Green Plate Coral

[dcantucson]

yote, if I could jump in and ask a question somewhat related? I have read more than once that a person will never have complete success with both Soft and Hard corals because their requirements are so completely different. So therefore one should focus on one or the other but not both. Do you believe this to be true?

 

[daugherty]

it is harder to have a mixed reef because soft coral compete with chemical warfare and lps sting the shit oout of others and sps i am not shure about but the softies have the advantage since they can just realese their crap and it effect other corals and it will effect sps the most but it can be done and if i am wrong please tell me

 

[yote]

yote, if I could jump in and ask a question somewhat related? I have read more than once that a person will never have complete success with both Soft and Hard corals because their requirements are so completely different. So therefore one should focus on one or the other but not both. Do you believe this to be true?

Without a doubt.
As an example
Everybody here knows that I love my SPS.SPS require a lot more flow and better water water quality than softies,and LPS just wont stand up to the flow.
So yeah,you really need to look at where the corals you like live in the wild,and work the tank in that direction.

 

[biodarwin]

I had to remove my second K3 when I started to add my LPS and move my hammer up off the substrate. But 1 does the job, I may get a smaller powerhead for supplemental flow. This would have not worked if I had SPS. They need to the flow.

 

[Bifferwine]

I also agree with that. Not only do softies excrete harmful chemicals (which not only make them incompatible with LPS and SPS, but oftentimes each other), different coral types require different lighting and flow, and different nutrients in the water.

That said, there are plenty of corals that are hardy and do well in mixed reef tanks, but I'd say the majority of SPS would not do well in a tank heavily stocked with softies.