Resetting 250 gal - looking for suggestions

[gideon2086]

Hey there.

Recently had a massive loss of about seven years of SPS growth. Long, painful story..

I don’t have it in me to restart with SPS and I want to try something new.

I do currently have a few SPS survivors, some acans, and various torches (hellfire and dragon soul) that I’m looking to supplement with softies.

I’ve never really gotten into softies so I don’t know where to start. I’m looking for color and size ideally. Hoping you folks can make some suggestions.

Would also be nice to hear where to buy them - not many local softy guys near me.

 

[tmccaff]

GSP softy nice but grows like a weed. Have to be smart and put an aggressive coral near it so it cant expand. Devils hand another nice soft coral. Problem with softies they do grow like weeds and can take over tank. That is why I mentioned put aggressive corals near it to try and stop that.

 

[Techie_]

GSP is a personal favorite of mine, it grows like hell but struggled on some substrates, so it's good to put it on a rock island. Same with pulsing Xenia, a super easy way to get some movement in a tank.

Zoas and Leathers are another great option too.

 

[gideon2086]

Thanks, all. I should have clarified - I’m looking for advice on leathers specifically.

I actually have had GSP in the tank for years :)

 

[maleks.reef]

Kenya trees are nice, they come in pink, brown and sometimes green.

Another favourite is toadstools, they come in many different color combinations of brown/pink and green. The green ones can have different looks in terms of the color of the base/polyp/tip of polyp. Some are more neon green and some are fainter green. Some have pink bases and green polyps or vice versas and so on. Over time they can become huge and they do not drop babies as far as i know.

The normal photosynthetic gorgonions looks pretty nice when they are large.

 

[Seven Year Nap]

Now that Fiji is opened up it should be easier to get yellow Fiji leathers.

Fiji yellow leathers (toadstool)
Koji wada pink nepthea
Japanese pink nepthea (pink with green polyps)
Weeping willow toadstools are awesome.
Cespitularia is a personal favourite that grows quick and is controllable. Mines a purple/blue.
You can get finger leathers in brown, green, teal, and everything in between.
Any toadstool will get quite big over time.
If you are running softies I think gorgonians go super well and also come in tan, pink, purple, tons of different shapes.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

You might find some inspiration here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/anyone-keeping-softie-tanks.624231/
My personal favourite softie tank will always be Felicia's 40:



Essentially, you will find softies still love light and flow, but I much more tolerant of water parameter swings and nutrient level being higher. They won't suck up your major elements like your SPS tank did.

Things will grow much faster and fill up space quickly.

Frags generally dont like being glued but instead are often placed in containers with low flow and some gravel, where they will attatch on their own. The stone can then be glued to a plug.

Be very selective when you chose coral because some grow like absolute weeds. Softies mix well with zooanthids too in terms of environment, so you can mix some colour in that way.

Overall, you should find the tank to be much lower maintenance and a much more chill experience.

 

[gideon2086]

You might find some inspiration here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/anyone-keeping-softie-tanks.624231/
My personal favourite softie tank will always be Felicia's 40:



Essentially, you will find softies still love light and flow, but I much more tolerant of water parameter swings and nutrient level being higher. They won't suck up your major elements like your SPS tank did.

Things will grow much faster and fill up space quickly.

Frags generally dont like being glued but instead are often placed in containers with low flow and some gravel, where they will attatch on their own. The stone can then be glued to a plug.

Be very selective when you chose coral because some grow like absolute weeds. Softies mix well with zooanthids too in terms of environment, so you can mix some colour in that way.

Overall, you should find the tank to be much lower maintenance and a much more chill experience.

Thanks!