advice on corals - what to add?

[rough eye]

ok so i've only got GSP, a couple ricordea (can be seen through the tunnel under rocks), and the toadstool leather (on right). now that the GSP is nice and full i plan to split it, put half against the back wall (far right) and leave a small island where it is now. I feel i've got the algae on the run so now want to introduce more corals. probably mostly or all softies. i'd like to add something branching like sinularia or nephthea but beyond that i'm open to suggestions. more ricordea? anything that will give good competition to the remaining algae on center rock?

[JustinTanks]

Maybe some more ricordea, or discoma mushrooms. Xenia if you don’t mind stuff that take over, just keep them on their own island. Or you can add a single euphyllia by itself in the front left or right corner (ie hammer, frogspawn)

[rough eye]

1 hour ago, JustinTanks said:

Maybe some more ricordea, or discoma mushrooms. Xenia if you don’t mind stuff that take over, just keep them on their own island. Or you can add a single euphyllia by itself in the front left or right corner (ie hammer, frogspawn)

thanks! maybe ricordea on the north side (back of the photo) and discoma on the south side - in sand for those mushrooms?

 

would a frogspawn likely be attractive as a host for the clown?

 

if i planted a branching coral in the center of that left rock, moved it so it was an inch away from the other rocks, and put xenia on that same rock, would the xenia annoy the other?

[Murphs_Reef]

LPS! Getba Duncan's on one side and torch on the other.. will look mint that!!👍🏼

[rough eye]

4 minutes ago, Murphych said:

LPS! Getba Duncan's on one side and torch on the other.. will look mint that!!👍🏼

from what i understand the duncans won't sting other corals but the torch would? so isolating the torch means it has to be on the edge. i'm still using the stock lights; any idea what could grow on the center rock? maybe center is where xenia should go.

[Murphs_Reef]

Yeah the Duncan's is great as it can be set anywhere it doesn't sting, it's not demanding when it comes to light and flow, in fact lower flow is better.  

Torch is a horrid bastard who will sting everything and anything to death but if you can get one isolated it's a beautiful coral to own. Again moderate to lower flow and light.

[Murphs_Reef]

My torch: 

[Clown79]

Xenia is awesome and quite mesmerizing. Regardless where you put it, even its own island, it will spread.

 

You have to prune it just like plants and eventually your gsp will be the same. 

 

Your leathers will eventually need fragging because they all grow pretty quickly.

 

A softy tank can be really pretty. 

 

A green nepthea would be nice to add colour.

 

 

[blasterman]

You need to get that hair algae under control before adding more coral. Maybe some shrooms....that's it. 

[Murphs_Reef]

5 hours ago, blasterman said:

You need to get that hair algae under control before adding more coral. Maybe some shrooms....that's it. 

Disagree. GHA loves empty rock.. that is empty rock... It will become home to all sorts of Periphyton, coralline, pods, etc in time but until then GHA has the advantage.... 

 

In my view Get more CUC to deal with the GHA that's there but don't let that stop you adding coral (maybe not small coral like zoa's, Xenia yet as GHA is a pain with them) That act alone is going to bring in more biodiversity... I only have coralline because some came in on a frag plug. 

[rough eye]

i have a lot of coralline as you can see from the right of the photo. tank is 8 month old by the way. maybe what i'll do is add a discoma or 2 and a green nephthea (which has been on my wish list for months), and then once the algae has cleared up i can find something to put on the center rock. maybe zoas. maybe something else. 

[blasterman]

9 hours ago, Murphych said:

Disagree. GHA loves empty rock.. that is empty rock... It will become home to all sorts of Periphyton, coralline, pods, etc in time but until then GHA has the advantage.... 

 

In my view Get more CUC to deal with the GHA that's there but don't let that stop you adding coral (maybe not small coral like zoa's, Xenia yet as GHA is a pain with them) That act alone is going to bring in more biodiversity... I only have coralline because some came in on a frag plug. 

 

The GHA will cause nutrient dives, and I will bet hard cash if the OP throws zoas in there they will wither and melt. I will also bet his PO4 levels are 0 due to GHA. No phosphate = bad times when introducing new coral.

 

GSP will grow in  sewer. Its not an indicator of anything. Neither is coraline. 

