Can anyone explain this relationship?

cbnspanky · Apr 19, 2026

Have you ever had 2 corals that thrive by touching each other? So my toadstool is laying over because the lights just came on. I dont remember what the coral touching it is called, but these 2 have a special relationship. If I move the glowing

coral away from the toadstool it will only open up a quarter of this size. Once I put him back so he touches the toadstool he swells open, so much that he gets pushed against the glass. Has anyone ever had 2 corals that seem to like one another this way?

exnisstech · Apr 19, 2026

Maybe its the flow or lighting in that area and not really because of the leather?

cbnspanky · Apr 19, 2026

Could be. I moved it an inch or so to the left of the toadstool and he was miserable and barely opened for a week. I guess it could have been the flow but I'm happier believing its love

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 19, 2026

exnisstech said:
Maybe its the flow or lighting in that area and not really because of the leather?

That seems likely to me as well. Some LPS corals will expand more in lower flow. When I put some into a low flow refugium they ballooned up quite a bit.

It seems very unlikely that one is making and releasing something that the other likes and expands more because of (though I could easily see the reverse being true: not liking something and not expanding as much).

rtparty · Apr 19, 2026

It could also be threatened by the leather and expanding more to try and take up more real estate or looking to harm the leather in some way. Corals haven’t survived because they want to cozy up to another and be friends. Every coral’s end goal is survival and total domination