What Corals Don't I want?
 

MMAX's comment in the clove polyps thread got me thinking.

Often times it can be very difficult to make sound decisions on livestock, even after doing hours of research. The catch, of course, is that readily available information is often incomplete or biased. Sometimes it isn't until an issue arises, and one starts researching solutions for it, that the full gravity of the situation becomes apparent.

As it turns out, I've got several "nuisance" corals that I've purchased (I knew one had that reputation before hand). While only one is yet causing me grief (my Kenya Tree . . . it frags itself all over my tank), I now know that my kenya tree, clove polyps, star polyps (knew these were trouble before purchase, but didn't fully understand how much trouble), and rhodactis mushrooms can be royal butt pains.

Is there anything that I haven't bought yet that I shouldn't: for reasons of nuisancery?

IME Xenia, clove polyps kenya trees, and mushrooms seem to be the most complained about, and rightfully so. they spread fast and are hard to get rid of once they start reproducing.
but others like GSP (IMO) are beautiful, and seem to be easy to manage, I keep my GSP on a separate rock by its self and if it decides to start growing into the sand I just lift it and trim that bit off every month or so. I think its in the eye of the beholder, if you like it its up to you, but just know that certain corals will take over eventually. Even some sps (apparenlty Poccilipora) will drop babies similar to kenya trees, that just pop up everywhere. so there are definitely "nice" nuisance corals in everyones tanks (almost)
Even Zoanthids pop up in weird places, I have some popped up in my tank, that I thought I had lost lol.

You can add anthelia and Xenia to the list. And all shrooms but rics.

Oh. I had forgotten about Xenia. I had one, but it died. I might skim too wet for it, or my Kenya may have nuked it. Either way, I won't get another one.

Having now searched for "anthelia" . . . some of it looks an awful lot like clove polyps. I will be sure to avoid it.

It is nice to know that my star polyps will stay pretty isolated if I keep them a bit removed.

My lovely wife walks by my tank after I give it a good cleaning and proudly displaying the newer stoney corals remarks only.. "Where are the cute green grassy ones, you know that look like grass?" "That one is my favourite."

you also don't want any purple acroprora...nasty stuff. If you get some accidentally, send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you..

^
:lol:


Real Sneaky.... :rolleyes:

Cheeky, ain't he?

Actually . . . I think I have some of that! Maybe I should send it to him.

That's this . . .

http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/...neoncloves.jpg

. . . right?

:twised:

yes thats the stuff!! Make sure you give him a generous frag!:wink:

Think I already have a bit of that, but thanks :)

Really? I have a huge colony of purple acro that could definitely use a trim. Give me a shout and we can set something up for you.

Wow am I glad I saw this thread! I was looking for a coral for my second clarkii clown to host and was told they host GSP, Xenia and Clove polyps so I was looking into getting one for my clown as I don't want an anemone.

So what are some other options for me since I'm quite turned off from the corals you guys listed as nuisances now :) ! I heard clarkii's would host gonioporas, and frogspawn/torch corals. How are these three in the nuisance category, generally safe and easy to keep under control or would you guys discourage any of them? I'm also open to other coral suggestions! :)
Thanks in advance

What about a toadstool? Some toadstools will tolerate Clowns alright. I purchased a hairy toadstool for my clown (along with Xenia, Rhodactis Mushrooms, Clove Polyps, and Daisy Polyps). He likes the cleaner magnet.

My only concern about having Euphyllia and Clowns is that the fish can annoy them and cause damage to them. That said, I have two torch corals, three frogspawn, and a hammer coral in a 10 gallon display tank with the Clownfish . . . and he still likes the cleaner magnet. :rolleyes:

Euphyllia aren't typically nuisance corals, though they can have a pretty fierce sting (especially the torch corals).

Is the toadstool a type of leather? Cup leather to be exact? LFS doesn't carry much of anything for marine systems so my only option is either to travel or buy online. The sites I've been looking at carry a lot of leather corals but I haven't seen any specifically called "toadstool" yet, though I have heard of them!

Hmm. I'm not sure if it would be a "cup leather" or not. I'm not familiar with the term. It is a "leather" coral.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCanZyCjmrs
There is a clown being hosted by a green hairy toadstool (the same one I own).

They are Sarcophyton sp.

