Hard or soft corals?

[HiItsValerie]

Today\ I went to Barnes and Noble and read a great book about corals. It said that if you want corals in your tank you pretty much have to decide whether you want soft or hard because the soft will harm the hard. Is this so? What are some good corals to begin with? - - - I'm going to stick with fish for a while but once I'm ready I'm going to get a few corals. Where can I find some stuff about corals online that is easy to read and for beginners?
Also, is there a chat anywhere online where you can go to talk about fish?

[PlaYer]

It's not really true about corals. I've got a lot of soft corals, such as Xenia, 4 different types of leathers, Devil's Fingers and others together with had corals (LPS and SPS) with no problem. You just need to run carbon (power or canister) filer to get rid of the toxins they are releasing. My Devil's Finger is actually touching Montipora with no affect in Montipora and it counts as one of the most toxic corals.

[pbutkovich]

Some Hard corals send out long stingers into the tank These corals will attack any coral that is near, hard or soft. Just make sure you are aware of what each coral you buy is capable of doing and place it accordingly. If you do that then hard and soft corals can definately be kept together.
Paul

[HiItsValerie]

is it true that if you touch a coral it will die? then how do you transport it to your tank????

[Michael_Lambert]

no thats not true,

i transport them in plastic bags! .. and just pull them out and put them in the tank!

[pbutkovich]

Some corals are very sensitive to their flesh being touched. An example would be the Bubble coral. It should be handled by the stony base and not the flesh. Any bruising and it could be a gonner. Make sure you ask the manager at your LFS about any special handling or acclimation procedures for whatever coral you are buying.

[Chrismo]

I think most people who have reef tanks have both soft and hard corals. I dont think I've seen one that didnt. Some soft corals emit more toxin than others, and the bigger your tank the more dilute that toxin will be.

If you are going to lift from the water, a coral which has a lot of flesh on it, (like a bubble, or any LPS), than it's a good idea to tap the coral or somehow get it to retract and deflate BEFORE taking it out of the water. A bubble coral's bubbles are mostly water, and the weight of that water will rip the bubbles.

I've even heard of tapping sps before picking them up, but their polyps retract so fast I dont see the point.

Chris

[afss]

Personally I have many types of corals in my tank. I think that you can easily keep different types together. However i think that each type has an optimal water parameter requirement. If you have just one kind you may be able to better cater to their needs than if you have different types.

I wouldn't worry much about it. If you have the water quality (mature tank) and lighting required and have some knowledge of its requirements and chance of survival and you like it... .get it.

As for touching the corals. Some may be that sensitive. I think the book is likely referring to not touching corals on dive sites as repeated touching can cause problems.

Scott