tyson) Visit my build thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593017