A few coral questions

Okay so I have 2 pieces in question. First I have a simple pink zoo frag about 8-10 polyps. Since moving from my 5 gallon with a 20w coralife 50/50 bulb (screw in power compact) to the 56 gallon with 175W MH only 1-2 of the polyps open. They've been closed long enough that diatoms are forming (I've "basted" them off). I've got them low in the tank trying to avoid over doing it with the light, they're about 20-24 inches from the bulb.

Second question, I have a TINY star polyp frag with probably 10-12 polyps attached to a rock probably the size of a silver dollar. Thing is in the new tank the polyps come out but the tops don't spread open. They look like if you hold your hand up and make all your fingers touch your thumb, instead of opening your fingers (best description i can do). Another thing I've noticed is the GSP i've seen in most LFS and online it looks like the polyp's fingers are long, mine have very short ones, and the color isn't the dark green i typically see, its more like a "creame de menth" type color very very light. Are these just normal variations?

Lastly, I when I get everything straightened out, I'm planning on a mostly soft coral tank, but as to not waste having MH lighting im going to have some frog spawn, candy cane, and eventually montipora, acro, and birdsnest. My question here is regarding "chemical warfare" I know leathers do this, but the softies i'm looking at are zoos, mushrooms, kenya tree, and xenia, do any of these do that to a point where I should be concerned?

Thanks!

 

Zoas are pretty tough, I wouldn't worry too much. Give them a week or two and keep them cleaned off. If after that they still aren't opening, then something is wrong.

Star polyps come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, I wouldn't worry at all about the color or shape. As long as the coral looks healthy is is out, you should be fine.

You don't just need to worry about chemical warfare. Leather release the toxins to clear away areas so they can grow larger. LPS and SPS can sting other corals that get too close, so placement is key. Many people have mixed reef tanks, just run carbon and watch placement. Some corals are more aggressive then others.