^ lol that's funny... I was looking through zoa/paly names earlier thinking that it sounds like the lfs are selling drugs and not coral with some of those names
As for soft coral, Kenya tree coral, star polyps, xniea pom pom, and mushrooms grow good but will take over your tank. I got pretty good growth out of trumpet coral and candy cane coral in lps
Zoas are cool and don't need a whole lot of light (those were my first corals 13 years ago and they are still going strong)...and they are not invasive as some others are such as mushrooms. Xenia is really beautiful but can become a plaque in the tank.
I find any of the leather corals easy to grow as well. Star polyps are also cool as space fillers. All of these are pretty easy to keep and grow and won't get in the way of other corals when you want to try some LPS corals.
You could try a small frag of frogspawn, torch or galaxia LPS corals. I find those as easy to keep as some of the soft corals and they won't break the bank if you start small. I personally think your light over a 55 gallon should be plenty for a lot of different corals.
So, reading back, exactly what Saltanklife said...
The green polyp Toadstool leather is a nice choice imo. They'll grow into a cup shape when they get large and have nice long green polyps that extends from its crown, It's a very hardy coral as well
Yes... I got mine (toadstool) as a hitchhiker on a rock that I had bought for the zoos on it. They are great and will pinch off smaller versions of themselves that you can move around the tank.
You don't need big specimens, they grow fast and that is the cool part. Look for small stuff, try out several and see which seem to grow better under your lights and your tanks parameters.
Yea I'm definitely buying small pieces that's why I am looking for ones that grow. Lol I never realized how hard it would be to wait...but I know I know I should take it slow...