this might be a stupid question..

[beeguiles]

Okay so here it goes. When corals are growing and they start to grow close to another coral, do they simply start growing a different direction away from the other coral or will they grow onto the other coral? Or does it depend on what type of coral it is on whether it will or wont? For example I have three small colonies are zoa's on the same rock as a maxi mini anemone. The rock is large so there is lots of room for them to grow but when they do spread will the anemone kill them? If not will they not grow near the anemone? I'm just trying to understand how corals work. I love the look of a tank full of corals but how is that possible when not all corals are peaceful. The ones I already have are semi aggressive so does this mean if they encounter other corals that the other coral is a goner? I'm probably just thinking too much into it lol as I always seem to do but I would love to hear what you guys know. Soo I guess the main question would be how do people create beautiful tanks with corals practically touching eachother?

 

[little_fish]

It depends on the coral, zoas you can mix and will grow together. But the nem will sting what gets close to it. Other aggressive corals, like chalices will sting anything that gets close too.

Corals of the same type, like digitatas or zoas, you can put very close together and they will grow together fine.

 

[beeguiles]

Okay. So if the anemone will sting the zoa's will they continue to grow close to it? Or will they just grow in a different direction? I can't really move the anemone bc that's the spot it likes and I was planning on having that rock covered in glowing Polyps.

 

[little_fish]

they will most likely grow in a new direction, but there really isnt a way to say for sure what will happen - just wait and see

 

[SeaBee]

I had a purple tip hammer take on a rock nem, I still have the hammer....

honestly, if you get the corals to actually overcrowd each other its a real acheivement....it takes time, effort, and dilligence...

Dont forget that if your stuff starts to overcrowd you should be able to reach in there and frag it off and trade for other stuff...get yourself to the point where you no longer pay for coral, but trade for other stuff, that grows and you trade.

 

[Jmck]

Well most likely, if your zoas get close to the nem, you would see the nem just stretch out and kill the ones close to it. Im sure your zoas will find there own path to grow and expand but the nem will kill any stupid enough to try :P

I wouldnt worry, if it happens it happens, as long as you are just careful not to put something like a hammer near a nem which will kill the nem as with what happened to seabee

 

[beeguiles]

Jmck I do have a little hammer. But its not near the nem at all. The hammer is going to get its own live rock to grow on away from everything else. It's the most aggressive thing I have in my tank I think so far besides the nems. The bubble tip nem is the one that worries me bc it can up and move when it feels like it but it seems to have found a spot it likes and hasn't moved. And as long as I don't change the flow or anything it should stay there. I got the bubble tip for my clowns and the clowns aren't hosting. Figures!

 

[little_fish]

I would highly suggest returning the nem. For starters, as you can see, clowns dont need a nem, and they will be hosted by whatever they chose.

Second, nems are the hardest animal to keep in the hobby. They require better than perfect water conditions and very high lighting conditions. Most importantly though, they require stability, which almost no tanks under a year old have.

And if they die, the will kill everything else with the toxins they release.

Your tank is very young, and you havent finished with your various algae cycles, and i dont recommend a nem for your tank at this time.

 

[Jmck]

Nah Little fish I completely disagree with you on that one, but, they are definitely not for the feint hearted. From what I see you have a lot of care for your tank, just be careful, keep doing your water changes and the tank will go through its natural algae cycles and im sure your nem will be fine. My tank is just hitting 1 year old and I have 3 nems in my tank and have had them in their for 6 months.

The clowns will host it, it takes them time to move onto it so dont worry about that.

the hammer should be fine, but remember they extend so dont let them get within 3 inches of anything or they can extend and kill it.

If the nem moves too much then i would take him back, but if he settles down then he can stay :) At the moment, I havent really looked after my tank and my 3 nems are healthy and growing. Im about to put in an algae scrubber because im running out of time to do water changes as often. However, nems are interesting creatures, when they move around a lot they are unhappy, but they will settle when the lighting is fine and the water flow is how they want it.

The whole idea of nems being bad for 1 year old tanks is true but not true at the same time, its meant to keep reefers who will not choose to look after their tank and will end up screwing up from getting a nem.

My LFS is the best example of this, they setup a tank and instantly chuck big nems in there, they settle in and there is no problem. So far, I have had no problem either, just be careful :)

 

[sen5241b]

I have a 3 year old 29G and my corals fight. As they spread the situation only gets worse unless of course you like to watch them fight. My Green Star Polyp almost killed my brain and I separated them. But I am going to let my mushrooms and torch fight it out mainly becuase I really cannot move them.

 

[beeguiles]

Little fish I understand what you mean. My tank is very young and I know it as Deff not a good starter choice. I actually got it with the second piece of live rock bc it was attached to the rock. The guy at the store led me to believe that he would be fine during my tanks cycle only if I did water changes when I got high spikes. So I did as he said and the nem is great! It doesn't move around. It has found its spot I believe. It's been there for about two weeks now. I feed it krill every two days. I have good lighting for it. I am very determined to make this nem happy bc my husband has become attached to it but if I do see that its moving a lot or worse is dieing then out it comes. Don't worry little fish. I am very dedicated to my tanks. Jmck thanks for the good info. I agree you can house harder animals if you know what to do and how to care for them. Sen, I read mushrooms aren't very aggressive so I think the torch will win on that one.