Evasive Softies

[Jiddy]

Setting up another tank to store my liverock from a tank downgrade and decided why not grow some softies on it with a spare set of PC lights I have laying around. Its been a few years since ive done my coral research and wanted to know which corals will spread rapidly under PC lighting. I can remember the following:

Xenia, Green Star Polyp, and Shrooms.

Can you list a few others I can try.

 

[pbukow]

Most of the Palythoa (button polyp) species should, especially if you feed them.

Those yellow polyps, parazoanthus species. Feeding them will make them take off. heres a pic: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Cnidarians/Anthozoans/ZoanthidPIX/yellow_polyp_id_wwm.jpg

Most leathers: toadstool, devils hand, finger, etc. are also good choices.

 

[Jiddy]

Nice thank you, ill look into those

 

[Jiddy]

Are all Paly's similar lighting corals, or do they tend to differ drastically

 

[mouserusker]

I have a kenya tree coral under 130w of pc lighting, and it won't quit dropping babies. I'm waiting for it to run out of branches, but it seems to grow them at least as fast as it is dropping them.

 

[Skipper]

Encrusting gorgonians spread pretty rapidly.

 

[BPKlein]

Clove Polyps and Anthelia

 

[KarlBob]

+1 for Anthelia. It grows from a mat, like green star polyps, but it looks more like xenia. Anthelia can spread pretty quickly when it's happy, extending the base mat from its original rock onto adjacent rocks.

Especially if your PC lighting is not particularly bright, many of the spreading soft corals will tend to climb upward before spreading across large rocks. They often spread from lower rocks to higher adjacent rocks, when available.

 

[Zegg]

Or Xenia Started literally with one stalk

to this 5 months later, I have removed tons of it before this picture and is a constant battle for me.

And today 3 months later its taken over the entire overflow box, and is spread across the tank as well. Zoathids started growing up the stalks on some of the xenia.

Its all near the top of my tank running 4x54w T-5s

 

[Sardaukar]

You should run a Darwinian experiment of the two most infamous fast growing, impossible to kill or control corals I know of: Green Star Polyps and Pulsing Xenia. Throw a few frags of xenia on one side of the tank, some GSP on the other and let nature take its course! It will be like a coral Thunderdome: Two corals enter, one coral leaves.

All kidding aside, it would probably be fun to set up a bare bones reef tank with those corals and just let em grow.

 

[Jacob D]

Throw a few frags of xenia on one side of the tank, some GSP on the other and let nature take its course! It will be like a coral Thunderdome: Two corals enter, one coral leaves.

LOL

That's actually my plan with my softy tank. I have just about all of the corals I want in there now, I mounted them stratigically and I don't plan to mess with them. If one starts to over take another I'll most likely just pull out the weaker one and donate it to my reef club.

 

[Sardaukar]

You know whats funny? Non-reef keeping guests who come in will probably be more impressed/interested in the tank full of moving, active xenia and GSP than a tank full of stoic difficult-to-keep SPS

Also, I'm just up the road from Stockton in Lodi - what club do you go to?

 

[Jacob D]

Yep, always the first thing they ask "are those plants moving?!?" Ok maybe the second thing, first thing would be "is this tropical?".

I didn't even notice you were in Lodi... small world. I'm a member of the Northern Valley Reefers. Do you ever attend the meetings? Maybe we have met.

 

[Maerow]

That's my plan too.

I have Kenya Tree, three color morphs of devil's hand, Xenia, pink star polyps, GSP, various Shrooms, zoes, and pink anthelia.

Xenia is in the lead right now, and edging up against the yellow devil's hand. But the anthelia is at a hard second, and random polyps are showing up all over the tank. Strategic placement for the win! Kenya tree now has three babies though, and going strong. GSP keeps growing...growing...behaving itself but it keeps giggling maniacally after the lights go out, so....

http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/...Tank/CurrentReefMay13of2009a.jpg?t=1245734030

 

[Kbra]

GSP is a weed

 

[STLmatt]

i had gsp and xenia. my gsp spread over big rocks..but i kept the xenia contained on a little rock island. never crossed the sand!