How balanced or lopsided is your reef tank?

[UK softy bloke]

I've always loved and always will prefer a mixed reef tank over any one type of coral dominated reef tanks. That being said sometimes without noticing my tank begins to shift or become dominated by one type of coral either because I've had better success with one type or I've started to like one more than the other. With that in mind let's talk about the coral balance of your reef tank!

1. Do you prefer one type of coral over the other and why?

2. If you were to break down your tank into a percentage graph what would the numbers look like? (Example: 60% SPS, 25% LPS, 10% Zoas, 5% Soft etc.)

Top down farm tank from @WWC

100% soft coral, slowly being taken over by toxic green dura.

 

[Bob LI]

I would say my tank is Lopsided Nem

One of mine definitely is!

 

[movoleg]

This is my tank. It is hard to say how many SPS or LPS but definitely I prefer Mixed Reef.

 

[Gogol_frag]

I've always loved and always will prefer a mixed reef tank over any one type of coral dominated reef tanks. That being said sometimes without noticing my tank begins to shift or become dominated by one type of coral either because I've had better success with one type or I've started to like one more than the other. With that in mind let's talk about the coral balance of your reef tank!

1. Do you prefer one type of coral over the other and why?

2. If you were to break down your tank into a percentage graph what would the numbers look like? (Example: 60% SPS, 25% LPS, 10% Zoas, 5% Soft etc.)

Top down farm tank from @WWC

I have a 1.5 months old tank with 10 frags - 30% SPS and 70% LPS. So, it's too early to tell. Overall trying to avoid aggressive corals like softies and euphyllias, entirely.

My tank is designed in three sections (longitudinally) -

1. High Light, High Flow: roughly 6 ft × by 1 ft (width) x 2 ft (height) where I have high lighting ( 3x 6 ft ReefBrite XHOs - 2x Blue, 1x 50-50) and high flow (1 Wav)
2. Low Light, Low Flow: roughly 6 ft x 0.75 ft (width) x 2 ft (height) where I have lower lighting (2x 6ft ReefBrite XHOs - 1x Blue, 1x 50-50), and low flow ( in-tank Tunze Filter)
3. Frag area: roughly 5 ft x 0.25 ft (width) x 2 ft (height) that receives sunlight for 10 hours in a day ( during summer), 8 hours in a day (during winter).

Because of my tank's newness, the light penetration is really high, and the frags can't handle the ReefBrites even at 15%-20% intensity. Sunlight is the only thing that they like.

 

[Gogol_frag]

This is my tank. It is hard to say how many SPS or LPS but definitely I prefer Mixed Reef.

An absolutely gorgeous tank Movoleg!! Wow!!

 

[drblakjak55]

50%SPS, 50%LPS

Have to comment. Incredible tank.

 

[Gogol_frag]

50%SPS, 50%LPS

Beautiful tank!!

 

[Reefjockey]

Leather invasion...

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I don't have any corals yet but I'm planning to have 85% LPS, 5% SPS, and 10% Softies

 

[DeniseAndy]

Lets see which tank we are talking about. My main system is leathers and anemones. My 40g is almost exclusively lps. My 20g is tons of zoas and a few lps, softies. My 6g is more mixed, but no sps except maybe pavona. Just too hard to keep healthy sps in my systems as they are. I have done it in the past, but set up does not work currently.

I prefer the lagoon type reef, so not really sps friendly.

 

[HB AL]

A cluster of a mixed reef as I like all types of corals, but honestly love fish more especially triggers.

 

[BaysEndReef]

I have too many tanks running in my house for any of them to be balanced. I also move corals from one tank to another depending on their needs. i.e. nutrients, light, flow....

 

[Charles Zinn]

This is my tank. It is hard to say how many SPS or LPS but definitely I prefer Mixed Reef.

Looks beautiful

 

[BiggestE222]

100% soft coral, slowly being taken over by toxic green dura.

Love the challenge and grace of SPS. I do have like to have mire obvious movement that the polyps of my montipotas. So I have a small 4 headed. I think frogspawn

 

[elcapitan1993]

I have a mixed reef but it is lopsided with zoanthids of course

 

[elcapitan1993]

100% Acros. Really like the growth structures

I bet your tank looks great, dosent it get boring looking at a acro only tank?

 

[elcapitan1993]

My tank is young and not fully stocked yet, but I’d say it’s 40% lps, 30% softie, 10% zoa, 10% sps, and 10% anemone.

If there was one time of coral that I’d say I prefer, it’s lps, I just like big, fleshy, colorful corals. I also like softies and anemones quite a bit. My least favorites (though that shouldn’t imply that I don’t like them) are zoanthids and sps (though for both it really depends on what it is).

I heard your not supposed to keep anemones with corals,have you had any problems with it? Also what kind of nem is it?

 

[kevin318]

50%SPS, 50%LPS

Wow........AMAZING! The second picture, the blue SPS, what is the name of that coral? That is my next purchase. Gorgeous specimens!

 

[uhgster1]

I have a fair mix but I am dealing with an explosion of Pandora zoas (again) that is upsetting the balance

 

[MaxTremors]

I heard your not supposed to keep anemones with corals,have you had any problems with it? Also what kind of nem is it?

Who said you can’t keep them together? You absolutely can. I currently have a maxi mini and a rock flower (currently only have a nano), but in the past I’ve had pretty much all of the most popular species. You have to be careful with them moving around and be prepared to move corals if need be, but some corals don’t seem that bothered by some anemones (for example I used to have a few bubble tips that lived right next to and were in constant contact with a big toadstool, zoanthids, and a Sinularia, all soft corals, but they were all fine, maybe a little irritated occassionally, but fine). But I’ve never heard that they can’t be kept together.