proximity of finger leather and colt coral...

[RedSoxReefer]

So I have a pretty large finger leather about 10 inches tall or so that is by far my favorite coral...I also have a kenya tree frag that is probably 5 inches tall...I just bought a colt coral and I have read that these can be pretty agressive towards other corals and particularly the spaghetti and kenya leathers...so my question is how much space is enough between these species? Right now there is approximately 7-8 inches, enough so that they cannot touch each other, is this enough? And will the colt sting other corals such as mushroooms because there is a colony of neon greens close to its base. Any info would be great....Thanks, dan:

 

[cmsargent]

With the colt coral is not a matter of stinging...they don't. They do haowever practice cemical warfare...releasing toxin that stress other corals. Coral closest are effected the most although its not a matter of a set amount of space. Depends alot of the flow and conditions of the tank.

You can try to keep the colt downstream from the other leathers. You might also want to run carbon to help filter out the toxins.

 

[RedSoxReefer]

Oh man, it sounds like I dont want to keep colts anymore... I have a bunch of different types of soft corals and mostly all of them are peaceful...I really like the colt because it is big and full but if i need to i will get rid of it if it is damaging my other stuff. How will i know if it starts to affect other corals? right now the finger leather is extending all of its polyps as usual...I have had the colt for about a month or so at this point...they dont release these toxins on a constant basis do they?

 

[cmsargent]

IF your other leathers are all opening and have polyps are extending then I doubt the colt is harming them. I've notice the effect mostly when the colt is touching or within an inch or two to other softies. The effected softy usually closes up and doesn't open or only partially opens.

If you like the colt you don't have to get rid of it. Just make sure it has plenty of room for itself and keep it trimmed so it doesn't come too close to other coals. I believe the colt does release low levels of these toxins all the time but will release more when it's competing for space or stressed. The low levels may not hurt anything else Also running some carbon will help take out these toxins.

 

[RedSoxReefer]

hey thanks i appreciate it...