does someone have a coral cheat sheet for dummies??

[smitten with ocean life]

does someone have a chart that tells how to know which corals get along with which? i know some torches cant be next to each other, and some things dont like to be close to leathers. but i would really like to start putting some of my newer corals in a more permanent spot. how do i know what makes a good neighbor without trial and error?

 

[SaltySqueeble]

You want to give your corals plenty of space in between to grow out. Don’t put unlike corals on the same rock, or if you do, be prepared for them to sting each other. Generally, Corals of the same species can usually be together. Hammers with hammers. Torch with torch. Acans with acans. Acros with acros. Torches can be tricky, like you said. Aussie varieties don’t always like Indo varieties. Try to stick with a common ground.
There are lots of corals that do not sting at all and can be happy amongst others. Such as: zoas, Duncan, blastos, Xenia. But, There will always be some trial and error. There’s no way to know 100% what will do well together because there are so many variations in each species. You can research specific corals in these threads or YouTube and get more specifics.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

thanks!

 

[Joe31415]

There are lots of corals that do not sting at all and can be happy amongst others. Such as: zoas, Duncan, blastos, Xenia

My blastos are in the process of killing a lepto (I think it's a lepto, I'm not there to look at it).

I also wouldn't have guessed that ricordea mushrooms would kill other things. Had I known that, I would've put more effort into controlling them.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

exactly what im trying to figure out and avoid!

 

[Naekuh]

Cheat Sheet... do not get Xenias unless your in for one heck of a ride.

They are very pretty the LFS said..
They look cool with the clasping the LFS said...

They will Leach all your phosphate, and nitrate, causing cyano and GHA issues... the LFS failed to say.
They will take over your entire tank, and are a PITFA to remove... the LFS wont tell you this because he wants to sell it.

 

[SaltySqueeble]

My blastos are in the process of killing a lepto (I think it's a lepto, I'm not there to look at it).

I also wouldn't have guessed that ricordea mushrooms would kill other things. Had I known that, I would've put more effort into controlling them.

Oh shoot. What type of blastos do you have?

 

[SaltySqueeble]

Cheat Sheet... do not get Xenias unless your in for one heck of a ride.

They are very pretty the LFS said..
They look cool with the clasping the LFS said...

They will Leach all your phosphate, and nitrate, causing cyano and GHA issues... the LFS failed to say.
They will take over your entire tank, and are a PITFA to remove... the LFS wont tell you this because he wants to sell it.

I feel ya. I have had to trim quite a bit out of my tank. If it splits off of its designated rock, I put on a frag plug, move it to the frag tank, give it away, throw it away. LFS won’t take it. My wife loves those but trying to get her into torches, lol. the torches are keeping it at bay now.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

are these ricordea mushrooms??? theyre the 2 different kinds of mushrooms

i have

 

[SaltySqueeble]

Doesn’t look like ricordia to me. More like discosoma, maybe rhodactis in the first one.

 

[Don’tFearTheReefer]

I feel ya. I have had to trim quite a bit out of my tank. If it splits off of its designated rock, I put on a frag plug, move it to the frag tank, give it away, throw it away. LFS won’t take it. My wife loves those but trying to get her into torches, lol. the torches are keeping it at bay now.

Actually a really clever idea using aggressive coral to keep invasive coral at bay! I’ve not seen this mentioned before, definitely something i’ll bear in mind!

 

[Joe31415]

do not get Xenias unless your in for one heck of a ride.

I picked up a frag with some type of clove polyp on it. It just sat there on the plug for months in my QT. Then I put it in the DT and now I've got a ton of it. Hitting it with kalk paste every few weeks as, at least so far, kept it contained to one small area.

Actually a really clever idea using aggressive coral to keep invasive coral at bay! I’ve not seen this mentioned before, definitely something i’ll bear in mind!

I've thought it would be interesting to have a tank with ALL aggressive corals. Xenia, clove polyps, mushrooms.

My issues, other than the clove(?) polyps, is ricordia mushrooms. I had no idea they'd spread so fast, or spread at all, for that matter. I've probably bought 4 or 5 of them, I'll bet I have 30 in my tank now. And worse, apparently they'll kill other things. I keep meaning to get some euphyllias in a couple of spots to see if they can keep the mushrooms at bay.