[tankgirl]

Hi Jime!
Buncha info coming. I didn't find Sprung's book that usefull, it's too general and no real info on aggressiveness.
Here's some info from an old thread
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Here is one of the lists I have

________ Relative Aggressiveness of Commonly Kept Reef Invertebrates

MOST AGGRESSIVE...

1)_____ Elegance Coral_ (Catalaphyllia jardinei, "Tooth coral")
2)_____ Hammer Coral___ (Euphyllia ancora, E. fimbriata, "Torch coral")
3)_____ Other Euphyllia (E. glabrescens, E. cristala., "Frog's spawn coral")
4)_____ Bubble Coral___ (Plerogyra sinuosa)
5)_____ Grape Coral____ (Physosyra lichensteini, "Small bubble coral")
6)_____ Mushroom Coral_ (Fungia actinoformis)___
7)_____ Flower Pot Coral (Goniopora sp.)
~)_____ Telia Anemonies (Telia sp, "Strawberry anemonies; Colony anemonies")
________
8)_____ Open Brain Coral (Trachyphyllia geofroyi)
9)_____ Cup Coral______ (Taxbinaria peltata)
10)____ Moon Coral_____ (Galaxea fascicalaris)
11)____ Closed Brain Coral (Favia spead brain coral")
12)____ Star Polyps____ (Clavalaria sp.)
13)____ Leather Coral__ (Sarccphyton sp)
14)____ Tree Coral_____ (Sinalaris spFire coral")
15)____ Gorgoniana_____ (Gorgonacea sp.)________
16)____ Waving Hand____ (Anthelia sp.)
17)____ Xenia__________ (Xenia sp.)
18)____ Giant Mushrooms (Rhodactius sp., "Elephant ear coral")
~)_____ Sea Mat Anemonies (Zooanthus sp., "Sea mat rock")
~)_____ Ricordia Anemonies (Ricordia sp. "Sea mat rock")
19)____ Mushroom Anemonies (inodiscus sp., "Mushroom polyps")

...LEAST AGGRESSIVE

__________________
Boomer
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This is one of my favorite aspects of reefkeeping: the animal interaction. I have allowed(and the crabs helped too) almost every combo of corals I have to touch each other over the years and I probably have a hundred different kinds to play with. First thing in the a m I check to see if anything is laying on a Hydno colony, then I check all the Acros to make sure none of them are touching. I don't really look too hard in the softie tanks for that as any touching usually isn't dangerous.

Boomer's list has too many loopholes because it isn't that cut and dried, but I definitely agree with the general trend LPS-SPS-softies . ie. One single Ricordia burned the whole side off my Galaxia colony with the efficiency of a Hydnophora, yet it can be piled in with zoos, shrooms and softes no problem.

General rule of thumb: Do not let any unrelated stoneys touch. They will burn each other with few exceptions. Many different Acros burn each other but some don't (like my gemmifera and humilis are kind of growing together but the slimer(youngei) would fight with either because it isn't closely enough related.
You can pile up the Euphyllias (Hammer, Torch, Frogspawn). Elegance might as well be a Condy on a rock. That packs nematocysts like an anemone yet shrooms can easily kill it.

Certain corals,generally the common LPS, but others like Galaxia and brains and even stuff like Echinopora put out long sweeper tentacles to do remote burning. You have to learn your specific corals' reaches and space them accordingly. Acros can put out long thin mesenterial filaments up to 6" too if they get PO'd. I had one burn up a Turbinaria (Pagoda, Cup) like that.

As far as actually touching, the Hydnophora has short tentacles, but vicious digestive filaments and really kills anything it can get its poison into. The death creeps like a fire on some corals and you have to frag the good part to save any of it. So a Hydno is harmless even close unless you actually touch it, then it rages.

Softies aren't as physically aggressive in general and can be clumped together with a few exceptions like Capnella and some of the encrusting gorgs. When a softie and a stoney touch, usually the stoney burns the softie a little and it retracts and they kind of work it out. I can't comment on the effects of chemicals put out by softies except maybe my stoneys don't grow as fast as other people's, but that isn't proven either, and I have a lot of Sins and Lobos too.

Ricordias and mushrooms have some kind of chemistry that really kills off stoney corals. Those absolutely should be off the stoneys.

Zoos get along with almost everyone else. Yellow polyps (Parazoanthus gracilis) get along with zoos, but are decorator Aiptasia otherwise and will burn up stuff.

Anthelia and Xenia don't burn, but sure can overgrow things.

That's some of the observations I have made with my gang.

My recommendation is to study all the books and articles on corals you can get your hands on. It has helped me learn a lot more about all my corals. Correct IDing is key to knowing at least certain tendencies of your coral.
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LPS coral = stinging nematocysts and need to be kept a safe distance from on another. Bubble corals can extend nematocysts up to one foot.

Leather or soft corals can engage in chemical wrfare and should be kept down stream from hard, LPS and SPS, corals. HTH
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A lot has to do with distance. In some instances - one Acro can badly sting another, or one Monti. can badly sting another. I wouldn't put anything too close too another living specimen.
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But generally speaking, LPS corals are capable of having extending sweeper tentacles that will kill other things, SPS don't.
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Some brains can also be grouped as non-stingers. Elegance can be stingers if placed below other corals (above they seldom are). Some ricordeas are stingers (even to humans!).
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I really think, close observation of your specific animals is the key to learning how your specific set of animals interact. There is a lot of Boomer's list that I don't own and couldn't specifically comment on, but like I said, the general trend in his list is plain as day, and is a useful guideline, but you have to learn your own corals' sweeper lengths and loopholes like this one: I accidentally pushed a pop bottle of GSP right against a hanging frogspawn and they were mashed together for a day or two. NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!

Here's some more, now that I have a little time here:

A Caulastrea fell upside down right into my sun zoos and nothing happened, however, my Caulastrea burned my Galaxia too when someone threw it onto the Galaxia. Of course an itsy bitsy Orange/purple Ricordia just roasted one entire Caulastrea polyp clean in one night when it got thrown on that. The Galaxia sweepers burn up the Anthelia but I believe Galaxia has a badder rap than it should have, sweepers and all.

I have heard that some of the brains (Favia or Favites, can't remember) can put out up to 12" sweepers that pack a serious whallop, so I haven't got one because of that.

Gonioporas I don't know about because I don't let anything touch it. It was damaged when I got it last June and it almost died last August and even though it wants to live, I can't risk anything stressing it. But nothing happened when the crabs (or my huge Astrea snail bulldozers) knocked a large purple frilly gorg onto it.

I have noticed that my Pocillaporas, Stylophoras and Seriatoporas tend to not hurt each other much when they touch, but let an Acro touch any of them and it will burn them. Acros are kind of mean actually but they typically have to touch to kill.
Acros kill almost all other stoney corals (Hydnos excluded). Montis are the bottom of the pecking order as most things kill them, except for a nasty orange one I got from Lonestar when he was still in business. It killed other Montis and burned an Acro, so I am thinking maybe it is some strange Porites or something NOT Monti, but dang, it sure looks like Monti. You can superglue several colored Monti digitatas together and they don't mess with each other so I still wonder.

The Acros do not put out sweepers. A sweeper is actually a tentacle that the coral somehow morphs into this long tentacle filled with nematocysts (little poison harpoon cells). The digestive filaments are little stringy things that are not tentacles and I guess come out of their mouth. The Acro filaments look like a tiny piece of thread or several. They put them out when stressed and normally you will not see them. The Hydnos put out like spaghetti, and it resembles when a shroom spews its guts