What exactly do softies do?

[sefrayser]

I am wondering by adding Softies ie: zoanthids, mushrooms, leathers do to the bioload? What impact do they have on a tank? How do you know how much you can add and at what rate? I have been reading and I know that fish put out stuff that can overload your system but what about coral. I know Hard corals require certain parameters in calcium and MG. From what I can understand most softies can handle anything.....I need a little guidance. I find myself liking softies better than stonies or hard coral.

[paneubert]

If anything, they will lower your load because they sometimes consume dissolved solids as part of their energy production. Look at the people who have those nifty Xenia filled sump/refugiums.

 

As for what they might put into the water, there is always coral warfare and some could dispense some nasty chemicals as part of their battle. Some people swear that their leather coral is stunting the growth of all their other softies, etc....

[knives2886]

well im am fairly new to reefing but from what i am aware of is when it comes to corals if your lighting and parameters are right the skys are the limit with them... But lets see what the other reefers say im no expert afterall.

 

and zoas and shrooms are fairly hardy. you just need the right supplements and lighting and they will do just fine. Iodine, phytoplex, microvert, zooplex, strontium and molybenum and essential elements is all i use.. =) hope this helps!

 

oh and for as what they doo they are filter feeders and what not so they will keep water clean and most part be for the shock and awh on how it looks.

[sefrayser]

Is there a limit you can add at once? I read that each colony likes its own space. Do all zoa's like mod-high flow and med to high lighting?

 

I have a 34g and a 150 sunpod. Do zoa's need to go high in the tank or can they be put towards the bottom? I moved my leather up a little and it seems to love the extra light.

[knives2886]

i donno how much you can add at once personally i just add 1-3 corals at a time and wait a week or so before i add anything else to the tank so everything can adjust. zoas and mushrooms for the most part can be put anywhere in a tank they are very adaptable. as for leather im not sure i havent ventured off that far yet. but wait for some others to post they will be able to help you out more.

[Daleo]

You can add a large amount of coral at once, because coral have a low bioload in general. In regards to how much in numbers, I have no idea. I would say you could add 20 frags in a 10g at once and be fine.

 

IME supplements are useless (except for A and B combinations), but phyoplankton, zooplankton, marine snow, microvert, ect. are just bottles of nitrates. Feed your coral mysis, pellets, or nothing.

[Jacobnano]

Adding a bunch of sofites at once is usually fine. Hard coral can be different though, they bring down the Alk and Ca....

[knives2886]

well see you learn something new everyday!! ^^ as for feedign them id probly listen to daleo although i dont dose the tank but 4 times a week with afew drops of all my supplements. and havent seen a nitrate spike so its all up to the person i guess. as he said mysis is good too i also use brine shrimp just to throw some other ideas out there.

[paneubert]

well see you learn something new everyday!! ^^ as for feedign them id probly listen to daleo although i dont dose the tank but 4 times a week with afew drops of all my supplements. and havent seen a nitrate spike so its all up to the person i guess. as he said mysis is good too i also use brine shrimp just to throw some other ideas out there.

 

Yeah, I assume all my softies are eating the small, smaller, and microscopic stuff that comes with the "50/50 frozen shrimp/worm" mix and the "phyto/shrimp" frozen cubes I feed the fish. I do not dose anything specific other than my fish food. The water in my feeding bowl looks pretty clouded with stuff when I am done turkey basting for the fish so I just dump or baste that leftover water towards my corals.

[sefrayser]

I have not fed the coral anything. I use Rods fish food Original blend. It seems everything in the tank is happy. Feeding time is like sunday dinner. Everyone and everything in the house and the tank come to life......pretty amazing.

 

BTW Rods Original Fish food has everything in it.

http://rodsfood.com/original.html

[juvance]

My reef is pretty much all softies with a few LPS stuffed in. I don't feed them specifically, but I think they eat some of the mysis that the fish get. Occasionally I see a zoa pull in a piece of shrimp, but I'd guesstimate that almost all of the excess goes to the LPS in the tank... at least in my tank. I do dose strontium and molybdenum. Some people don't, and they do fine. But I've noticed that all the softies perked more than usual up after I started dosing it.