Confused About Coral Compatibility

[teddscau]

Okay, so I know you should only keep corals next to their own kind (suns with suns, zoas with zoas, leathers with leathers)... Well, I'm picking up a 90g next week that has a number of different coral species in it. I need to know which ones I have to keep far apart from each other.

Acropora tortuosa (purple)
Acropora valida (Bonsai)
Acropora humilis (Fijian Green)
Acropora formosa (Blue tipped)
Acropora millipora "“ Green

Montipora digitata - Red

Seriatopora "“ Green birdsnest

Pink Pocillipora

Dendrophyllia

Zoanthids: Eagle eye, Neon green, Orange

Briareium (Green star polyps)

Capnella sp. (Kenya tree)

Lobophytum sp. (Devil's hand leather)

Sinularia sp. (Finger leather)

Actinodiscus (Super Red mushroom)
Actinodiscus (Blue/purple mushroom)
Actinodiscus (Green mushroom)

Gorgonians: Unknown sp. but photosynthetic

Xenia

Like, I know the sun corals are harmless, and I think the mushrooms are gentle? I've been trying to read up on compatibility, but I'm getting extremely confused. Anyways, thanks for the help .

 

[themagicman]

IME it's all just a give and take. Some corals do get along, (amazing) other times it's an all out battle. It's up to U though to make it a happy home.

 

[FoxFace Fish]

In most cases from my experience. Your LPS and leathers and mushrooms are usually the aggressive kinds the leather and mushroom are more chemical war types. The LPS in general with some exceptions have sweeper tentacles that can get others. Yours Zoa are normally pretty mellow. Your SPS and Softies are normally very peaceful and do well next to others. But that is my experience.

 

[Uncle99]

Nothing jumps out at me in your list as being a killer, but always run a bag of carbon in case the leathers play with chemical weapons.

 

[teddscau]

Okay, thanks for the replies everyone! I've never had a saltwater tank before, and I personally would've never chosen any of these corals myself, with the exception of the sun corals and Xenia. I've been talking with the guy, and it turns out he hasn't been feeding his corals properly! He hasn't fed them plankton or marine snow (or anything else) in ages, and he's only been feeding the poor suns once or twice a week. No wonder they look so horrid. Well, not that any of the individuals he bought looked particularly nice in the first place. I'm more into designer corals.

Anyways, you've put my mind at ease. The more I read, the more freaked out I got, as the websites I was looking at made these corals out to be blood thirsty killers. Once I've got everyone healthy again (I'm having my parents pick up a bunch of tasty foods for them), I'll probably frag some of them and trade for different corals. Some of the SPS corals have gotten really overgrown (not the attractive kind of overgrown).

Again, thanks everyone!

 

[mcgyvr]

Nothing jumps out at me in your list as being a killer, but always run a bag of carbon in case the leathers play with chemical weapons.

This.. ^^


However... I'm afraid that your attempt is going to end badly based on your last post..
You have zero experience with whats required to maintain proper water parameters and are starting out with thinking photosynthetic corals need food in order to be successful with them..
I'm afraid you will simply overfeed and your nutrient levels will get all out of wack and other parameters won't remain stable and everything will just go down hill..

IMO.. If you are new.. Do NOT jump right into a full reef tank.. Thats a big mistake IMO..
Those for the most part though are all fairly easy/beginner corals but I still don't put much faith in this working out for you..

I mean its certainly possible but this hobby has a good chunk of "experience" required for it.. I wish you luck but don't see this ending well..

Time to really start studying/learning all you can...
Again.. sorry about the negativity...I've just seen way too many people fail.. Good luck..

 

[teddscau]

No, I'm aware photosynthetic corals don't require food, but can benefit from being fed a couple of times a month. It's like how I only fertilize my terrestrial plants once in a blue moon. It's the LPS corals that need to be fed every few days (only a tiny amount since most of them can pull nutrients directly from the water column; with the exception of the sun corals who should be fed daily).

I will be checking the nitrates, phosphates, etc., daily for the first few weeks to see how the feedings affect the chemistry or whatever, and adjust the feedings accordingly.

Thanks for the concern, though . I do keep freshwater invertebrates (cherry shrimp, amano shrimp, ghost shrimp, short nose algae eating shrimp, SS-grade crystal red shrimp, vampire shrimp, freshwater clams, rabbit snails, etc.), so hopefully I'll be able to handle coral. Not that freshwater and saltwater tanks really have too much in common...