Need advice in two corals (peaceful?)

[Karen00]

Hello fellow saltines,

I'm looking at a couple corals and need help as to whether they are peaceful. I haven't found much information on them and I'm getting conflicting info. I have a small tank with small fish so I need everyone to play nice with each other and no fish eaters. I currently have a few gorgs, a gsp and a xenia.

1. Fox coral (not a Jason Fox). I have seen two scientific names associated with this coral and two common names and the problem is one is supposedly aggressive while the other one is peaceful. The one I'm looking at I think is called Nemenzophyllia turbida (Fox coral) and I think this is peaceful. The other one is Plerogyra turbida that I have seen called Fox coral but also called Bubble coral. I think this one is aggressive. I attached a pic of the one I'm looking to buy. Is this Nemenzophyllia turbida and is it peaceful?

2. Montipora duo. I think I read this is peaceful so it needed to be kept away from other aggressive corals because it has no defenses. I couldn't find a scientific name maybe because it's a grafted hybrid?

Also, can these corals be attached to the sides of rocks? I know some corals need to be placed in a vertical position pointing up. I have a beautiful rock piece with nice faces around it that I want to stick corals like this so they would be sharing the rock which is why playing nice is important.

 

[Impala67]

Yes the corals you have selected will be just fine together and you can attach coral to the side of the rock just make sure it’s getting enough light and flow and pointed up otherwise it will grow all weird

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Nemenzophylia known as the fox coral is pretty easy going peaceful coral but I would keep it away from things that may sting it for real estate like other euphillidae such as torches hammers
Framers yayas and divisas, bubbles as well as these have long sweeper tentacles that give a rather unsavory sting to nearby coral, soft corals like leathers and mushrooms nems especially if u have one u may wanna put the fox coral on a 1 or 2 in piece of pvc that way the nem cant shimmy up the pole and sting your fox coral at night as it would be easy to do if it was on a rock,

Goniopora and alveopora should be place 4 to 8 inches away if u have any

A good majority of sps have small stinging tendrils coralites that can sting other sps but is unlikely to win battles with coral with nematocytes(mushrooms, nems, leathers) and generally only sting nearby sps once they begin to grow into each other

Favia platys favites should also be kept away certain favia were given the nick name by marine biologist war coral and for good reason these guys can pack a nasty sting too

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Montis should be pretty easy going start them out in low flow low light then if it's an encrusting plug once it begins to encrust or is already encrusted and starts to get a growth ring and maybe a dead spot move them to high flow higher light just make sure you keep montis away from each other

Away from any stick gonis favia nems softies mushies and leathers euphillidae chalices as well

 

[UnderseaOddities]

As montis need adequate space to shelf sometimes these guys get ticked off after a good dip and baster and dont extend polyps again until a couple of days of hitting the tank with aminos and spot feeding with the flow off and skimmer off feeding something like a phyto plankton spirulina mysis roe oyster egg slurry after you dose aminos and pe starts to happen

 

[UnderseaOddities]

The main thing is checking the monti for nudis starfish eggs spiders redbugs and flatworms and dipping in iodine solution and also tlf revive every so often

 

[Karen00]

Yes the corals you have selected will be just fine together and you can attach coral to the side of the rock just make sure it’s getting enough light and flow and pointed up otherwise it will grow all weird

Awesome! Thanks so much! I'm really glad to read this because I've been finding it hard to find peaceful corals and also ones that aren't fish grabbers.

 

[Karen00]

The main thing is checking the monti for nudis starfish eggs spiders redbugs and flatworms and dipping in iodine solution and also tlf revive every so often

Thanks for your replies!! So far I only have some gorgonians, a gsp and a xenia so nothing aggressive like mushrooms, etc. My tank is just a 5g so I've been spending hours researching corals to make sure anything I add is peaceful given I don't have a heck of a lot of room for them to grow out and still have space between them. I have also read about the nudis, etc on Montis. The piece I found is beautiful but I'm having reservations about it because of these pests. I always dip my corals with two different dips as well as 5 mins in freshwater and I scrub the heck out of the plugs and I use a soft toothbrush to gently wipe down the coral but I realize this doesn't necessarily take care of eggs. I really want the Monti so I might keep it in a QT bucket until I'm sure the lifecycle of anything has ended. I probably should do this for all corals.

