Softy TOXINS

[Glenner’sreef]

Greetings, R2R fam. My first post but I’ve read alot of interesting and informative posts on this sight. A valuable sourse for sure. My name is Glenn but I get Glenner every once in a while. So, a short intro then a pressing question. I’ve have tanks since I was 10 years old. I just turned 60 a few months ago . I started reefing about 25 years ago. Back then it was a 90 gal tank, sump with bio balls and trickle filtration and a Berlin skimmer. For me as a reef hobbyist the 90s weren’t great. Fast forward to 4 years ago after 20 years of fresh water planted tank success and the saltwater reef bug hit and hit hard. Presently, I’m upgrading my 120 gal to a custom 142 gal. a 40 gal sump, 11 gal. fuge, Bubble Mag Curve 7, UV, 20 gal. ATO reservoir, Jebao doser for B-Ionic and Nopox. I’ll be building my stand in the next month or so for my 142 and begin the slow week long process of transferring live rock and sand, most of my fish but only a fraction of my corals and here’s why. I’ve recently read some articles regarding toxins put off by corals. They are all fighting for their own space and upon contact with another coral will begin chemical warfare. I have large Sinularias always touching large Gorgonians. I have a RBTA offen hitting up against a Corky Finger and a Kenya Tree coral brushing up against a zoa colony. My guess is that my tank as beautiful as it is, is more like ground zero. Finally this whole question of how toxic is my tank??? Is because I would like to successfully grow sps corals and can’t! Fyi about 2 years ago or so when all of these softies were much smaller and not touching because of that, I was able to purchase and see grow a nice plating Monti and a small birds nest coral. Both ultimately died. So now I’m very excited about putting together this slightly larger tank and I’m thinking that my leathers, Kenya tree and sinularia which make up 80%of the corals are going back for credit or trade. Note I do have one lps a Frog spawn it’s got about 16 heads, nothing bothers it Am I on the right track? Thanks G

 

[NY_Caveman]

Welcome to R2R, Glenner!

 

[mike werner]

welcome,sounds like your doing the correct things to get into the lps/sps game.

 

[4FordFamily]

Welcome home, you will love it here!

Let’s see some tank pics!

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Welcome to R2R


#welcometor2r

 

[Fudsey]

Welcome to R2R ! ! !

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Glenner’sreef]

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• Glenner’sreef
• May 9, 2018

White Damsel striking a pose.

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• Glenner’sreef
• May 9, 2018

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• Glenner’sreef
• May 9, 2018

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• Glenner’sreef
• May 9, 2018
• 1

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• Glenner’sreef
• May 9, 2018

 

[JaimeAdams]

Welcome!!!

 

[Glenner’sreef]

welcome,sounds like your doing the correct things to get into the lps/sps game.

Thanks Mike, I just hope eliminating most of the soft corals is the cure. Later.

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r!!

 

[DSC reef]

Welcome to R2R Glenn. I think your on the right track. Softies and hard corals don't always play nice.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Welcome to r2r glen.

I havent been in the game as long as others. But some softies i find also thrive in conditions that hard corals do not. Soft corals will grow very quickly in new nutrient rich tanks, but those conditions seem to stunt sps, at least ime. One of the reasons i run gac is the supposed toxins in the water from some corals. But others run mixed reefs without gac with success. So not sure if coral toxins effect the whole tank or just its neighbors, or if the toxins become a problem when the offender begins to decline.

I too have corky finger , but on its own island rock. I also recently added decorative sponges, that are stated to be toxic.

Long way of saying, following along in your pursuit of an answer

 

[dbl]

Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself. Good luck with the tank. A mixed reef can be challenging but exciting at the same time.

 

[Fin]

Welcome, Glenn! Another 60+ yo reefer, like me. I have kept softies and stonies together and it can be tricky, but doable. To combat the toxicity of the softies, I ran small amounts of carbon 24-7 (changed it out roughly once a week or so), along with a good skimmer. I also had a 30 gallon remote refugium crammed with caulerpa.

This was my 75 Oceanic from the turn of the millennium. All of the SPS in there started out as small frags that I got from the LFS or trading with other local reefers.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Welcome to r2r glen.

I havent been in the game as long as others. But some softies i find also thrive in conditions that hard corals do not. Soft corals will grow very quickly in new nutrient rich tanks, but those conditions seem to stunt sps, at least ime. One of the reasons i run gac is the supposed toxins in the water from some corals. But others run mixed reefs without gac with success. So not sure if coral toxins effect the whole tank or just its neighbors, or if the toxins become a problem when the offender begins to decline.

I too have corky finger , but on its own island rock. I also recently added decorative sponges, that are stated to be toxic.

Long way of saying, following along in your pursuit of an answer

Hey Gareth, thanks, great reply. Regarding gac, what’s your opinion on it’s usefulness. I’ve heard that it effectively last only days. (MelevsReef) really respect that guy. Contrast that with Chemipure Elite or Blu (which I use and love) and they claim a 3 or 4 month shelf life. ???

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Welcome, Glenn! Another 60+ yo reefer, like me. I have kept softies and stonies together and it can be tricky, but doable. To combat the toxicity of the softies, I ran small amounts of carbon 24-7 (changed it out roughly once a week or so), along with a good skimmer. I also had a 30 gallon remote refugium crammed with caulerpa.

This was my 75 Oceanic from the turn of the millennium. All of the SPS in there started out as small frags that I got from the LFS or trading with other local reefers.

Hi Fin. Wow very encouraging! So weekly carbo replacement and large fuge. I can easily move that way as I prepare to set up the new tank. Thanks bud!

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Welcome, Glenn! Another 60+ yo reefer, like me. I have kept softies and stonies together and it can be tricky, but doable. To combat the toxicity of the softies, I ran small amounts of carbon 24-7 (changed it out roughly once a week or so), along with a good skimmer. I also had a 30 gallon remote refugium crammed with caulerpa.

This was my 75 Oceanic from the turn of the millennium. All of the SPS in there started out as small frags that I got from the LFS or trading with other local reefers.

PS. Beautiful tank brother!

 

[Gareth elliott]

Hey Gareth, thanks, great reply. Regarding gac, what’s your opinion on it’s usefulness. I’ve heard that it effectively last only days. (MelevsReef) really respect that guy. Contrast that with Chemipure Elite or Blu (which I use and love) and they claim a 3 or 4 month shelf life. ???

I speculate this will come down to a variety of factors.
-How much gac.
-Amount of dissolved organics
-And intended goal.

For water color with slightly heavy feeding at recommended quantity i find 3 weeks, before it starts to lose effect.

For toxin removal, i have no idea. Or even how to test. Some of these like palytoxin are huge molecules and very water soluble. I assume you could test with a TOC test the overall change in organics but i dont think there is a hobby test kit for this.

I change my reactor once a week, but this has more to deal with keeping a schedule than actual utility.