how close is too close and why???

[jkinros]

i have a 40 gal mixed reef and got bit by the fuzzy stick bug at the start of this year. everything is doing great and are growing well.

here's the catch... i tried to cram a ton of frags into such a small tank. most of them are about 2inches away from the next one. i may have gone overboard. i hate the look of plugs in my tank so everything is mounted on my rocks and almost all are fully encrusted.

its only a matter of time before all the new growth will start to touch each other.

how close is too close and how bad is it going to be? i've seen tanks with corals on top of corals and it looks great! i'm just trying to achieve the same thing..

how close is too close and how bad is it going to be???

 

[gumbii]

lol @ fuzzy stick...




theres really no way of knowing since different species are more aggressive than others...

 

[sklywag]

I have corals touching too. I can see who has the power to hurt the other. I assume this is nature and will take care of itself. I wish I had placed some corals by others to control them better.

 

[Flavio]

i hear that its bad for them to touch, something about the chemical war thing in the water may not be good for the tank.

 

[Kbra]

Especially if they war and your skimmer is off and/or carbon is out, it can wipe out your tank.

 

[jkinros]

i don't think mine are at war yet, but i'm sure they will be eventually. so not much ican do until my tank goes into "THUNDER DOME" mode

anyone else on "the war" subject???

 

[Kbra]

as long as you trim them before they touch and keep in mind the polyp extension youll be fine

 

[gumbii]

has anyone ever witnessed a war...? i've seen them like on planet earth when that monti ate up that acro... but never a chemical war...

 

[sklywag]

Will a purple colored type of sps eat a birdsnest?
And will a Birdsnest eat Zoas?

 

[jkinros]

has anyone ever witnessed a war...? i've seen them like on planet earth when that monti ate up that acro... but never a chemical war...

yes!!! my acan echinata was placed about 2inches away from my paly grandis colony, and 4 inches from my orange pavona. i couldn't figure out why some of the palys on the edge looked so beat up and melting. so i started watching my tank late night then early morning... found out it was the acan. it looked like the two was melting into one. so i grabbed my tongs an ripped up the slimy threads to separate the two cuz i thought the acan was the one getting hurt. a few weeks later i see the acan reach over a 4" ridge to do the same to my pavona!!!! i gave tha acan away after i found out it was the acan causing problems.

i haven't seen this kind of activity from sps... i'm really "interested" to find out what happens when the bases touch and when the branches touch.