Adding soft coral to LPS reef

[msujohn]

My tank (90 gallon) currently has most LPS, torches, frogspawn, Duncan’s, elegance and trumpet corals. It also has about 6 RBTA’s (grows crazy). I’d like to add several soft coral like firework/yellow polyps, sinularia, nephthea, maybe xenia( if I can find ones that don’t grow like weeds. Also looking at gonipora. Looking for more color and movement in my tank. I currently run gfo and carbon. And I dose vinegar. I’m assuming I need to stop gfo and vineyard d

 

[New&no clue]

I have a mixed reef of softies and LPS; Xenia, BTA, hammers, blasto, elegance, RFA, Favia, galexia, Gorgonian, mushroom, zoas, sinularia, toadstool... I may have missed some. I run carbon and phosguard

 

[Picasso Clown]

It’s no problem to add them, I’d stop dosing the Gfo and vinegar though. I don’t know what that stuff does but I only dose regular alk, calcium, etc.

 

[msujohn]

It’s no problem to add them, I’d stop dosing the Gfo and vinegar though. I don’t know what that stuff does but I only dose regular alk, calcium, etc.

in your 3rd pic, is that pulsing xenia next to your firework polyps? How do you contain them?

the gfo and vinegar helps reduce nitrates and phosphates.

 

[New&no clue]

I know it was directed towards me, but my 2 cents, I put my Xenia’s on a island and they’ve never spread

 

[msujohn]

I know it was directed towards me, but my 2 cents, I put my Xenia’s on a island and they’ve never spread

thanks. How long have you had them? I’m surprised you have no issues with your anemone.

 

[Picasso Clown]

I have my xenia on a chunk of rock maybe 4 inches across? I trim and sell regularly to stop it from spreading but even if it did it’s very easy to remove ime, it just peels off the rock. My nem has been just lovely the whole time.

 

[New&no clue]

thanks. How long have you had them? I’m surprised you have no issues with your anemone.

they seem to keep each other in check

 

[NB Reefer]

You can run both GFO and vinegar with softies. Why would you think you couldn't? Both are nutrient reducing methods, GFO is used to reduce phosphates and vinegar dosing is used to reduce nitrates. As long as you do not zero out both you are ok.

 

[msujohn]

You can run both GFO and vinegar with softies. Why would you think you couldn't? Both are nutrient reducing methods, GFO is used to reduce phosphates and vinegar dosing is used to reduce nitrates. As long as you do not zero out both you are ok.

I’m assuming I need more nitrates for soft corals. I will back off it a little, one I start getting some softies.

 

[msujohn]

Any suggestions for online stores that sell a lot of softies? Or maybe a hobbyist looking to sell frags? I’m trying to minimize going to several LFS to find some coral.

 

[New&no clue]

Soft Corals For Sale: Tank Raised Aquacultured Soft Corals, Hard Corals, Inverts and Saltwater Reef Fish For Home Aquariums

Welcome to AquaCorals! The largest Tank Raised Soft Coral Aquaculture facility in the US! Over 100 Soft Coral species are grown on "Real Rock" here

www.aquacorals.com

Cultivated Reef

Aqua-cultured Corals | Marine Farmers Inc

Thru out the years Marine Farmers have been able to obtain some of the best and rarest soft corals available in the hobby. Our passion shows in the quality of the frags, that is why we only propagate those species which are more sustainable to the home aquariums.

www.marinefarmers.com

 

[msujohn]

Soft Corals For Sale: Tank Raised Aquacultured Soft Corals, Hard Corals, Inverts and Saltwater Reef Fish For Home Aquariums

Welcome to AquaCorals! The largest Tank Raised Soft Coral Aquaculture facility in the US! Over 100 Soft Coral species are grown on "Real Rock" here

www.aquacorals.com

Cultivated Reef

Aqua-cultured Corals | Marine Farmers Inc

Thru out the years Marine Farmers have been able to obtain some of the best and rarest soft corals available in the hobby. Our passion shows in the quality of the frags, that is why we only propagate those species which are more sustainable to the home aquariums.

www.marinefarmers.com

Do you have experience buying from all 3 of them?

 

[New&no clue]

Do you have experience buying from all 3 of them?

Yes, Aqua Corals and Cultivated Reef are actually local to me so I've been in there place and seen the tanks. I've never had Cultivated Reef ship me corals as they are 5 mins away. However, Aqua Corals is about an hour drive and I have a couple times had her ship me items, they all are very well packed. Marine Farmers is not local but I have bought multiple times from him. Always shipped well and a good product.

 

[msujohn]

Yes, Aqua Corals and Cultivated Reef are actually local to me so I've been in there place and seen the tanks. I've never had Cultivated Reef ship me corals as they are 5 mins away. However, Aqua Corals is about an hour drive and I have a couple times had her ship me items, they all are very well packed. Marine Farmers is not local but I have bought multiple times from him. Always shipped well and a good product.

Thanks, looks like I will place an order with Cultivated Reef. I do have questions on a few pieces and want to make sure that they won't just grow like wild fire.
- Blue Sympodium
- Cespitularia (I know this is part of Xenia family)
- Blue Solomon Tree (is this a kenya)
- Liams Clove Polyp
- Mandarin Orange Clove

Any issues with these. Do I have to worry about them stinging my other coral?

 

[New&no clue]

I’ve never seen a soft coral sting, but I’ve read they use chemical warfare, so I have a bag of carbon in my sump and never had an issue. In my experience all soft corals will spread quicker than an LPS or SPS. However, they are very easy to trim up. And they don’t “encrust” with a hard skeleton like LPS/SPS, they are soft so it’s easy to pull them up if they are going someplace you don’t like.

 

[TinnysReef]

I have a 125 gallon softie tank - it's been going for 4 years and is going strong. It was my first saltwater tank and I've tried many different softies in there.

One that I noticed sting even other softies I would avoid near your LPS are the sinularia/finger leathers. When mine got huge it caused burn marks to my toadstools. That now lives on an island with xenia and neither seem to bother each other.

Ones that don't seem to bother other softies in my tank are green star polyps, cabbage leather, and waving hand anthelia. But the GSP and anthelia do try and grow other corals so I have to pluck them away from others from time to time.

I'd try islands for the more aggressive or fast growing softie species to keep your LPS sting free and not smothered