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View Full Version : Easy Corals for Beg.


Sean
08-26-2010, 07:56 PM
What do you guys like as your first coral for your aquarium? What ones do you find extremely easy to take care for and which ones have you had bad experience with even if they are classified as easy?
I have to say my Mushroom Toadstools is a real champ, he has lasted such horrible conditions and always bounces back when the water level return to normal. Next I would have to say my bubble coral. He doesn't show signs of stress and seems to puff up all the time. But that can also be a negative if you look for signs of stress before changing water quality
Zoo's and I don't get along in the beginning, I don't like how they vanish. I rather have something that I can pick out of the tank if it passes away so my water levels don't drop even lower.

gobytron
08-26-2010, 07:59 PM
Any softie, with a few exceptions...
and GSP.

jorjef
08-26-2010, 08:21 PM
Ya how ever wrote Zoes are a beginners corals in my experience is wrong and must assume a beginner has A) metal halides B) perfect water conditions and C) what ever it takes to feed them..... I have had little luck with them but my tank is a bit of a dirty coral tank.... I have had luck from the start with Frogspawn and torch corals and pipe coral seems pretty bullet proof.

Sean
08-26-2010, 08:37 PM
Ooo frogspawns, that is nifty I still haven't gotten one but always wanted to. Do they come out often for you? or mostly hide?

gobytron
08-26-2010, 08:45 PM
Ya how ever wrote Zoes are a beginners corals in my experience is wrong and must assume a beginner has A) metal halides B) perfect water conditions and C) what ever it takes to feed them..... I have had little luck with them but my tank is a bit of a dirty coral tank.... I have had luck from the start with Frogspawn and torch corals and pipe coral seems pretty bullet proof.

zoas actually like dirty water...
I have read that some of the most prolific zoanthid occurences in nature are near sewer run offs....wait, does that still classify as in nature?

Likely you are lacking in trace elements, especially if your system is not that old...

Plus, most only need moderate lighting with a few exceptions and some even thrive in a lower light setting...

lastlight
08-26-2010, 08:51 PM
I know all my zoas are pretty choked since I upgraded from 150w to 250w mh.

As far as SPS goes montipora confusa seems to grow and thrive anywhere in my tank and under both bulbs.

jorjef
08-26-2010, 10:48 PM
zoas actually like dirty water...
I have read that some of the most prolific zoanthid occurences in nature are near sewer run offs....wait, does that still classify as in nature?

Likely you are lacking in trace elements, especially if your system is not that old...

Plus, most only need moderate lighting with a few exceptions and some even thrive in a lower light setting...

Well I was exaggerating a bit when I said matal hallide lol point being I was reading the bad experinces I've had to not enough light. I have T5 but not alot of wattage and still little success. Maybe the trace element has been my problem. The ones that were doing okay just seemed to disappear more and more everynight. Maybe some hitchhiker crab has grown large enough to snack on them.

Frogspawn varies some days big and bushy some days long extention but not as bushy....

ReefOcean
08-26-2010, 11:10 PM
Ya how ever wrote Zoes are a beginners corals in my experience is wrong and must assume a beginner has A) metal halides B) perfect water conditions and C) what ever it takes to feed them..... I have had little luck with them but my tank is a bit of a dirty coral tank.... I have had luck from the start with Frogspawn and torch corals and pipe coral seems pretty bullet proof.

agreed. Zoas are not for beginners.
In fact, until the water flow issue is figured out in a beginners tank, I would not recomend any button polyps because in my experience, they will detach from their rocks to find a better location (and ultimately never do and just float around the bottom until they die.

I would suggest:

Kenya tree
Torch
hammer
toadstool
mushrooms
Some leathers
frogspawn
colt

Polyps that build their own base like:
green stars
green poyps


I would also saty away from Xenia. Sure they grow like weeds, in an established system though. Everyone I know has had problems keeping it alive as beginners. Some LFS will say they are super hardy, some will say they are not. I will have to say they are not.

