best lps corals for new keeper

[johnj]

are some much harder to keep than others?

 

[NS Mike D]

yes, IME duncans, frogspawn and candy canes are readily available and reasonable prices and are hardy. I find that while hammers are closely related to frogspawn, they never last long for me. Took me years to be able to keep acans.

 

[johnj]

will these tolerate small swings in alk/calcium/mag as will be dosing and never done dosing before"

 

[Hemmdog]

will these tolerate small swings in alk/calcium/mag as will be dosing and never done dosing before"

A little bit but not a ton. FWIW I find acans 1000x easier than candy canes/trumpets. Acans, favia, acan echinata, Duncan’s, blastos, chalices, all very very easy.

 

[NS Mike D]

yes, IME duncans, frogspawn and candy canes are readily available and reasonable prices and are hardy. I find that while hammers are closely related to frogspawn, they never last long for me. Took me years to be able to keep acans.

A little bit but not a ton. FWIW I find acans 1000x easier than candy canes/trumpets. Acans, favia, acan echinata, Duncan’s, blasts, chalices, all very very easy.

^^^ @johnj take note, this happens all the time, what one reefer finds easy is a loosing cause for another and I haven't come across an answer for why this is so. It just happens.

will these tolerate small swings in alk/calcium/mag as will be dosing and never done dosing before"

These are all hardy corals which means the will tolerate small swings. ALK is the one you want to test daily when you first start dosing.

 

[Hemmdog]

^^^ @johnj take note, this happens all the time, what one reefer finds easy is a loosing cause for another and I haven't come across an answer for why this is so. It just happens.



These are all hardy corals which means the will tolerate small swings. ALK is the one you want to test daily when you first start dosing.

Trumpets are my kryptonite lol

 

[KrisReef]

Start with a low dollar frag vs gold Indo torch. Get something from a local Reefer or LfS where you can see it happy in their tank.

 

[johnj]

is this a chalice ? its super nice and do most lps have to be kept on the substrate or low down on rockwork

 

[Hemmdog]

is this a chalice ? its super nice and do most lps have to be kept on the substrate or low down on rockwork

That’s a fungia. They are pretty easy. I’d wait until your tank is a little mature so it can graze on pods.
This is my orange one.

 

[rogersb]

Candy canes seem to be about the most forgiving IME. I got this as a few heads at a swap about a year ago. I've fragged 15 heads off it and it's still this big already. Keep alk above 7 and relatively stable.

 

[Dub_G]

Like others have said - one person's easy coral is another person's difficult coral. For me - as a beginner I had good luck with candy canes, duncans, hammers, & frog spawn.

 

[GoatmealJones]

Favias seem to be the corals that always look good even when my params are slightly off. They also grow really fast if you target feed them

 

[Smorgishborg]

Was never able to keep candy canes in my first tank for some reason. Hammers, frogspawns, and Duncan’s are pretty easy.

 

[Abeal17]

I’m still relatively new to the saltwater hobby, but I’ve found blastos, trumpets and acans all forgiving and easy. Blastos and acans like low light and low-mod flow so once I found those spots in my tank they look amazing and are always happy.

 

[Cody Paulsen]

Duncans are easy and really great corals, plus they multiply like crazy. Acans are a little tricky but they will thrive if you keep them well fed as will most fleshy LPS.