I hate SPS!

[Chihuahua6]

Well not really but I don't love it either. Sure the colors are great but they need soooo much extra equipment and care I just don't find it worth it. Soft corals move in the current which I find so much more interesting. I do wish more softies had color but you can get creative with things like Yellow Fiji Leathers, blue Clove Polyps, Ricordia and something green like the green polyped Toadstool I recently purchased. Mix that up with the brown colored softies and add some vibrantly colored fish to pop against the softer coral colors and you have a beautiful tank. This is what I plan to do with my new 290 gallon tank.
Does anyone here choose softies over stonies for similar reasons? I know they're considered more of a beginner coral but I'm not a beginner and I choose them because I just like them better.

[lancer99]

Having done both in the past, I mostly agree...I find the movement of softies very relaxing and soothing. As for color, don't forget about Discosoma & Rhodactis mushrooms, which come in all the colors of the rainbow, and things like neon green Sinularia.

Having said that, you *can* do SPS without a lot of extra equipment, as long as you're willing to do a bit more work, i.e. adding ca/alk supplements.

Some day I will get around to setting up an SPS tank again, but for now, my 75G softie tank suits me just fine

-R

SOFTIES RULE!

[OARrocks]

I totally agree. i seriously just dont get it. their are some cool colors but to get them and to keep them requires so much work/equipment etc. and then if you slack with your reef maintenance for the shortest amount of time you risk rtn and the loss of tons of cash. i will take my LPS and softies....no worries

[jeweldamsel]

I have a 210 with 90% softies. If I am going to keep sps, I would get a much smaller tank for the same reason, too much overhead.

[jadeguppy]

I like movement so softies and lps are what I have the most of. Sps have some nice colors, but they don't keep my interest. I think some people really love them and others just want them to show off.

[woodycb]

Great thread, I have softies with some LPS like frogspawn and torch. Atleast they move like softies do. I agree with the fish popping out against them. You look at these TOTM picks and they are always SPS tanks and the fish blend right in. It gets old sometimes.

[spinninmidwater]

agree. tho i really really love the growth form and texture of acropora. softy and lps are way way way more interesting and variable in terms of shape and texture. also, placement and aquascaping are really challenging for this toxic garden with constant chem warfare and armed stinging "monsters" LOL. i do think keeping a nice looking softy and lps dominated tank is more difficult in a sense. i'd really love to see some more softy or lps TOTM. it's getting a bit boring... haha....LOL

[Chihuahua6]

I agree. Every TOTM is an sps tank, well almost every one, and so many are too overcrowded for my taste. I would rather see less species grown into larger colonies too instead of 50+ types of acropora.

[xtm]

I've been keeping SPS since the beginning and now I feel that keeping SPS is very tedious, labor intensive, and above all, expensive. There was a point when I started to lose interest in SPS mainly due to the amount of maintenance it requires. You have two colonies that are starting to RTN.. you check all params and they're all okay.. the next day, your $100 colony is dead! It's crazy.

I am very close to the point where I will dismantle everything and start all over - with softies. Way easier to maintain and easier on the wallet.

[dendro982]

I have sps, frags and big porites, in the usual tank with medium lighting, no particular equipment, regular additives, or anything else - they grow, and grow fast.

They have nice fluorescent colors under MH (of the same wattage, as was PC light before them). I'm trying now MH - seems, that the bulbs have to be replaced once an year, and one bulb, not 2 - as was with PC. That's good.

Only I have no association in my mind them with the corals, more with crystals.

My choice of the corals is based on not too much choice in LFS, very few corals are colorful or interesting. If there will be choice - I would like to have white xenia and cespitularia (sp? iridescent xenia), giant purple cespitularia, purple and white lemnalia, ad all possible shades of scleronephthya and gsp (there was thread about different varieties, some are very vibrant).

But have be fair to sps - these, what I have, cause no troubles at all - no big sweepers to bother neighbors (as frogspawn does), not so fast moving around, as xenia. BTW, they were in the same tank with gorgonian, that has RTN - not infected. On the other side,then I had toxic tank crash, only sps died, and porites were bleached for some time - other corals were OK.
You never know. But my losses were 2 x $12 (mail order sps frags).

[susan2626]

My tank is also 100% softies and I love it that way - for me its also all about the movement and muted colors.

Link to outside forum removed.

[Chihuahua6]

Stunning!!!!

[lancer99]

Of course, the cool kids have abandoned SPS, and now only keep Acanthastreas and Blastomussa...the more more garish, the better

One of the things that struck me when I got back into the hobby after 5 years was the incredible hype, the incredible colors, and the incredible prices. I guess that's three things

Despite my suggestions about Discosoma/Actinodiscus and Rhodactis above, I don't really want a tank (a la Tyree) that looks like an interior designer's bad 60's acid flashback, whether softies, LPS or SPS.

To me, a tank that has some consistency (in form, color, or biotope) is much more beautiful & interesting.

I'm thinking seriously of changing my 75G into a mostly-Organ pipe tank. There are many varieties (species?) with different shades of green/white/silver/brown, and I think it would be beautiful.

-R

[Lucky-rc]

I agree w/ you as well... But seems like poeple just don't show many pic's. Sure they may show one or two but I love to see smoe "whole tank" shots

Lucky

[geoxman]

I really love the look of an all SPS system! I have and do keep a few but I am not SPS dominate.

I admire the amount of care that it takes to keep certain specimens and the amount of dedication that a reefer must put in.
I can also understand why most TOTM are almost always usually SPS for that same reason.

I keep very colorful soft corals and I have a tank full of them and one of the main reasons for my decision to do all soft was not derived from my dislike from SPS, but in hind sight it was just the opposite--I loved they colors that can be achieved in the wild and altered in our SW boxes with SPS.

I love looking at a blue or red Ferrari but I am also down with an easy to maintain orange Honda Civic.

Lucky-rc if you search you can find some FT shots of my tank.

good luck to all

[reefkeeper2]

Everyone has different tastes, likes and dislikes that will be reflected in their aquarium. I think the thing to remember is that what makes a coral reef such a remarkable place is its amazing diversity. Next to the rain forest, it's the most diverse ecosystem on the planet. I love the look of an aquarium that is likewise diverse. Not dominated by any particular type of coral, but as close to a true representation of a reef as space allows. I want to see sps, lps, softies, anemones, crustaceans, fish, etc.etc.etc. If you can can keep these and more healthy and thriving, you have really accomplished something. The sps TOTMs are incredibly beautiful and an amazing achievement, but in my opinion their lack of other types of reef life makes them appear to be missing something.

[poo-tang]

i too have been anxiously waiting for an inland seagrass anemone surge device driven TOTM.maybe less than 100 gallons too. something different already!
i mean if i had 100k to blow on a tank i could hire someone to custom build everything for me too.

[Bernie21]

I have LPS and softies only but when I get my upgrade I would Like a few SPS to compliment a 80% LPS & softy tank.

[allenpantino]

softies [violation]