Corals touching

so my kenya tree is running into my zoa patch. The part that is hitting to zoos is shriveled up. Is this bad for the Kenya Tree or the Zoos? Also my torch is hitting a patch of Paly's. Is this bad for them also?:-/

 

its bad for the coral thats shrivelled up Crusty IME

chemical warfare or stinging or neighbouring corals in order that the corals territory is not encroached on is common in reef tanks and knowing which corals can be placed next to which corals is something many of us find out through experience

certain species will live side by side with other species and never bother each other

shrooms and GSP is another common one, the GSP wont extend polyps where the shrooms make contact with the mat its often most visible when the shrooms deflate then you can see a semi circle or full circle of purple mat that GSP never extend polyps from

best to keep them from touching IMO crusty
Steve

 

Zoanthids can sting other corals, which is what you are experiencing. Many also say they host something known as playtoxin, which can be deadley if ingested.

 

Thats funny my Kenya tree grew into my patch of zoas and it was the zoas that shriveled.The zoas have since split from the main patch and appear to moving away from the tree.

 

had the same situation, but my kenya tree was stressed not my zoas..

 

Hmmmm...I have been known to either frag, remove diseased, or touch zoas then eat after barely rinsing my hands off. Maybe I should stop, but then again I don't have to get nagged at either...tough decision

 

Zoas are what some tribes use in their poison arrow darts, and there's a good reason why. I would never touch freshly fragged zoas because that is actually how the palytoxin is secreted, from stressing them.

 

That is a cool little fact. I will try to keep this in mind the next time i need to mess with zoas.

 

will the corals kill each other or just keep each other "in check"?