Nebthet
08-26-2010, 11:11 PM
From my experience the following have been real good for me.
- zoas
- duncans (buy a 4 head frag and watch them grow!)
- acan lords - love lower light, I keep mine on my handbed.
- gsp (as long as you don't let your salinity accidentally go over 1.026)
- Xenia (hit and miss. I finally got mine to grow after a year and then putting it on the sand bed).

of the sps the two following groups are the easiest and fastest to grow in moderate light.
- Monticaps
- digitatas

Snaz
08-27-2010, 02:19 AM
If anyone offers your Green Star Polyps(GSP) kick them in the nards!

bignose
08-27-2010, 04:18 AM
You have to try!

Sean
08-27-2010, 02:42 PM
Colts I find are debbie downers and don't stand up in new aquariums. :)

paddyob
08-27-2010, 03:11 PM
If you are losing corals.... maybe you get your parameters under control first... especially if you are worried about your water getting worse.

I dont understand. It almost seems like maybe you should not be adding any coral at this time.

ALang
08-27-2010, 04:06 PM
Mushrooms, rhodactis, toadstool leathers, finger leathers, and esp my pink pavona, which was given to me since day one of my SW experience. It survived through some pretty horrible swings in water parameters, pH, lightings. I have some thriving in VHO flourescent lightings, and some in my other tank, which has MH.

Reef-Geek
08-27-2010, 06:00 PM
What do you guys like as your first coral for your aquarium? What ones do you find extremely easy to take care for and which ones have you had bad experience with even if they are classified as easy?
I have to say my Mushroom Toadstools is a real champ, he has lasted such horrible conditions and always bounces back when the water level return to normal. Next I would have to say my bubble coral. He doesn't show signs of stress and seems to puff up all the time. But that can also be a negative if you look for signs of stress before changing water quality
Zoo's and I don't get along in the beginning, I don't like how they vanish. I rather have something that I can pick out of the tank if it passes away so my water levels don't drop even lower.

I vote for zoas

gobytron
08-27-2010, 07:39 PM
I have some GSP you can have...

Madreefer
08-28-2010, 06:22 AM
If anyone offers your Green Star Polyps(GSP) kick them in the nards!

Yeah. What he said. Thy spread too much and after a while you'll hate it.

ReefOcean
08-28-2010, 11:13 AM
I am going to have to chime back in and say that GSP is a good starter coral simply because it is extremely hardy and it will grow and spread under lighting less than halide or LED. It is also a good practice coral. it still suffers like other coral when it comes to being smothered by cyno when phosphates are up or from silt when flow isnt right but not the the extent and the cost of other corals. Why risk dying from palytoxin poisoning.....or have a really metal-tasting 6 months... when you can get accostomed to coral keeping with something cheeper and safer? Besides, if the mats get too big rip some out and sell em. I will take them off his hands.

whatcaneyedo
08-28-2010, 03:14 PM
I agree with most of the recommendations so far and I'd like to add Hydnophora and Anthelia to the list. With regards to Hydnophora, I traded in a small colony to our LFS several months ago. It is now the oldest living coral in their system. At some point everything else they have had since has either sold or died. In many cases the latter has happened.

Some people may complain that many of these softies are too invasive and will eventually cause problems for the new aquarium owner. I have met very few people starting out that this has happened to. In most cases even green star polyps don't make it in the new persons tank. Their system is either so horrible that they cant survive or they have a major tank crash within the first two years and loose everything.

SeaSerpant
08-30-2010, 01:51 PM
To Whatcaneyedo said,
It's true! I had a small collection of GSP and they all died when i put them in too early, so did my xenia. Clove polyps are a bit more hardier BUT they can take over whatever you put it on, so make sure it is on a rock that is away from the main scape a bit.

amoreira
08-30-2010, 04:21 PM
When I started I innocently bought a frag of GSP from a hobby auction. Now it's grown 10-20x it's origninal area size and is taking over my tank. Same said for some zoos I bough (easier to get rid of though). I want to get some pretty SPS coral and get rid of the green shag rug monster. I regularly scrape pieces of it away to try and control it's growth, but it keeps up with me. I tried a caustic soda solution and inject it into the GSP and that works very well (same thing as I use for aptasia). I curse on the person who sold me that frag. LOL!