Rolled the dice on a 6-pack, got some stinkers. Advice?

[Greenjeans]

So yeah, I'm new...bought a 6 pack of soft corals from LiveAquaria to get a good assortment of basic stuff to have, and I knew there was a chance I'd get a pulsing xenia or gsp, figured I'd roll the dice anyways...oops! lesson learned!

Looks like I got a green star polyp, a green clove polyp, two kinds of pulsing xenia, a cespitularia, and xoanthid. Can someone help confirm these IDs?

I want to avoid putting something "invasive" in my tank like GSP and Xenia. Is the Clove Polyp(?) and Cespitularia(?) okay?

What do I do with the GSP and two Pulsing Xenia frags?

 

[zoous]

I'd say nice pack.

 

[Greenjeans]

I'd say nice pack.

I keep hearing horror stories of people trying to fight back xenia or gsp as it takes over their tank, and my rock work is epoxied in place...the idea of having to remove rock to clean invasives away is terrifying! I eventually would like an sps-heavy mixed reef...you would add all of these to the display?

 

[zoous]

cut, mount and sell. money maker.

 

[zoous]

if sps then you shouldn't have gotten lps in the first place.

 

[KrisReef]

#5, is that an organpipe coral? It will have reddish tubes at the base is it is?
I'd call that one a win if it is!
The rest are soft disasters, imo. Overall, not bad for a dice throw.

 

[Charles4400]

Xenia is the worse. Stay away...far far away. Never had gsp or clove polyps but seems like they spread just as bad. Fun for the short term, terrible long term imo! Toss them or give them away....or maybe setup a tank you don't care too much about and let them takeover.

 

[Cell]

That's a pretty brutal 6 pack.

 

[Greenjeans]

I would eventually like to have an SPS/LPS mixed reef - so you're saying I shouldn't add any of these softies?

I'm not confident on my IDs, it could be a organpipe? There is some reddish at the base.
Not confident about the GSP id either...

From the LiveAquaria sale page

This Soft Coral Pack may include any of the following softies: Green Star Polyps, Xenia, Glove Polyps or Assorted Zoanthid Colony Polyps.

More shots of the two colonies...GSP? Clove? Glove? Starburst? Organpipe? guh...

 

[DeniseAndy]

Personally, with my softie tank, I like the whole pack. But yes, the gsp and xenia are the more likely to go crazy. All will given the right circumstances though. If you are thinking sps, the water clarity and minimal nutrients will keep these guys from growing too much. They do like a bit more dirty. Keep in sump area if you would like too. Then sell as they grow. Just a thought.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Man, I’d throw em I the trash, just like I did with wwc’s live sale garbage pack.


I learned my lesson in buying mystery frag packs, they are cheap for a reason....

Now if you could add your own choices that is different.

 

[Greenjeans]

All 5? Toss everything but the zoa colony? What about the Cespitularia, those don't seem to be too invasive...?

 

[Katrina71]

I love both! The movement is amazing!

 

[Greenjeans]

Yeah...I'm pretty bummed that some of the most interesting and mesmerising corals are so invasive!

 

[Cell]

If your goal is to not put anything invasive in your tank, then congrats, you just bought a single zoa frag. I think on the scale of invasiveness, cespitularia might be considered less so though if that's what you are asking.

 

[mtgibson2]

that is comically average 6 pack

 

[Cell]

Whenever I get an urge to buy some random coral pack at a discount, I will recall this thread and walk away quickly.

 

[Greenjeans]

Whenever I get an urge to buy some random coral pack at a discount, I will recall this thread and walk away quickly.

Me too!!

Glad I could help

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

Put them in your sump. Xenia is great for nutrient export

 

[Greenjeans]

Put them in your sump. Xenia is great for nutrient export

I thought about this, but I'm already running a chaeto fuge on a reverse photoperiod...xenia probably wouldn't like that, and wouldn't I risk it spreading to the display through the return?