Planning a Softie Tank

[jackthestrat]

Hi all.

I recently set up my dream tank (Elos System 70). I have decided that I want to set it up as a Softy dominated tank.

Goals as follows:

Several "large" colonies of softies - have a thing for Green Nepthea, yellow fiji, polyp'd out Devil's Hand. In the shadows of those, an incredible variety of zoanthids and corallimorpharians. The ultimate goal is *movement* and *color*, and a lot of both. I also want more fish. My old SPS tank only had 3 small fish, and I want more in this tank. I do also have (2) crocea clams that will be kept.

Now, some questions.

1. Tank is ~20" tall. Current light setup is a 250w 14k DE halide. Is this too much light for the livestock plans that I have? Will I have to downgrade my lighting?

2. I have a CA reactor. I understand that the CA requirements for a softy dominated tank are minimal. Is there any harm in setting up the reactor? I hate manual dosing and if I *have* to do it I probably will not. I will probably have a handful of LPS corals as well, so there will be some demand.

3. Current flow is by (2) Tunze 6055's. I figured that I would set them up for alternating flow as they are controllable. If I run them full blast, will that be too much flow?

[Shekki]

I had the same light over my softies and they grew like crazy. My tank was 24" deep.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p294/Monkeyrobb/Gianttoadstool.jpg

I've since moved a few pieces to my Elos mini. I think the toad may finally open up today. I'm going the same route with one big piece shadowing some mushies.
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p294/Monkeyrobb/toadstoolcomingback.jpg

[KarlBob]

Softies tend to be quite adaptable when it comes to light. Many of them can survive in lower light, but they can also thrive under strong lights. Place the coreals low in the tank, out near the walls, then slowly move them in and up until either a) you have them where you want them to stay, or b) you notice they're getting "burned", in which case you'll have to back off a little bit.

As for the calcium reactor, I don't see it causing any harm, if you monitor the calcium and alkalinity.

Personally, I like the look of soft coral/LPS mixed tanks, but there can be complicating factors. Many soft corals use chemical warfare to clear space around themselves in the wild, and they continue to release the same chemicals in our tanks. Protein skimmers and regular water changes will remove many of the toxins, but LPS and SPS may still exhibit stunted growth in a predominantly soft coral tank.

Some LPS, for their part, are equipped with long sweeper tentacles that can severely damage nearby soft corals. The Euphyllia (hammer, anchor, frogspawn, etc.) are widely regarded as having the most destructive sweepers, but other LPS may use them, too. With good circulation, use of a good protein skimmer, and thoughtful coral placement, I'd like to think it's possible to maintain a tank that mixes a few LPS in with the softies.

I'm not familiar with Tunze 6055s, but I know that soft corals vary in their reaction to flow. I've seen xenia happily flapping within inches of a powerhead nozzle. On the other hand, some soft corals don't like too much direct current. Again, proper placement of corals and powerheads will be important.

[lancer99]

The three softies that you listed will enjoy that much light. And you know already that corallimorpharians will enjoy being in the shade...

Your Tunzes may be too much flow for a square tank, but it's worth experimenting.

Some pics from my 75G w/ 440W....not the same, but the species you're interested in:

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii249/spoon99/DSCN9794.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii249/spoon99/DSCN4689sarcoelegans.jpg

Cheers,
-R

[possys]

Wow, that's nice.