Oh wow that one is awesome! No definitely not the cup leathers that I've been seeing. I have not seen one like this on the sites I've been looking at. I'd like to buy from Fragalot.ca or j&l but haven't seen a hairy leather/toadstool on either of them.... Hmmmm I wonder if clowns would host the cup leather, Fragalot has a nice neon green one that I've been eyeing up :biggrin:

I purchased mine from Snappy here on the forum. http://www.coralmaster.com/ It doesn't look like he has any more right now.

The only "negative" about Sarcophyton sp. (that I'm aware of) is that they can get very large. They're reportedly very easy to cut back, though.

The "neon cup leather" on Fragalot's site looks quite similar, as does the "leather colony." The polyps aren't quite the same, but it might be worth a shot. :)

I had a pair of ocellaris that hosted in my toadstool leather (green one from J&L, they usually have a few different toadstools in stock). I bought it at ~4" diameter and maybe 6" tall... it's now easily 1' diameter and almost 1' tall but the stalk is thicker than my arm.

It's easy to frag and only grows where you want it, you can even just cut the whole top off and it'll re-grow a cap.

I just checked your build thread . . . your toadstool has had great growth!

Mine started off about 2" tall with a 2" cap around seven weeks ago. It is now 3" tall with a 4"+ cap.

Oh another one I forgot to mention is the yellow sun coral. How are they nuisance wise? I was considering one to add some "pop" to my tank but having a hard time finding enough info on them.

I'm strongly leaning towards trying that neon cup leather colony. I loved it in the first place, but now that there's the possibility that my clown might also love it is a bonus. Let's hope he doesn't love it too much and bother it though. I think I'll try that one out for sure :)

Thanks in advance for opinions/info on the sun coral.

From what I understand, Sun Corals can be a real challenge to keep. I think you have to feed every head. I think some people construct feeding domes for them out of 2L pop bottles. I'm fuzzy on the details, though.

If you Google "feeding sun coral" you might get some good ideas.

Yes, feeding sun corals can become more labour intensive & polluting than most reefers want to deal with.

Dendros are generally a bit easier and hardier, but also far more expensive (from Australia) than the Sun Corals.

Sorry I didnt read the thread.....but I always try to stay away from ugly ones :D

Universally good advice.

To those that mentioned anthalis, this is what can happen when you buy one little frag that your girlfriend thinks is cute...

http://i.imgur.com/FjTry.jpg


It hasn't been too bad to manage, it peeled off the rocks pretty easy and it's easy to get off the glass, but I've read a lot of stories where people have to boil rocks to get it off. I've still got some growing on a big rock, but only that rock right now.

Guess I am the only crazy one who keeps these "pest" corals and has no issues with them...my Kenya tree is very large and hasnt dropped a frag once, my GSP grows up my overflow and thats about it.

Now as for Xenia it doesnt like my tank and wont grow?

*shrug* I like all these pest corals because I have a coral beauty who enjoys nipping at them but only them.

Nope -- I Love the pests. My first aquarium is filled with GSP, Xenia, Clove polyps and dasies.

A pest by any other name
 

A pest to one is not a pest to others, I found that starting my first tank years ago I had luck with anthelia and kenya trees. They lived, were cheap and filled up my tank. As I became better my candy canes and zoas became pests (my candy canes actually melted and dropped frags everywhere). Now I only wish my more expensive corals would become pests.

Ok Im and old freshwater guy but a discus breeder would call a guppy a pest. Multipy like crazy and arent as nice as a discus.

I still have a colony of kenya trees in my tank as they move with the waves and have height in the tank. I just keep them pruned and pull out frags that are dropped.

If your just starting out some of the pests are great corals. You will find satisfaction in growing a coral and move onto more interesting species and probably stay in the hobby longer.

So in my opinion they are beginner corals and not pests.

The problem is that when the beginner decides to upgrade corals, they can't get rid of a lot of these things. Well, without using pesticides! :)

Many corals spread by dropping polyps like any sort of mushrooms, many leathers, Xenia, Anthelia, star polyps (aka GSP) can also do this. This is a real pain because they will start growing all over the place. Poccilopora will spread by sexual reproduction (the only SPS I know that readily does this), and can be a real pain popping up all over the place.

Also, some (para)Zoanthids:
Yellow Polyps:
http://www.tidalgardens.com/images/c...low_polyps.jpg


Green or Brown Button Polyps:
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reef...iWRZ_Ap14C.jpg