soft and hard corals

[tgriffin]

What special needs have to be considered having both soft and hard corals in the same tank? Does it matter on the size of the aquarium? I've been told that you can't successfully have both for a long period of time, and I just find that hard to believe. I know you guys will set me straight.

thanks in advance

 

[kraze3]

you can have them both but the needs are all unique to each coral. FOr example some corals sting and need to be kept away from other corals. Some do not and need to be kept away from stinging corals. Some sps can have chemical warfare with each other. Each is different.

 

[reefworm]

The biggest issue is that the softies will wage chemical warfare against the other corals. One way to combat that is to keep the number of soft corals to a minimum - just those you REALLY like/can't live without, etc. and, second, run carbon to pull out the toxins. As to long term, I think it's a matter of not relaxing that policy. I've kept softies and LPS together in a 29 for a few years, so I think it's doable. A larger tank would likely be more forgiving, but it's also a matter of how many soft corals you put in - more water volume but the same # of corals per gallon and that's pretty much a wash. With LPS it's a matter of placement to make sure the long sweeper tentacles don't contact any neighbors which can be stung to death. That's been my experience, anyway. Others may have different stories to round out the whole picture.

 

[thegrun]

Avoid leather corals if you plan on SPS corals, most release chemicals that will kill SPS corals.

 

[Flipper62]

General rule of thumb is....give each coral its space. You dont want to put any corals right next to a frog spawn or torch coral. If you have a frog spawn, torch or any coral with sweeper tenticals, watch how far they reach & keep any other corals away. Keep corals away from any mushrooms. There are also corals like shrooms that can sting using chemical warfare, They can release a toxin to kill things.

There are corals like xenias, clove polops...ect that you can put close to each other. Their pretty safe.

The other thing is lighting. Some corals will be ok with PC lighting, but others will need Metal Halide lighting.