PRETTY beginner SPS?

[Dylan]

So I'm ready for SPS, and am looking for frags to start with. I'm going with the usual Monti caps, but what else can I get that is pretty? I like the ORA acros like the red planet, and the encrusting montis like the purple haze and sunset. Are these some of the easier SPS?

 

[seafansar]

The red planet seems pretty hardy to me and it's a fast grower. My old purple haze was pretty hardy (sold it). I have a sun set now and it's a little bit more touchy, so see if the others do good first, then try a sun set.

 

[Dylan]

OK, that's good. So I'm searching for monti caps, a red planet, a purple haze monti, and a pink birdsnest now... How hardy are the encrusting rainbow montis?

 

[seafansar]

Pretty hardy, but a little harder to keep it's color. I got one from someone and almost didn't believe that it was a rainbow. It was totally brick red polyps and all. Took a few months and good water quality and high light to become blue with green polyps again. So it's hardy as in it won't die easily, but is a little hard to keep it's color.

 

[Reef Pets]

I have a pink Monti Cap, Idaho Grape (purple) Monti Cap, Purple Haze Monti, Pink Birdsnest, Rainbow Monti, Sunset Monti and awesome PokerStar Montis. Ill still have all of those this coming weekend when you stop by. Also, I have many of these on eBay this week.

 

[Dylan]

Oh wow. That's more than I have room for! I can't wait. :bigsmile: Can the encrusting montis and the plating montis be near eachother? I will have to cram them together probably.. I'll bring you that frogspawn so I can make some room.

 

[CoralBandit]

IMO it seems the encrustings need really high light to keep nice color but are bullet proof hardy wise... My apple berry has the brightest blue polyps but body is still brown and its up top :(

 

[Dylan]

I have a 150w sunpod arriving in the mail tommorrow. My water quality is fine, is there any SPS I should not get because they won't have enough light at the top of the tank?

 

[seafansar]

IMO it seems the encrustings need really high light to keep nice color but are bullet proof hardy wise... My apple berry has the brightest blue polyps but body is still brown and its up top :(

Maybe try lowering it! lol. I have one near the bottom of my tank and it's bright green w/ blue polyps. My superman, sun set, and rainbow all like high light, but my appleberry and jedi mind trick seem to do great at the bottom of the tank under slight shade. Still can't figure out were my reverse sun set wants to be. I have a standard 150 gallon with 250W MH's over it and supplemental T-5's.

 

[lowbudget]

forest fire diggy is easy hardy coral

 

[dirtysumpguy]

I vote red plante, and the nice thing is, if you go with the red planet and you do get bit by the SPS bug and just want a tank full of them, you won't have a bunch of sps that you will later want to replace with nicer color morphs!

 

[SDguy]

Most of the ORA stuff is pretty easy to keep. A lot of the "older" ones you can get for dirt cheap nowadays....

 

[maus42]

Just about any montipora, especially digitatas and caps. Also stylo/pocillipora(sp?), which includes things like birdsnest.

 

[maus42]

The red planet seems pretty hardy to me and it's a fast grower. My old purple haze was pretty hardy (sold it). I have a sun set now and it's a little bit more touchy, so see if the others do good first, then try a sun set.

Aye, the sunset can be a little touchy. So is the original lineage superman. But the sand dollars, purple haze, rainbow... those are pretty hardy.