Soft Corals to AVOID?

[monique27]

I made the biggest mistake of adding a pulsing xenia and kenya tree to my system when starting off with corals. The kenya tree is all over the place! What other corals would you not recommend getting if you dont want it to take over the whole tank?

 

[garygonzales]

green star polyps...they will grow over everything.....

 

[Casey8]

Mushroom :angryfire: I hate them !

 

[barry_keith]

I would avoid Kenya Tree because it constantly frags itself by dropping branches. Also Blue Clove polyps also can go sexual and spread themselves around the tank.

Anything else for the most part can be keep on rocks in the sand that are not touching other rocks. The back wall also makes a great place for fast growing softies.

 

[JoshMO]

It's all about preference. Some people dont like some species because they can become "problem" species.. growing over your other corals. It doesn't mean you should avoid those species, it just means you need to plan their placement more carefully if you want to keep them. I like Xenia and GSP. I don't mind kenya trees and have some of those also. People just need to know what they are getting. There are other soft corals that are hardy and don't spread a lot; get those if you're worried about it.

I hear Xenia are good put near the glass, where they can spread onto the glass and be easier to remove

 

[planedoc]

I give away my xenia Kenya and cheato. I meet new friends and pass on the plague I mean life. Lol. It's not that bad. To me it feels good to trim stuff. Others watch stuff die.
And don't forget about yellow polyps

 

[insanefishguy]

Anthalia is another one to be careful with.

 

[monique27]

Dont get me wrong I think all these corals are nice I just hate that I have branches of kenya all over. Thanks for the quick replies!

What would be the best method to completely remove the kenya tree, which is attached to live rock that also has corals?

 

[JoshMO]

For kenya tree I think you can just cut most of it off and try to scrap the rest off.

 

[Khemul]

Personally I look at it this way, if you don't want the potential for it to overrun a tank then you probably want to consider LPS or SPS. The key traits of softies and similar corals is that they grow fast and frag extremely easily. They are essentially the weeds of the reef.

There are some exceptions in the family, but even some of the calmer softies can overrun a tank if given the chance.

 

[dee99gt]

Anthalia!!! I thought it looked pretty and neat at first, but then it was taking over my tank and I swear every time I pulled it, it would grow back twice as much... I love my pulsing xenia tho!

 

[weicowireman]

I would scrape Kenya. I wouldn't cut it because it's spores will flow throughout your tank tank and cause a outbreak.

 

[Toadally]

green star polyps...they will grow over everything.....

Agree... unless you have them on a rock segregated.