Coral stinging questions

[jdubDaReefGuy]

I currently have 3 softie frags. 1 Kenya tree, 1 Xenia, and 1 green finger leather. I would like to add something like a hammer or frogspawn but wonder if it would be able to defend itself from the Xenia/kenya growing near it or trying to grow over it. Will the hammer be able to push them away?

 

[tzabor10]

I currently have 3 softie frags. 1 Kenya tree, 1 Xenia, and 1 green finger leather. I would like to add something like a hammer or frogspawn but wonder if it would be able to defend itself from the Xenia/kenya growing near it or trying to grow over it. Will the hammer be able to push them away?

I would think that the Euphyllia would have much more sting than any Kenya. What does your tank look like?

 

[crazyfishmom]

I currently have 3 softie frags. 1 Kenya tree, 1 Xenia, and 1 green finger leather. I would like to add something like a hammer or frogspawn but wonder if it would be able to defend itself from the Xenia/kenya growing near it or trying to grow over it. Will the hammer be able to push them away?

The hammer will likely be the one doing the stinging but those softies will not care. I would encourage you to try to keep them in little islands away from anything else so they don’t take over the tank.

 

[jdubDaReefGuy]

I would think that the Euphyllia would have much more sting than any Kenya. What does your tank look like?

This is the aqua scape. Not looking for anything challenging like sps so I got some skeletons to add some texture. But the goal is to have one or two types of euphyllia where the red x’s are. And then let the anthelia kinda grow everywhere else. And the Kenya and finger leather should grow taller than the anthelia. Kinda like a grass and trees situation. Is that something that would be possible?

 

[jdubDaReefGuy]

The hammer will likely be the one doing the stinging but those softies will not care. I would encourage you to try to keep them in little islands away from anything else so they don’t take over the tank.

The goal is for them to take over empty places in the rockwork. Just want to make sure the hammers can hold them back from growing over it.

 

[crazyfishmom]

The goal is for them to take over empty places in the rockwork. Just want to make sure the hammers can hold them back from growing over it.

I don’t believe anthelia will grow over other corals like Xenia would so that should be good. The Kenya tree just throws babies into the tank so it shouldn’t be a problem for euphyllia either. The finger leather will not grow over other corals.

 

[tzabor10]

I like to place Euphyllia on a rock as an anchor and place that in the sand. It can be easily moved if needed, or glued to the structure

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The hammer will have stinger tentacles, just need to put the leather coral further than the stinger tentacle can reach. Usually 5"-6" is enough.

Leather corals, xenia, kenya tree don't have stinger tentacle, they release toxins in the water that slowly kill other corals in the area. So for this you should run activated carbon to suck the toxins out of the water. Also, arrange the flow, so that toxins does not flow from leather directly to coral.

 

[jdubDaReefGuy]

The hammer will have stinger tentacles, just need to put the leather coral further than the stinger tentacle can reach. Usually 5"-6" is enough.

Leather corals, xenia, kenya tree don't have stinger tentacle, they release toxins in the water that slowly kill other corals in the area. So for this you should run activated carbon to suck the toxins out of the water. Also, arrange the flow, so that toxins does not flow from leather directly to coral.

So since the euphillia has sweeper tentacles, it will be able to stop the softies from growing over it. Is that a safe assumption?

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Don’t think of your corals sweeper tentacles as a way to keep other corals from growing over them. When any contact is made to soft corals like leathers, Sinularioua, kenya tree etc. toxins are emitted. You can’t see nor test for toxins. This ongoing recipe for your tank will limit your future success with other animals. Goniopora, clams, sps etc. keep all softies separate from each other. If they’re outgrowing the tank, buy a larger tank.lol. Good luck.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

So since the euphillia has sweeper tentacles, it will be able to stop the softies from growing over it. Is that a safe assumption?

Thats correct. And likewise, the leather corals will emit toxins if the hammer grows too close to them. All corals will somehow protect themselves from other corals, it is a forever war. Some corals are extremely aggressive to kill and expand, so "coral aggression" is just as important as lighting and flow requirements.

If you look at pics of natural coral reefs, you can often see only one type of coral for miles and miles, because it killed all the others.