Coral explosion

Ok so I added a stalk of colt coral and a frag of some blue snowflake polyps and now a year later and they have spread out like weeds.  When I added them I was just starting a few pieces and was just happy to see them spread around since I didn't have anything else in there.  Now however, I am wanting to add some variety to my tank but have the issue of space and managing the current situation. 

I would love to see a pic of the tank.
I love Colt Coral.
Does yours look like this where the Tomato Clown is sitting?
If so, I would love to get some.




Edited by Mark Peterson - January 20 2011 at 5:48pm

I Well here is a pic of a few months ago and the pieces are bigger than that.  As you can see the blue coral has covered a few of the rock pieces.  Mark how is the blue frag that I gave you doing?

Maybe my opnion isn't what you want to hear.  I would recommend leaving the coral until you are ready to put soemthing else there.  At that time you can decide whether to sell the whole rock it's on, frag, or clear off a space for the new item you want.

Oh my! 

It's not good for one coral species to be more than 20% of the coral in a tank. It can cause problems. I looked at the photos enlarged and see that Capnella/Kenya Tree is indeed what you have there.

I'll be frank. Basically you have two weed corals growing in that tank. I would not add any other coral without first removing most of the Anthellia/Blue Snowflake. There may be people here that would like some of it, but they need to be aware that it must be carefully controlled. The easiest control would be to keep it on a lone rock on the sand. You might also trade it to the LFS straight across for other LR.

The Capnella can be cut off and flushed/thrown out. Brushing the rock with a toothbrush will clean it off so that it has a hard time growing back. Any stray branches should be thrown out before they attach.

It's crazy that I'm advising you to flush it! In 1995 when we knew nothing of coral propagation and still had a little trouble keeping any coral, I would have died for a tank like yours. So you really are doing okay, maybe just a little too okay.

If I was closer I'd gladly trade you for some of that blue coral.

I'd trade you another chunk of LR straight across for a chunk of that blue rock.  I'm not a LFS, but I'd bet I'm not the only one wanting a piece.  Let me know what you think of that idea.

Oh wow! I'd sell some of those blue clove ployps you have there. I see them in the stores for a pretty penny for like a 1x1 inch square! You could even probably easily trade straight across for some rock that is bare.

ptronsp wrote: I don't really think it's fair to call them weeds..

I'm an old coral farmer. Don't get me wrong, weeds can be very beautiful, but they are still weeds in some tanks. When we were brand new hobbyists, we all thought that Aiptasia coming out of a rock was so so cool.