coral compatability

I currently have :
1 green montipora.
2 birdsnests.
Frogspawn.
Hammers.
Ricordia.
Mushrooms.
Yellow Fiji leather.
Long tenticle plate.
Cherry bomb zoas.
Daisy polyps.
Getting pulsing xenia.

All spaced apart. Which corals can touch and can't?
I know shrooms and leathers are bad.
Should have asked this first.

 

almost all the corals have a defence ability
its just a question of which ones are mild compared to others

5.2 Coral Agression chart

you may find this interesting

the top corals listed have stinging cells or nemacysts and they dont actually need to be that close - they can send out stinger tentacles to search the neigbour hood and sting corals that they fear may encrouch over them, depriving them of light or food etc
so in general its offence as a form of defence

the danger with the leathers in SPS tanks is not from proximity, its from released toxins which are then in the water column (leathers basically dont target attach neighbouring corals - they broadcast attack the general area
Running carbon can certainly help reduce the problem of having leathers with SPS

IME corals will often tell you if they are having issues with neighbours touching or otherwise

Steve

 

Great response steve thank you.
My leather is injured so i'm thinking of giving it away anyways, to somebody that wants to save it. i have been running carbon since i got it, and all my SPS is doing fine.
I'm about to check out that link, but thats a bunch.
All my corals appear to be fine, but now i know about the leather, and i wanted to ask about the xenia?

 

I would get rid of the birdsnests too. It's not incompatible due to toxins or stinging. It's just incompatible because the other corals listed will grow well with a certain amount DO (Dissolved Organics). However, keeping the water stripped really clean to keep the birdsnests in good condition will cause your other corals to stop growing (or barely grow). Having a good environment for the other corals will cause your birdsnests to brown out.

 

Really? same story with the montipora?
Because everything in my tank has been doing really really well including the birdsnest, infact all my corals look ten times better than they did at my LFS With Metal halides.
I do understand what youre saying. Is there a happy median? I dont want anything to die would rather trade for more compatable corals.

 

Remind me the size of the tank please?

Systems with acropora and other sps do better in low nutrient tanks and corals like frogspawn, leathers do better in tanks where the water is not as aggressively polished.

Yes you can find a balance, but it is easier in larger tanks IMO. Large mixed reefs with both lps and sps are common but keeping leathers, soft corals and sps can prove to be a challenge in smaller tanks.

If your corals look good let that be your guide, just watch out for sweep tentacles from the euphyllias and other lps.