Why can I keep "difficult" coral but not "easy" coral? Have you ever experienced this?

[PensacolaReefKeeper]

Hammers, duncan, monti, kenya, colt, trumpets, nepthea (sp?) doing great. Yellow mushroom doing great. Green mushroom not so much. GSP (bottom left) not so much.

40 gal breeder. Skimmer, HOB refugium, HOB filter. Don't ask for parameter tests. I don't do them unless corals start to look ticked.

Green mushroom looks like he's about to release from rock, and I am sad about it because I really liked him. Bottom photo compares my two mushrooms. I can not think of why one would be okay and the other so dismal. I have tried moving him to all kinds of different places to no avail (to vary flow and lighting). tank is about 2 years old.

 

[His Coral Highness]

Ya. I have a hard time keeping GSP. I think it's because it's a soft coral and it's constantly getting "trampled" by urchins, snails, etc it has a hard time growing, while the stony corals just retract into their skeletons for a minute then they are fine again.

 

[PensacolaReefKeeper]

Thanks for the reply. My GSP doesn't get very much foot traffic at all, but I do think it gets irrigated by green hair algae. Let me ask you this: do you have decent pH swings? I think I do because my tank is relatively low tech.

 

[His Coral Highness]

Thanks for the reply. My GSP doesn't get very much foot traffic at all, but I do think it gets irrigated by green hair algae. Let me ask you this: do you have decent pH swings? I think I do because my tank is relatively low tech.

No to the pH swings, but yes to the GHA also irritating it. As I am typing this a pincushion urchin is sitting on top of my GSP. I also think soft corals suffer the most when they come unglued and you have to reapply glue and stick them back to the rocks. Idk maybe I just have mitts for hands and no finesse when I try to set them back