chemical warfare?

[pastina]

theres so many nice nano tanks on this board
but it had me wondering about the closeness of the corals. i keep reading how to keep a proper distance between corals and dont let them touch other wise they can do harm to each other but then i look at these pics and some tanks are so heavily coraled (if thats a word hehe) and these tanks look very healthy and the corals are thriving.
so is it safe to have corals in such close contact?

[ski1297]

Its hard to say some corals will be ok next corals and some will not be ok. Its kind of a try and see thing. One thing that will help is carbon that will help take out a lot of the chemicals that the corals put out.

[Superman]

Some corals do have sweepers, so the carbon thing won't help with that, just make sure that you research each coral before you put it in your tank and you will be fine.

[ski1297]

Yes if the do have sweepers then give them some room. Research is your best friend.

[pastina]

i really would like to get a torch coral in the future, is this a bad thing for a 10g nano? how big can they get? i cant find any info on them getting big just that the tenticles can go as far as 6" according to live aquaria

[ski1297]

Torch corals are cool. I think it would be good in a nano but you have to think about the size of the 10gal and that the tenticles can go out about 6". You would have to not have a coral around that one . If you look on live aquaria were you buy the coral you can see that the large one that they send you is about 5-7" and with 6" tenticles thats not a lot of room for more coral. Do you like zoos at all?

[pastina]

hmmm ok the torch sounds bad now that you put it that way lol
in a 10g that means it could spread 13" in either direction which would take up the whole tank

yes i do like zoo's the button polpys are adorable is that a zoo?
i have an idea what i want...ill add torch since that was on my list but prob will scratch it off now....sun corals, xenia, polyps, open brain, bubble coral, and candy cane corals
i left out mushrooms because im not too crazy about them, they look like they can take over and are kinda "flat" looking
so if i were to get all the corals i listed and put the torch in the center middle on the live rock it would go on a stinging frenzy wouldnt it?? lol
what about instead of the torch can i get frogspawn? see i want something that has the look of an anenome with the nice flowing tenticles, there must be something like that i can mix in a 10g?

[ski1297]

I think button polpys are in the zoo family. Sun corals, xenia, polyps, open brain, bubble coral, and candy cane corals all good. I want to get a frogspawn for my 38gal. How about a Long Tentacle Plate Coral? Looks like a anenome but I think they can get big. Take a look. http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...cfm?pCatId=481

[pastina]

plate coral looks good
says it can move tho, id be curious to see it mobile lol
do corals grow fast like fish?

[ski1297]

Some can gorwn fast some slow. Zoos and mushroom grow very fast! Would you think about getting an anenome? If I was to get a plate coral or anenome that could move I would get that one first and let it move until it found a place it liked and put the other corals around it.

[pastina]

i shy'ed away from anenomes because they are always labeled "difficult"
maybe i should look into it again
you mention that they will find a place they like? does that mean they will grip onto the rock for good once they are settled?
hmm maybe thats a thought

[ski1297]

Anenomes are very difficult and your tank needs to be up for about a 1 year. Yes for the most part when they find a place they like they will stay put. You do not want to change any thing on them like flow and lights. I have had an anenome for about a 8mths now he has not moved for about 7mths. He found a spot he likes. I think it would be about the same for the plate coral.

[ski1297]

What lights do you have?

[pastina]

i have a satellite 2x40 pc light
i found a cheap anemone lol
the Condylactis Anemone, its only 6.99 at that pet place, i go there often since im only 40 mins from there
a year is a long time to wait since i def will have some corals in by then.
maybe i should just forget the tenticle ones and stick to the cute polyps instead my tank my be a better place this way

[ski1297]

Go with the polyps very easy and they will do good with your lights.