 

[MaxTremors]

Both are fairly non-aggressive, neither have sweeper tentacles. Fox can expel mesenterial filaments and kill other corals, but they’re usually on the losing end of any fights. And montipora, like most SPS does have a sting, their polyps are so small that they really only fight with other corals when their growth meets other corals. I wouldn’t avoid slightly more aggressive corals just because of tank size. If you place them strategically, and take flow patterns into consideration, you put more aggressive corals fairly close to other corals. But if you want to avoid aggression, Candy Canes (Caulastrea), Micromussa lordhowensis, blastomussa Wellsi/Merletti, Duncanopsammia axifuga, Duncanopsammia peltata (formerly Turbinaria peltata), cynarina, trachyphyllia, and scolymia are all fairly non-aggressive LPS, most leathers, cloves, and pipe organs are some soft corals that are non-aggressive (pipe organs aren’t technically soft corals, but they’re not really LPS either, I usually classify them with softies).

 

[UnderseaOddities]

It may be hard to keep montis in a 5g system unless you pay very close attention to detail

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Not saying it cant be done ypul just have to be very vigilant and stringent when it comes to water testing in a system that small if it isnt tied into a larger system

 

[Karen00]

Both are fairly non-aggressive, neither have sweeper tentacles. Fox can expel mesenterial filaments and kill other corals, but they’re usually on the losing end of any fights. And montipora, like most SPS does have a sting, their polyps are so small that they really only fight with other corals when their growth meets other corals. I wouldn’t avoid slightly more aggressive corals just because of tank size. If you place them strategically, and take flow patterns into consideration, you put more aggressive corals fairly close to other corals. But if you want to avoid aggression, Candy Canes (Caulastrea), Micromussa lordhowensis, blastomussa Wellsi/Merletti, Duncanopsammia axifuga, Duncanopsammia peltata (formerly Turbinaria peltata), cynarina, trachyphyllia, and scolymia are all fairly non-aggressive LPS, most leathers, cloves, and pipe organs are some soft corals that are non-aggressive (pipe organs aren’t technically soft corals, but they’re not really LPS either, I usually classify them with softies).

Thanks so much for this great list! I'm going to start looking at them now. When you start to see corals do well in your tank it becomes addictive. My first two pieces (gorgs) died which was really disheartening but it was totally my fault (no flow and crappy lights). Now I have the flow and lights and my new pieces are actually doing well and now I have "the bug". LOL The fake corals I had for colour are quickly being replaced by real ones.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

You may wanna get a tight fitting lid to prevent evap and do a 50% wc every other day 2 to 2.5 g( mixed to 1.025 salinty cal 440 to 480 and mag 1350 to 1450 dkh 8.2 to 8.6 ph 8.2 to 8.4

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Then dose something like tropic marin all for reef, redsea ab plus and brightwell aminos to start out

 

[Karen00]

Not saying it cant be done ypul just have to be very vigilant and stringent when it comes to water testing in a system that small if it isnt tied into a larger system

Thanks. I might hold off on getting it. Maybe a few more months to make sure my system is stable. I'm religious about water changes, etc. but I recognize it's probably more prone to subtle swings that might be unacceptable to a lot of corals.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Then later down the line get a nano ato and nano skimmer then down the line maybe a mini media reactor for carbon or purit or gfo to get more filtration to the closed 5g system

 

[UnderseaOddities]

You can do it your just gonna have to make sure mineral depletion and evap doesnt occur to fast which might be hard in a smaller tank

 

[Karen00]

You may wanna get a tight fitting lid to prevent evap and do a 50% wc every other day 2 to 2.5 g( mixed to 1.025 salinty cal 440 to 480 and mag 1350 to 1450 dkh 8.2 to 8.6 ph 8.2 to 8.4

Ironically I did put on a lid a couple months ago and it slowed evap a lot. I only have to do a minor topoff once a day now. I have been doing larger weekly water changes but have been considering doing twice weekly smaller changes which pretty much is in-line with what you mentioned.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

With a tank that small you may wanna do 1g wc a day

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Then invest in an ato as this is crucial if u wanna keep lps sps in a closed system