Soft Coral Chemical Warfare

[PwnMe]

What a cool sounding title for such a aquarium nerd topic.

 

I am starting my new 8 gallon. There will be no fish. I have absolutely no idea what type of coral I'm going to be doing and its driving me nuts.

 

I was thinking a mixed reef tank, but I forgot that soft coral supposedly release toxins that can kill stony corals. Was this ever proved for anything that isn't leathers? My research is showing a lot of mixed opinions.

 

Also sneaking in another question... are there any LPS that don't want every single thing in your tank dead?

[Red_Blenny]

 

I was thinking a mixed reef tank, but I forgot that soft coral supposedly release toxins that can kill stony corals. Was this ever proved for anything that isn't leathers? My research is showing a lot of mixed opinions.

 

 

Here's a copy and paste thread that I booked marked in case I wanted to go full blown softy tank:

 

 

 

Rated 1-10; 1 being least aggressive, 10 being the most aggressive.

 

*Zoanthids- not soft coral. Not overly toxic (to coral) but can spread quickly. 2

 

*Mushrooms- not soft coral. Can spread quickly. May irritate more delicate soft coral species such as Yellow Toadstool (Sarcophyton elegans) if in direct contact. 2

 

*Cloves/Clavularia/Cornularia- Can spread very quickly and overgrow neighboring coral. 3

 

*Xeniids- Can spread very quickly and overgrow low-lying coral. They don't seem to be particularly noxious though. 3

 

*Anthelia- Can spread very quickly and overgrow neighboring coral. Contact may irritate more sensitive corals. 4

 

*Toadstool/Sarcophyton- Can grow large quickly and shade out neighboring corals. Not particularly aggressive towards others but does not react well to attacks from other soft coral. Colorful varieties seem to be more sensitive to attack. 4 (due to size & shading)

 

*Devil's Hand/Lobophytum- Very similar to Toadstools. 4

 

*Colt Coral/Klyxum- Very fast growing, and very large. Somewhat toxic and may irritate neighboring corals. Shading is also a potential problem. 5

 

*Cladiella- Not particularly aggressive, but certain varieties (especially low-lying, encrusting forms) can be quite sensitive to others. 3

 

*Kenya Tree/Capnella- Very fast growing and can easily crowd out smaller soft coral species. May irritate Toadstools. 5

 

*Nephthea- This is a big family with a lot of variation between species. In general, these are fairly toxic corals that can grow quite large. Give them space. 7

 

*Sinularia (encrusting and plating forms)- For example, Sinularia dura & S. brassica. Not overly aggressive. Can grow large, so watch for shading/crowding. 5

 

*Sinularia (branching forms)- This stuff can be down right nasty. Highly aggressive, quite toxic, and can grow really quickly. 9-10

 

*Star Polyps/Briareum/Erythropodium- Probably the most over looked toxic coral in the hobby. Well known for being very fast growing, many people dont realize this stuff has extremely potent allelotoxins. 8

 

*Gorgonians- Some species of gorgonian release enough toxins to irritate an entire tanks worth of coral. This is a very large group of animals Im lumping together, but as a rule, be very cautious when adding any gorgonian to a tank. Do not allow them to touch any neighbor, and do not put sensitive corals immediately down stream from them. 8-10

 

*Pipe Organ-Tubipora- Very closely related to GSP, but significantly less aggressive. Its growth pattern does not make it much of a threat to surrounding corals, and it does not appear to be very aggressive. Easily irritated/damaged by other softies. 2

 

*Pulsing Sinularia/Unknown Genus- Can grow exceptionally quickly. Can cause damage if it comes into direct contact with other coral. 7

 

*Blue Ridge Coral/Heliopora- Non aggressive. It is easily overrun by fast growing neighbors, but seems to recover well from attacks. 1

 

If anything, I think the rapid growth of soft corals will more than likely kill the neighboring stony corals than toxins.

 

 

As for LPS, imo, acans are the less aggressive LPS corals.

[PwnMe]

Super awesome list there. I wish there was one like that for LPS and SPS.

[Clown79]

If you run carbon 24/7 and replace monthly- this will lower the chances of any toxins releasing and irritating other corals

[PwnMe]

If you run carbon 24/7 and replace monthly- this will lower the chances of any toxins releasing and irritating other corals

 

Think I'm going to only do stony coral. Might be interesting.

[Red_Blenny]

Super awesome list there. I wish there was one like that for LPS and SPS.

 

SPS coral warfare is fairly interesting, though, it won't be complete annihilation for the losing coral. They eventually will grow the other way if two different SPS species are touching each other.

 

The only exception is the encrusting and non-plating montipora species.