Softies and SPS in the same tank...

[Samc]

After reading an section in a book entitled "Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook" by Dr. Robert J. Goldstein, it seems that keeping sps and softies in nano-reef would be impossible; according to this book, which states that the softies should be distant and well down current of the SPS, and heavy use of Carbon is also reconmended. Also, he states that it is best to have an all sps or all softie tank, not mixed. Now, this was published in 97' so his ideas and that of the general reefing community have changed since then. Also, many people here keep a mixture of softies and sps without any problems. So, whats the deal? Does it require heavy filtration and water movement to prevent the soft coral mucus from smothering sps? I wish to try a few softies before moving to the mainly sps and clam tank I wish to keep, so these concerns need to be addressed! What are your guy's experinces????

 

Sam

[impur]

The only softie i have read that you shouldn't keep with SPS are leathers. But many people keep leathers successfully along with SPS so i'm not sure how this rule materialized. I do know that some leather corals release a chemical that slows down the SPS growth rates. I personally keep a few SPS in my tank with a couple softies no problem.

[EtOH_is_good]

i just read that mushrooms also may produce inhibitors of sps coral growth (forgot source). have also read about using carbon with leathers. for some reassurance, check out the how-to articles on sps at garf.org. it sounds as if they first grow softies until tank is stable and then switch to sps as needed.

[skeletor]

I have xenia in the fuge on my SPS tank, I also run a small bag of carbon in the sump. Never had a problem with xenia interfering with SPS. Most softies don't like the flow in an SPS tank tho..

 

-skeletor-

[danieljames]

I keep a larger nepthea, a very small sarco frag, several zoa colonies and many shrooms with several digi's and a blue tipped acro. I run a filter sock full of carbon passively in my sump. I skim with an asm g-2, and have 300 watts of de 20k ushios over a 26 bow. I've not seen any problem with growth or coloration. My green monti cap puts on alittle less than a quarter inch a month. The purple skinned digi alittle less. Not exactly sure how much. I'd have to really watch to see. Or take pics and compare.

[Turk]

I have a toadstool leather that grew ON TOP of a pocillipora.

 

both are fine