Fox Coral Placement

[Craig Lambert]

I'm planning to add a 4.5" fox coral. My tank is 75G w/5"dsb. 6 bulb vho configuration with 630 watts. Flow is two seio 820's plus return (about 25X turnover). What would be the best location for a fox coral?

 

[ACBlinky]

I've got a fox in my 65g, and one in my 30g - they're two halves of one coral that outgrew the 30g. The 30g has about the same turnover rate, but less turbulant flow, and the fox is fully inflated and happy. The one in the 65g is much less inflated and seems to be objecting to too much (or too direct) flow. IME they like just a little water movement, so put it somewhere it's not going to get blown around a lot.
As for light, foxes are pretty tolerant of lower light levels (mine are under 160W PC (30g) and 300W PC (65g)). We've got two at work under MH and they're bleached; you've got quite a bit of light, so I'd look for a slightly shaded position in your tank. Luckily, shady places tend to coincide with areas of lower flow, so hopefully you'll be able to find somewhere to keep it happy fairly easily

 

[The steven liu]

If you can find a spot with medium flow and medium to strong lighting in your tank, make sure there isn't another coral within 6" from the fox as they can potentially grow stinger tentacles that long to harm others.

 

[sunfish11]

make sure there isn't another coral within 6" from the fox as they can potentially grow stinger tentacles that long to harm others

That is new to me, I never heard that Fox could grow stingers nor seen one with them. I believe In Calfo's book he says that Foxes appear to niether sting or be stung.

 

[xcreonx]

No they don't have feeding tentacles. you might be thinking of bubbles, torches, frogspawns, etc. they all have nasty stinging tentacles.

Mine likes low-med light. I have it under 2x 24watt T5s and it is a nice creamy-white color with metallic green highlights. In my old tank, under a 250w DE MH it was a dusky-brown color with no fluorescence. Lower flow for sure. It barely gets moved by the current where it is.

I do notice my bubble touching it every once in a while, and it doesn't seem to mind. This is just an observation.

 

[kahunakatz]

Fox corals are related to bubble corals and so I would not expect to see much fighting between them. Bubbles do have short tentacles that appear to be for defense or aggression and so I would not put it past a fox coral to be able to do the same thing. I have not seen aggressive sweepers on fox corals, but I would not be surprised to see short ones at night.

Best Wishes,
Barry Katz

 

[Rothie]

I would recommend low light and low flow.

 

[ACBlinky]

AFAIK foxes don't develop sweepers. I've also seen the 'neither stings nor is stung' label applied to these guys, but don't take it too literally - there are corals in my tank that I avoid touching, but because of their reputation as harmless, I never gave the fox a thought. I was placing some frags a few weeks ago and brushed my arm along the fox by accident. Three weeks later, I still have marks; initially there were red areas, then raised patches that turned into scabby bumps that itched for a week - it looked identical to the reaction a friend of mine has if he contacts any Euphyllia coral. They may not develop sweepers, but they've still got stinging cells, and apparantly they're not afraid to use them!

 

[Craig Lambert]

Thanks All!