Easy coarl to care for

[Joker86]

Just getting ready to start adding life to my tank and was wondering what is the best looknig coarl that is fairly easy to maintain.

 

[morpheas]

Assuming that your parameters are in check, your tank cycled etc. I would say your question has many answers. It mainly depends on the direction you want to take your tank (sps heavy, lps heavy, lps/zoas etc). The lighting you have plays also a big role. But I take it that you'll do the proper research with whatever species we throw in here so my personal preference are euphyllia corals (torch, hammers and frogspawns) and they're not very fussy either. Beautiful colors, add plenty of movement and style to a tank.


EDIT: Haha I just recognized your name, we just had another thread with the tank being cycled right? :)

 

[josuer302]

Agreeing with everything morpheas stated, soft corals can addd a lot of color to your tank. I personally love zoanthids and the color variety and availability are endless. Again tho i hope you have done your homework and have the proper equiptment to keep any type of coral.

 

[CodyRVA]

+1 @morpheas , any soft coral like Toadstools, Fingers, Xenia, mushrooms are good starters. You can't go wrong with zoas and palys, they're typically very hardy. Some lps like the ones mentioned above, euphyllia. I would steer clear of SPS for now, no point in wasting your money or killing nice coral frags. Start small, work your way up.

 

[Joker86]

Assuming that your parameters are in check, your tank cycled etc. I would say your question has many answers. It mainly depends on the direction you want to take your tank (sps heavy, lps heavy, lps/zoas etc). The lighting you have plays also a big role. But I take it that you'll do the proper research with whatever species we throw in here so my personal preference are euphyllia corals (torch, hammers and frogspawns) and they're not very fussy either. Beautiful colors, add plenty of movement and style to a tank.


EDIT: Haha I just recognized your name, we just had another thread with the tank being cycled right? :)

Yep

 

[mrsaltwaterguy]

Assuming that your parameters are in check, your tank cycled etc. I would say your question has many answers. It mainly depends on the direction you want to take your tank (sps heavy, lps heavy, lps/zoas etc). The lighting you have plays also a big role. But I take it that you'll do the proper research with whatever species we throw in here so my personal preference are euphyllia corals (torch, hammers and frogspawns) and they're not very fussy either. Beautiful colors, add plenty of movement and style to a tank.

I second this recommendation, the first coral I added to my tank was a torch and it has almost quadrupled in size.

 

[phantomreefing]

Leathers-Zoas -Starter Mushroom


They can basically survive and there is no need to dose anything. Keeping up with water changes they will thrive

Anything with calcium skeleton I would stay off of

 

[Zoey]

i started with zoas. mushrooms, ***** coral and leather mushroom corals. they are all still doing well nearly 3years later

 

[aashley]

I would avoid mushrooms. They will grow well however they will also take over after a few years and there is no such thing as keeping them on one rock. Xenia also do the same. Frogspawn and Duncan's are some of my favorites for movement and it's fun to watch them 'eat', just do this very sparingly to avoid nitrate issues. What lights do you have?

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

If you can keep a Kenya Tree alive for 4 months, you're ready for others. But I would suggest these so you get a feeling for it. Many new people get other corals that look cool, and then end up killing them. I think this is one reason frogspawn has been considered for the endangered species list.
Be careful of some corals though down the road, things like zoa's release one of the top 5 most potent toxins in the ocean.

 

[Elliehatch]

I also started a tank about 8 weeks ago and have a few questions. We were very slow about adding anything. We let it cycle for 4 weeks and added a small cleaning crew. The next week our water quality conditions were good so we added a hardy fish (blue damsel and it's been an awesome addition), a mushroom coral, and a frag of star polyps. The star polyps have never opened. We checked water conditions after being patient for a few days. All good. Water changes have been regular. Everything else was doing well. We then added a Kenyan tree which I was told are very hard to kill. It has been slumped over and deflated looking since it's been in there for 2 weeks. There is a new, tiny kenyan tree growing on the same frag and it looks OK. We then added one more small frag of star polyps 6 days ago and they also have not opened. We also added 2 more mushrooms. Again, the water quality is great. I have an actinic light and a regular fluorescent light. From the research I have done, we should have enough light and enough water flow. I was told by somebody at our LFS that we would be laughing someday about our Kenyan tree because at some point it is likely to take over. Also, am I wrong about star polyps being pretty "easy" starter corals? I love our mushroom corals. They are doing AWESOME! Does anyone have any suggestions about the Kenyan tree and the unopened star polyps? Thanks!

 

[aashley]

I think frogspawn could easily be replenished by simply fragging what we already have. The only one I bought , I have fragged and have 3 others. I fully agree on buying aquacultured species. The reefs are spectacular and should be protected. Kungpaoshizi makes a good point.