Kizmar
#derpface
So, I've had my tank for over a year now. I've been researching and learning about corals and watching mine grow for a good amount of time. During the course of a year I've slowly realized why some people stay away from some/most soft corals.
I have a colony of green star polyp that I'm already having to trim back every couple weeks so they don't overtake an SPS frag on a rock they've spread to. I also have a colony of blue clove polyp that has spread to several rocks in my tank.
The star polyp colony is fairly easy to contain, so I'm not at all worried about it spreading uncontrollably. It is getting a bit annoying though. I'm to a point where I might relocate an SPS frag and remove a rock, leaving the star polyp only on the rock it started on (and keep that rock away from others). I like the way this colony flows with the current.
The blue clove polyp is a different story. I've read and heard vastly different opinions on this stuff. Two of the LFS's I frequent say they are hard to keep and hard to find (and sell quickly). I've seen threads with people talking about how invasive they are mixed with people begging for frags of it.
My tank is on the side of invasive when it comes to blue clove polyp. A few more months and I'll have entire rocks covered with it. I'm trying to decide what I want to do at this point. I don't want to use chemicals or meds to kill them off, for fear of killing things I want to keep. I don't want to trade out rocks covered with it because I have other corals attached to them and/or they are uniquely shaped rocks that I hand picked. Some rocks I may end up removing and busting up to sell as frags.
Another thought I've had is to spread out smaller rock pieces, let the blue clove spread and sell the smaller rocks as colonies. If I had two tanks I'd be all over this... but I'm hesitant to turn my only tank into a harvester.
I do have zoas and a couple other leathers that I would like to keep, so I'm a little leary about tossing in a butterfly or some other fish that grazes on these types of corals. That is something that's been suggested. It does make me wonder if I could get a fish that would keep the blue clove in check without consuming it all along with the zoas. Thoughts/suggestions on this would be appreciated.
I have a colony of green star polyp that I'm already having to trim back every couple weeks so they don't overtake an SPS frag on a rock they've spread to. I also have a colony of blue clove polyp that has spread to several rocks in my tank.
The star polyp colony is fairly easy to contain, so I'm not at all worried about it spreading uncontrollably. It is getting a bit annoying though. I'm to a point where I might relocate an SPS frag and remove a rock, leaving the star polyp only on the rock it started on (and keep that rock away from others). I like the way this colony flows with the current.
The blue clove polyp is a different story. I've read and heard vastly different opinions on this stuff. Two of the LFS's I frequent say they are hard to keep and hard to find (and sell quickly). I've seen threads with people talking about how invasive they are mixed with people begging for frags of it.
My tank is on the side of invasive when it comes to blue clove polyp. A few more months and I'll have entire rocks covered with it. I'm trying to decide what I want to do at this point. I don't want to use chemicals or meds to kill them off, for fear of killing things I want to keep. I don't want to trade out rocks covered with it because I have other corals attached to them and/or they are uniquely shaped rocks that I hand picked. Some rocks I may end up removing and busting up to sell as frags.
Another thought I've had is to spread out smaller rock pieces, let the blue clove spread and sell the smaller rocks as colonies. If I had two tanks I'd be all over this... but I'm hesitant to turn my only tank into a harvester.
I do have zoas and a couple other leathers that I would like to keep, so I'm a little leary about tossing in a butterfly or some other fish that grazes on these types of corals. That is something that's been suggested. It does make me wonder if I could get a fish that would keep the blue clove in check without consuming it all along with the zoas. Thoughts/suggestions on this would be appreciated.