Well, They Went and Did It...

[squidd]

My LFS, which has been stocking mainly softies and LPS (hence my mainly softie and LPS tank) went and re did their coral tank with shelving units and MH lighting...
Now they have row upon row of SPS...Monties, Torts, Acros, Clams...all kinds of really cool stuff...All ORA frags (no more "wild caught" )
This of course gives added incentive for me to change my 54 corner reef to an SPS tank and probably "restart" my 125 into a softie tank...
(Actually I'm thinking of dividing the 6' tank into 4' for softies and an "in tank" sump fuge of 45 or so gallons, 4' ft lighting over 80 gallons should be "easier" to come by)
Anyway, I'd like to explore the "Alleopathy" issues of changing my tank over...
Can I run a combined system for a bit, as I get the new tank set up...
Should I "strip" the tank of softies and shrooms before adding anymore SPS..?
"Who" should go first (who's the worst offenders) if I do a gradual turn over...?
Right now I have about 10-12 LPS and 3 SPS, the tank would look pretty bare if I "striped" it down of all the softies...
I'd like to pull the worst offenders first and then gradually move the rest out as I "aquire" more SPS to fill the tank...
I have a Euro Reef Skimmer and run carbon once a month for a day or two...Would it help if I ran it more often or even 24/7 with weekly changes during the "change over"...?
Thoughts..??

 

[reefer44]

i have mixed them and din't run carbon (on my 55g) which included a lobo and leather and torch.....all seemed to slow growth but not many deaths if not to close............i would run carbon though it seems much better..............i am still putting the softies in my 180g SPS but i am running a lot of skimmers and a lot of carbon 24/7......so yes you could do it if you use a lot of carbon and frequent water changes....
Brad

 

[jauringer]

squidd, IMO there is so much more to focus on than mixing corals. you will be fine, and congrats by the way. It sounds like your LFS come around for the best.
I have a Euro Reef Skimmer and run carbon once a month for a day or two...Would it help if I ran it more often or even 24/7 with weekly changes during the "change over"...?
I run it 24/7 with weekly carbon as well as water changes. (10%)