Anyone keeping Softie tanks?

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My 32 gal biocube softie tank. As you can see, none of the toadstools or the devil's hand are polyped out. They haven't opened consistently in over a year, but the sinularia, nepthea, and zoas/palys grow like there's no tomorrow. I have experimented with more/less lighting, more/less flow. I thought my nitrates were the culprit (25 consistently) so I tried vodka dosing and the yellow fiji leather turned black. I tried fragging off the dead parts but I still think it's a goner :(

Any thoughts are appreciated! I've posted about this in the past but feel like softies don't get the attention they deserve LOL.


826df59e4093c84964edf9a866152bba.jpg
 
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The
CindyKz said:
My 32 gal biocube softie tank. As you can see, none of the toadstools or the devil's hand are polyped out. They haven't opened consistently in over a year, but the sinularia, nepthea, and zoas/palys grow like there's no tomorrow. I have experimented with more/less lighting, more/less flow. I thought my nitrates were the culprit (25 consistently) so I tried vodka dosing and the yellow fiji leather turned black. I tried fragging off the dead parts but I still think it's a goner :(

Any thoughts are appreciated! I've posted about this in the past but feel like softies don't get the attention they deserve LOL.


826df59e4093c84964edf9a866152bba.jpg
Click to expand...
What intensity is your light set at? It looks pretty close to the waters surface
 
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I ran a gorgonia tank for over 5 years until I had to replace my glass tank due to leaking. During that move, I had a lot of delays and ended up losing many gorgs, but I also sold some too. I decided to go the anemone and leather route. I wanted flow like gorgs, but the anemones like carpets.

So, I will try to get some pictures of my current set up. I have been keeping soft corals for over 15 years.

The sinularia you have is ticked and may have gotten an infection. This happened to one of my super large leathers with the move. I took it out, fragged it into small clean pieces, soaked in an iodine dip, returned to a frag tank to heal.

Almost all survived. I lost a few (litterally lost them in the rockwork), sold some, and now many are popping up from rocks. The larger frags have grown so much.

I would seriously consider doing this with your guy before infection spreads. I had a green palua and had to do that same thing after about 5 years. I think the gorgs took it out. That is hard to do as the green sinularia like to kill most corals.

Good luck!
 
CindyKz said:
My 32 gal biocube softie tank. As you can see, none of the toadstools or the devil's hand are polyped out. They haven't opened consistently in over a year, but the sinularia, nepthea, and zoas/palys grow like there's no tomorrow. I have experimented with more/less lighting, more/less flow. I thought my nitrates were the culprit (25 consistently) so I tried vodka dosing and the yellow fiji leather turned black. I tried fragging off the dead parts but I still think it's a goner :(

Any thoughts are appreciated! I've posted about this in the past but feel like softies don't get the attention they deserve LOL.


826df59e4093c84964edf9a866152bba.jpg
Click to expand...

IME leathers can be very temperamental. Perhaps they are fighting one another with chemicals?
 
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Have been keeping softies for years. My thoughts which may be wrong:
Pick a lighting intensity and stick with it
Don’t carbon dose
Do water changes
Maintain stability just like sps guys do. They have to. You don’t but your corals will appreciate it
Run carbon in a bag or reactor and keep it changed every week or two.
 
Yes, softies fight very much with chemical warfare. Make sure you are running carbon in a softie system. They shed and need good flow to get rid of it. Lighting can vary with animal. Stability is great, but they will want a higher nitrate and phosphate concentration than sps and love to eat.
 
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Jrain904 said:
IME leathers can be very temperamental. Perhaps they are fighting one another with chemicals?
Click to expand...


Bfoot said:
Have been keeping softies for years. My thoughts which may be wrong:
Pick a lighting intensity and stick with it
Don’t carbon dose
Do water changes
Maintain stability just like sps guys do. They have to. You don’t but your corals will appreciate it
Run carbon in a bag or reactor and keep it changed every week or two.
Click to expand...


DeniseAndy said:
Yes, softies fight very much with chemical warfare. Make sure you are running carbon in a softie system. They shed and need good flow to get rid of it. Lighting can vary with animal. Stability is great, but they will want a higher nitrate and phosphate concentration than sps and love to eat.
Click to expand...


I gave up on the carbon dosing, that was a short lived experiment anyway. I also gave up on adjusting the lights, it didn't seem to matter.

That leaves chemical warfare, something I've considered. I think I'll try changing my carbon more frequently and increasing the volume of my weekly water changes. See what happens. Won't hurt.

I am curious what other softie-keepers' nitrates are at? I always thought 25 would be ok, I only tried bringing it down because I couldn't think of much else.
 
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I just introduced my first two acan frags. First corals into the tank! I currently have 2 radion xr30's, set to max at 8% during the day. Any lighting advice with radions and softies and newbies?? lol
 
CindyKz said:
I gave up on the carbon dosing, that was a short lived experiment anyway. I also gave up on adjusting the lights, it didn't seem to matter.

That leaves chemical warfare, something I've considered. I think I'll try changing my carbon more frequently and increasing the volume of my weekly water changes. See what happens. Won't hurt.

I am curious what other softie-keepers' nitrates are at? I always thought 25 would be ok, I only tried bringing it down because I couldn't think of much else.
Click to expand...

Since I am so early on in my tank (6 months) I am still tying to feel that out. Currently, I’m stuck at .5 or 0. I’ve been working hard to get it up. I haven’t done a water change in 3 weeks, and my softy corals are loving it. My zoas have suddenly started spreading and my toadstool got a bit larger. So, now that I’m registering .5, my goal is to push it up to 5 or so, very slowly and see what happens. I used to change my water every Sunday. About a 7% water change. That practice, at least for right now, is out the window.
 
Honestly, have not tested nitrates in years. I am sure they are not on the low end though. Maybe one day I will test them again. I just monitor animals health and know the signs of needing some extra carbon, water, nutrients, etc. Over time, you get to know your animals like that.
 
mikus said:
I just introduced my first two acan frags. First corals into the tank! I currently have 2 radion xr30's, set to max at 8% during the day. Any lighting advice with radions and softies and newbies?? lol
Click to expand...
Acans are not considered softies because they have a calcareous skeleton. They are classified as Large Polyp Stoney Coral (LPS). Observe the corals and see how they are doing. You can slowly ramp up your lights (1% every few days) and see how they react. When they react negatively, turn down the light a percent and leave it there.
 
Very nice!. Is that a Gorgonian in the top right when the video begins? I'd love to add that to my tank.
 
Proximity question. I noticed several of you have leathers close together. Don't they fight with each other? I try to keep mine spaced apart, which sadly limits what I can put in my tank, but if putting them closer is okay---well---I got more room for stuff ;) LOL


Edited to add: I run carbon and purigen both.
 

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