 

Xenia is also risky because it needs nitrate, and with that much algae sucking up nutrients that's also going to suffer.

 

A turbo snail, vibrant or just pulling the rock and dripping sone peroxide on it for 5 minutes will safely crush the GHA.

 

 

[rough eye]

i've got 3 snails, one each mexican turbo, trochus and astraea. blue leg hermit and emerald crab. considering adding another astraea and a nassarius.   i've seen bristle worms, brittlestars, asterina stars, and mini feather dusters. the feather dusters and brittlestars i haven't seen very much of lately.

 

i'd like to put something high and branching on that left rock, but if i put a torch in the front left corner i couldn't do that i guess because it would get attacked by the torch. it's kind of a mystery to me how people can get so many corals in close proximity to one another the way i've seen in tanks, with out the corals all killing each other off.

[banasophia]

On 8/3/2021 at 10:07 AM, rough eye said:

ok so i've only got GSP, a couple ricordea (can be seen through the tunnel under rocks), and the toadstool leather (on right). now that the GSP is nice and full i plan to split it, put half against the back wall (far right) and leave a small island where it is now. I feel i've got the algae on the run so now want to introduce more corals. probably mostly or all softies. i'd like to add something branching like sinularia or nephthea but beyond that i'm open to suggestions. more ricordea? anything that will give good competition to the remaining algae on center rock?

Oh wow, nice scape, and your tank’s been running a while, looks good so far, and ready to add more corals! Personally I would add lots more snails too. Mexican turbo snails and ninja star snails are my favorites. 

 

As for what corals to add next, I would recommend checking out all the featured tank of the month pics to see if you can find a few that you really love for inspiration.
 

I know for me I was especially inspired by Surveyman’s euphilia dominant tank, Lawnman’s soft coral/gorgonian tank, and Jackal’s Biocube 16. I was also really drawn to the Leather is for Lovers thread and the Rock Flower Anemone thread. If that was my tank, I would consider photosynthetic gorgonians, rock flower anemones, a candy cane coral, a neon green sinularia, maybe a red tree sponge. Once the snails eat more of the GHA, I would consider adding cloves, xenia, Kenya tree.
 

But those are all my favorites… you may like something totally different. I like to get a vision of my tank and then peruse all my LFSs to see what they have in stock, then go home and research further to learn more about what’s available in my LFSs before going back to get some. 

[rough eye]

so i added a small orange acan frag in the nearer left corner of the sand, and a blue colt coral in the center of the left rock. also fragged the GSP and added larger portion against the wall on far right.

 

i saw really beautiful lime green and orange rock flower anemones and also the shop owner, when i saw a blueish stylo (which i thought looked really cool), said they're fairly easy to keep, while he warned me away from the other branching sps he had.

 

so i might add either or both of those, and maybe some zoas on that center rock. 

 

thoughts, anyone?

[rough eye]

so - stylo im a softie tank? would the two types of coral need conflicting parameters, with the stylo needing low nitrate and the others needing higher? would there be chemical warfare? how algae-free do i need to be before adding a stylo?

 

how about rock flower anemones (although they're gorgeous not sure i should get one). do peppermint shrimp try to eat them? any other concerns?

[Clown79]

Peppermint shrimp may go after any fleshy coral like lps. Many of us had it happen to us.

 

Yes, sps and softies require different things and softies do release toxins that can effect sps.

 

Some ppl they have no issues, while others do keeping sps with soft corals. . Its recommended to use small amounts of carbon to reduce issues with chemical warfare. 

[rough eye]

1 minute ago, Clown79 said:

Peppermint shrimp may go after any fleshy coral like lps. Many of us had it happen to us.

 

Yes, sps and softies require different things and softies do release toxins that can effect sps.

 

Some ppl they have no issues, while others do keeping sps with soft corals. . Its recommended to use small amounts of carbon to reduce issues with chemical warfare. 

thanks! i always have a little carbon running anyway. change it once a month. is that acan i added considered a "fleshy" coral?

 

the colt is on the rock, and the acan on bottom right, in the end shot. the second picture shows how much algae receded on that center rock, which is where i'd place the stylo. i sure don't like the look of that big frag plug under the colt. in a week or so, once it's settled in, i may take it out, try and cut some of the plug away, and re-glue it.