Birdsnest proximity

[Jeff Cole]

I'm a newbie to this hobby and recently placed my first birdsnest coral in my reef tank. I am planning on placing a number near each other and in proximity to a plating Montipora. Will the different type of birdsnest corals sting each other?
Thanks for your help

 

[mtraylor]

Plating Montiporas are beautiful but spread and cover allot of area. It will shade everything around it. Probably not a good idea to place any corals around it. different types of acros will always compete for space.

 

[dansreef]

I agree on the plating monti.... find a place where it can grow where it will not shade other corals. In the past, I have had 3 or 4 different birds nest all grow together and get intertwined. I did not see any issues other than after a couple of years the mass of birds nests were a bit unsightly. The inner parts would die off and the mass would grow outward to get light. It was pretty cool until I started trimming it back. That is where the dead under all the growth showed. I ended up pulling the whole mass out and cutting it up into frags. I remember having ORA green fused with some bird of paradise... an then some ponape and a yellow all in about a quarter sized chunk. Unfortunately I lost the frag.

So, to answer your question... yes birds nests can be in close proximity. They do grow fast...and will intertwine.

 

[Jeff Cole]

I agree on the plating monti.... find a place where it can grow where it will not shade other corals. In the past, I have had 3 or 4 different birds nest all grow together and get intertwined. I did not see any issues other than after a couple of years the mass of birds nests were a bit unsightly. The inner parts would die off and the mass would grow outward to get light. It was pretty cool until I started trimming it back. That is where the dead under all the growth showed. I ended up pulling the whole mass out and cutting it up into frags. I remember having ORA green fused with some bird of paradise... an then some ponape and a yellow all in about a quarter sized chunk. Unfortunately I lost the frag.

So, to answer your question... yes birds nests can be in close proximity. They do grow fast...and will intertwine.

Great info. Thanks the monti is in a spot that will work for a while. Thanks for the heads up on the birdsnest. I'll try to keep it trimmed over time if I can. Thanks again for the guidance. Much appreciated.

 

[jhuntington12]

Great info. Thanks the monti is in a spot that will work for a while. Thanks for the heads up on the birdsnest. I'll try to keep it trimmed over time if I can. Thanks again for the guidance. Much appreciated.

Birdsnest love flow too, so pump as much at it as you can.