General questions on coral spacing

[MsBeanCtr]

I've managed to collect several corals over the past few months and I've got a bug to move things around a little. I know that my torch coral shouldn't be close to anything....but what about the other corals (leather, mushrooms, frogspawn, kenya tree, hammer)? I've been cruising the other tank pictures on the site to get ideas. I did see one beautiful tank http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=98202 and noticed that several of the corals were very close, even touching. Is there any particular rule of thumb here for spacing?

Thank you!

 

[melosu58]

If you view my tank in my sig you`ll notice that I have some that are close also. They really dont bother each other but you need to be ready in case they do. Just realize that LPS corals have sweeper tentacles that can reach up to 6 inches but I`ve noticed mine are only about 2-3 inches. Also realize that leathers have the ability to release toxins if they feel threatened. The best thing to do and safe thing would be to make sure they have 5-6 inches between these corals. My tank had this much space yrs back but the corals have double and tripled in size. I dont have any SPS corals so someone else will have to answer for those. Here are some closer pics to let you know what I mean. HTH

 

[macman7010]

Nice Tank Melosu58,

My rule of thumb is to not let the corals touch directly. Corals such as brains look innocent enough during daylight hours but at night the tentacles come out and they can do some damage. I would keep each coral spaced apart enough that they cannot hit each other with sweeper tentacles.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

This may be purely anecdotal evidence, but I've noticed both with my Bubble Coral, and my Brain (platygyra), the sweeper tentacles get the longest when it's been a while since I've fed them. In the days immediately following a feeding (I normally feed once a week) the tentacles stay really short. Kind of makes sense - if they're not "hungry" then they won't seek out more food? No science there... just something I noticed in my setup.

 

[melosu58]

That`s a pretty good observation Kurt. I know mine come out usually about 2-3 inches but I have never target fed my corals either. They get their feeding from the lights and water column. Oh except mt orange sun polyps.