euphyllia togetherness.

[Sk8r]

I tried an experiment a couple of years ago, placing a hammer and a frog up against each other: my lfs has that situation. It finally ended when the two corals began to annoy each other and I moved them about half a foot apart.

Time has redone the deal: they have both doubled in size---the hammer is well over 50 heads, and the frog I have no idea, but I'd say 5-10---it's always too expanded to tell---and are now within 1/2 inch of each other. This time, however, they're not aggressing, nor showing the tendency to do so---[hyper-developed tentacles, mimicry of the other coral type, which they previously showed.] Now they look apt to grow together. I'm going to have to frag the hammer: it's got half my 54 gallon; but it's interesting that these two corals are doing so extremely well in proximity. I have a few popped-head corallettes from a house move situation, and one that I think is hammer has snuggled up right under the frog and stayed there for months.

One often sees sps tanks with a great deal of overlap, but this is certainly a type (euphyllias) that has that potential, allowed to grow at its own pace.

 

[thebanker]

Interesting. I keep all three of my euphyllids separate. I'm not sure what the trick is to make them especially happy. Low flow is what everyone seems to say... but I've seen them do well in high flow too.

 

[ahenson]

I keep mine together too, but they aren't that big yet. Never been a problem in the past

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

You never know.

I have kept some euphyllias together and touching with no problems.

Look in Sprungs Coral book for lots of cool pics of this from the wild.

But I have had others that would stretch out to sting any near by reliteves as well.

 

[REEFR ROB]

My experience is that among the three euphillias; frogspawn, hammer and torch, the torch is the most aggressive and should not be placed near any other euphillias. Placing hammers near frogspawns give somewhat mixed results but generally favorable.

 

[jwoyshnar]

I have all three types together. Torch, hammer and frogspawn. I have never had an issue. They all seem to be ok and i have had them together for a long time.

 

[Sk8r]

Admittedly I've fallen way behind in water changes and have neglected my tank, but the corals are so happy I'm not arguing with them. The params of my tank are below. The individually odd conditions of my tank are 1) not so many water changes. 2) I feed medium krill originally bought for ungrateful koi: the coral growth rate has really accelerated since then. 3) my skimmer is not the strongest, which means the water is pretty 'rich'. 4.) re flow, it's huge: I have a wedge tank, and have 2 1/2 inch Sea Swirls aimed at each other mounted on the side walls, so they swing at and past each other in a completely chaotic way: flow is such that there's always a series of standing waves on the water surface, and the littlest fishes have to work to swim. I have a packed cheato/rock fuge that crawls with life, from pods, amphipods, asterinas, worms, etc, so there's always plenty of food for anything that likes that diet [dragonets], and I wouldn't be surprised if pods also found their way down the mouths of lps.
I've had a succession of marine tanks over several decades, and the lps growth in this setup is the best I've ever had.

 

[kawicivic]

That is good to hear about your success with that system. I am planning a large tank build and one of my biggest things I want to do is a large (75 gallon? maybe) refugium filled with cheato and other macros (I have had some gracillaria, a plating type, and halimeda pop up in my current display once I lost my tang from a tank move. I also had some caterpillar weed? that I had never seen before, but I am not sure I want to keep that one going... although everyone thinks its the coolest thing ever in my tank)

 

[iamwrasseman]

i have fifteen torches froggies and hammers in a tank and they all touch each other with very minimal problems . only one is aggresive twards any othyers and none other have any problems .the aggresor is a torch

 

[Coral_Craig]

I too have always heard Torches are the most aggressive of the three. And although I have never had a torch touching any of the other two, I have had a frogspawn and hammer in very close proximity. Now they weren't in constant or direct contact, but there was definitely some when any flow would bring them together and never noticed any ill effects with that.

 

[Tabasco]

Taggin along and pretty much a newby at the reef thing. In the planning stages of inhabitants for my tank and was planning on dedicating an area to euphyllia so this is fantastic to hear that for the most part they will not do too much harm to each other with the risky character being the torch.

What about Bubble coral? Will the FP and Hammer annihilate it?

 

[bymers42]

I currently have a frogspawn and hammer in somewhat close proximity. It appears that they are extending tentacles towards each other in the way sk8r mentions from the first time putting the two corals near each other. Should I be worried? Should I move them further apart?

 

[thebanker]

That is good to hear about your success with that system. I am planning a large tank build and one of my biggest things I want to do is a large (75 gallon? maybe) refugium filled with cheato and other macros (I have had some gracillaria, a plating type, and halimeda pop up in my current display once I lost my tang from a tank move. I also had some caterpillar weed? that I had never seen before, but I am not sure I want to keep that one going... although everyone thinks its the coolest thing ever in my tank)

Is the "caterpillar weed" you mention neomeris sp. algae? Because it is very cool if you get it to reproduce sexually. I'm on the side that thinks it's cool.

I have neomeris in my tank, and it reproduces very slowly. I nurture it though!

Not my picture, but it looks like this.

 

[RokleM]

I had that on and off for years in my 58. Very cool "weed" and very simple to trim since it's calcium based and the white part is pretty much the dead area.

 

[thebanker]

Some "togetherness" going on here.

 

[lgtentacle]

Tabasco, a bubble coral would be toast if it was placed next to a torch, frogspawn, hammer, or elegance. I've had pretty good luck with placing the corals next to each other with the exception of a few really nasty torches and a few very nice looking elegances that I didn't want to take a chance with. I like the look of them clumped together with the different colors and tip shapes. Medium/low current helps keep the length of the sweeper tentacles down. If the corals aren't being shaded and are being fed regularly, the sweeper tentacles are kept to a minimum.

 

[paraletho]

I don't know if this has any bearing,but I have a genetic cross hammer X frogspawn. I have never seen either of these in cross with the torch.

 

[thebanker]

I've actually seen the hammer x frogspawn hybrid at a few stores around here, but not lately.

 

[VitalApparatus]

All I know is this anchor coral of mine wont have any togetherness with any coral in my tank..its killing everything!! My wife wont let me get rid of it since it was our first coral.We got it maybe 3" across now its volleyball sized....its tagged a couple of my montipora colonies and they have white spots now

 

[GDAY]

We see the Hammer cross Frogsporn here in Australia , Mine do well together, i have about 30 in a 7 ft tank :beer: