Are these suitable for a pico?

[acei]

I have a 2 gallon pico with star polyps and zoas. My LFS has two really nice small frags that I've been debating. One is a green hammer coral and the other is a white bubble coral. I was wondering if either one of these would be acceptable additions to my pico tank. Will there be enough room or will they kill off the less aggressive corals that are currently in the tank?

 

[sadielynn]

They would be ok for a pico , just watch with the star polyps as they tend to spread quickly , as for the zoas they too should be ok just put some space between them

 

[acei]

You've got that right... These star polyps are spreading very quickly. The've taken over a small rock that had yellow polyps starting on it. Now I only have one yellow polyp left...

Are either of the two corals I mentioned easier to keep? I'm pretty new at this that's why I've stuck to some very easy ones so far.

 

[sadielynn]

green star polyps tend to overtake their space and can choke the others out , you may need to remove some of them to keep the yellow polyps .. Yep the zoas and the star polyps are very good beginer corals .......

 

[incysor]

The hammer or the bubble should be fine. Both are about the same as far as flow/lighting. They're both relatively easy to keep.

B

 

[acei]

Thanks... Just wanted to be sure before I dropped the dough...

 

[Chubosco]

My green hammer is very agressive. It puts the hammer to anything in reach. Keep an eye on it. It doesn't play well with others. Even if my hammer doesn't effect something it will continue to put the hammer to the hapless soul. It will block out the light if nothing else as it tries to smother the creature. It's not a nice neighbor. However, each coral is different and incysor knows far more than I.

 

[Chubosco]

As a side note, don't cut off an offending hammer branch because it will puff itself up and send more and longer branches to the offending area. I don't know for a fact; but I believe from observation, that it will also send out a chemical attack in the water.

 

[acei]

Good to know. Thanks for all the help.

 

[leaffish75]

I found a easy way to stop the star polyps is to place a ricordea next to them.
when my recordia attached the stary polyps ran the other way.

 

[Anonymous]

I personally would skip both the bubble and the hammer if you haven't already gotten them. Both are notorious stingers with possibility of extending large sweepers. If you want a LPS frag candies are about the best choice for smaller tanks, pretty, hardy, lower light demand, and relatively peaceful and can always be fragged. Most of your solitaries get too large, any of the "boulder" types would be a better choice like faviads and mussids. JMO of course

 

[leaffish75]

I dont have a problem with my hammer stinging. I have some mushrooms right next to mine and some times they are up under the hammer with no problem

 

[Chubosco]

I personally would skip both the bubble and the hammer if you haven't already gotten them. Both are notorious stingers with possibility of extending large sweepers. If you want a LPS frag candies are about the best choice for smaller tanks, pretty, hardy, lower light demand, and relatively peaceful and can always be fragged. Most of your solitaries get too large, any of the "boulder" types would be a better choice like faviads and mussids. JMO of course

What kind of LPS frag candies would you recommend?

 

[acei]

That is what I was worried about. I knew that both corals had long sweepers and I worried that in a pico there wouldn't be enough room to accomidate them. I have't purchased either of them yet, but I love the look of them and was really hoping that they weren't as bad as what I'd read about each of them.