Coral segregation vs wild coral combat

[karimwassef]

I don't have as much time to frag so I'm struggling with my corals fighting to the death as their branches intermingle create dead zones. Then algae grows in this war zone that is so overgrown that no crabs, much less tangs, can get into.

I also get coral growing out of the water while fighting for light access and in some cases, branching coral turned encrusting to get up over another branching coral.

In the midst of this agony and coral on coral violence, I noticed that some areas were peaceful.. the different poccis were fine side by side. Same with some montis. So...

I'm looking at creating separate zones where each coral and its frags live segregated from others. So, no more intermingling of coral species... every "similar" or same coral gets its space.

It would completely change the composition and look of the reef...

Has anyone done this? What do you think?

 

[karimwassef]

here are some of the crunch zones..

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/75DD1BF2-A6CB-44F5-B7DE-C2653CDA1230_zpsagbz5avj.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/75DD1BF2-A6CB-44F5-B7DE-C2653CDA1230_zpsagbz5avj.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 75DD1BF2-A6CB-44F5-B7DE-C2653CDA1230_zpsagbz5avj.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/0993BA6E-9598-4CA5-B41C-41A73F7F726C_zpsw0ycaopb.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/0993BA6E-9598-4CA5-B41C-41A73F7F726C_zpsw0ycaopb.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 0993BA6E-9598-4CA5-B41C-41A73F7F726C_zpsw0ycaopb.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/A29B620D-7245-441D-A920-78678237C6CE_zpsm85rbyxv.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/A29B620D-7245-441D-A920-78678237C6CE_zpsm85rbyxv.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo A29B620D-7245-441D-A920-78678237C6CE_zpsm85rbyxv.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/4BB5E410-F35E-47F6-915C-3ADC831CCDCF_zpsywfdupa3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/4BB5E410-F35E-47F6-915C-3ADC831CCDCF_zpsywfdupa3.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 4BB5E410-F35E-47F6-915C-3ADC831CCDCF_zpsywfdupa3.jpg"/></a>

war is not pretty... those algae covered tips are actually pushing up and out of the water level.

 

[btb72]

Man what a problem to have...

 

[jda]

It might be boring. Having them intermingled is part of the good looks IMO. I like seeing a stag coming out of a few tables... or whatever. I do segregate a bit, though, by keeping corals out of my tank... I have a no poci, monti or birdsnest rule. Other than that, I just try and mix the colors and growth patterns up a bit.

Do you have a LFS that you trust? I used to let one come in and trim up all of my stuff and then just have them tell me what the credit was. They would gladly do this since most of what I had to offer quickly sold (Tyree, ORA or other LE stuff) and was super healthy. You can amass some serious credit this way and might not ever pay for anything again, but you need to find somebody that does a really good job. ...you are past this now, but maybe in the future.

 

[karimwassef]

I'm breaking this down in a year and starting a new 8' x 8' peninsula tank so this is the time to reconsider...

with enough room, I can see zones of acropora, monti, birdsnest, stylo, pocci, and even LPS like lobo and favites in one area, then torch, trumpet, and hammer zone... and elegance and bubble in another...

I even like a macroalgae or hair zone that's protected from the tangs except when I open the eggcrate gate to let them at it (I know, I'm weird).