how can I have better soft coral and lps health?

[Steve973]

Lately, my soft corals (xenia, zoanthids, mushrooms) and my candy cane don't seem to be thriving like they used to. In fact, the xenia and candy cane seem to be receeding. I use Oceanic salt and B-Ionic (daily), and I have 150 watts of 10000K metal halide lighting on my 18 gallon tank. Conversely, my SPS corals seem to be doing very well. What can I do to make my soft corals and candy cane thrive better?

 

Steve

[CT nano reefer]

move the softer stuff out of the way of direct light.. towards the bottom...dont worry they will still get their share of the light!

[nalbar]

it could be you have a war going on. many types of corals put out chemicals that slow other types of corals growth. and of course some actually physically sting other corals. some serious SPS keepers dont mix softies into their tanks for this reason.

 

it is WAY beyond my limited reef abilities to explain how it all works, but this could be your problem.

 

 

nalbar

[AReeferIsExpensive]

if a chemical war is the case, use chemipure bc it has carbon in it and your water/glass will be clearer(which is nice)....

[DRZL-sauras]

it'll also take out trace elements and good bacteria at the same time so use it sparnigly

[Steve973]

Well, I'll have to disagree there. Chemi Pure does not remove trace elements, and it doesn't "remove" bacteria. Bacteria will colonize on the bag and its contents, and that bacteria will be removed when the bag is removed, but that's about it.

 

Anyway, I used to run Chemi Pure, but I haven't in the past month or two. I'll buy some and try it again. I remember having problems with xenia withering away before, though, and I was running Chemi Pure at that time. It can't hurt though. I remember that it did wonders for surface scum.

 

Steve