Fastest Growing Softies

[edwar050]

I am starting to get fed up with sps, though I really love the color. I have alot of mixed luck with them.

I would like to spend less time on the tank and have hardier easier to keep softies that dont jump ship.

I have some starburst, zenia, and zoanthids. Is there anything that is hardy that grows fast other than leathers for a carpeting effect in a small tank?

[sw1tched]

if you are looking for a carpeting effect.. GSPs grow like wildfire & I think they add alot to the tank.
-Joe

[Mr31415]

Yellow Polyps (not soft coral), green/brown star polyps...

[edwar050]

Yup like my yellow polyps though once they jumped ship. I also have some red mushrooms though those jokers are just invasive. I like fast spreading though non invasive. I was thinking about trying to find an extremely large GSP colony for my overflow box and breaking it up. I love rics though they just don't grow fast enough for me.

[lshark21]

My Colt Coral grows like a weed.

[thecichlidpleco]

kenya tree fragged many times.

[Kevomac]

I picked up a free Kenya tree frag last August that was about 1/4" in the container when I got it. It opened to maybe 1/2" when I first put it low in my 215. It's now got about 7-8 branches and is close to 6 inches at the tallest point. Doesn't provide ground cover, but sure grows. I've also had good luck growing a colt from a tiny piece to giant in about a year and a half. Otherwise, beware of xenia and gsp. Some people have trouble growing them, while others can't keep them under control when they get started.

[happyface888]

from what I read gsp is the way to go, or xenias

[RedSoxReefer]

anthelia...I bought a small frag of 8 polyps that were between 1/8"-1/4" about 3 months ago and now I have TONS of stalks and I count about 3 or 4 new buds every couple days...Plus it is really nice looking, not jsut like the typical xenia and it looks great in high flow areas...

[thecichlidpleco]

I would advise against anything like xenia or gsp that will crowd or take over everything like a weed. Also, be careful when fragginf kenya tree or at least use a syphon to suck up any discharge from cutting, that is unless you can take out the entire rock.

[edwar050]

Kenya tree from what I have seen tends to jump ship as well. I have some growing here and there and find new shoots from time to time. I don't know why GSP get such a bad rap, they are great in the lowerlight boring spots like overflow boxes and equipment. Also look great in BB on the bottom. From what I have seen colts are are awesome looking though those jokers tend to melt at times as well. I had one for about 3 years and then it melted, it was a frag from a friends colony that melted later as well.

I am looking for some sick fast growing softies that tend to not jump ship like shrooms so that I can keep just a few nice sps colonies in a 60 starfire cube when I downsize my 120 and nano, "also trying to decide what to keep and toss"

[ACBlinky]

We lost all our delicate corals (mostly LPS) in a disastrous house move, and what survived was all the hardy, fast-growing corals. Our 90g is filled with low-growing, fast-reproducing corals -- I plan to fill in the spaces with taller, slower-growing LPS corals eventually, but it's kind of neat that as our corals grow now we don't lose the shape of our rockscape

We've got yellow polyps, zoanthids in all sorts of colours, a huge GSP colony that's now growing up and around the overflow, palythoa and mushrooms. We also have some rics and a Lemnalia leather, but those are both slower growing so they wouldn't really meet your criteria. Xenia are also insanely fast growers, and anthelia is a good choice as well.

Keep in mind, corals don't know when they've grown to cover the space you wanted filled; what was once favoured as a fast-growing ground covering beauty can quickly become an invasive pest. Keep lots of rubble around to place at the edges of colonies -- they'll grow onto the rubble, and you can remove them to keep the colony at a reasonable size and make yourself a little $ at the same time!

[Racing1]

Here is a picture of apretty much all softie 220G setup.... You can do pretty much whatever you want..... It does have a couple of sps but other than that softies, softies, and more softies

[Ebisan]

My kenya and anemone(s) have overtaken my tank. I used to have GSP but unfortunately, they didn't make it for some unknown reason.

[edwar050]

Nice tank Racing. I have 3 aneomens now and will be getting rid of one when we move. I am downgrading in size so much I am having a hard time deciding what to keep out of the 120 and nano sense its going to be a 60 cube. I am a big fan of starburst and have grown a couple of colonies from frags. I also love the idea of attaching rubble around the frags, great way to propogate slower growing more expensive corals. I am a big fan as well of my lps especially my crazy green lobo.

[justinpsmith]

My 90% softie nano (much nicer color in person):