Species of coral rarely seen in the hobby?

elysics

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On that note, a not all too common, but still buyable, relatively well keepable and not too ugly coral: Montastrea. Looks like if a Favia went to the gym too much

Might even be able to get a not-brown variant if you look around for a while

Something else kinda cool is Isaurus sp. "snake polyps", look really weird and interesting, a local LFS here has neon green ones

Heliopora is not super rare, but not very common either, and has a nice growth pattern

Don't try sea fans/NPS in general if you are not super commited to definitely have them above all else, that'll just end in wasted money and sadness
 
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Subtropic Reefer

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so do you want rare coral or ugly coral?
I want coral rarely seen in the hobby but common on wild reefs so I can make my tank look more natural. What I’m saying is that if there is a common wild coral but uncommon in the hobby Bc of its color, I still like it.
 

Tired

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Then you should say in the first post that you want corals that are common on wild reefs, not that you want uncommon ones.

Which reefs? Which parts of them? Common corals depend on where you're looking.

The most natural look for your tank would be gotten by picking one or two species and letting them entirely take the place over. Coral reefs don't really have 20+ corals crammed into a small space. Look at pictures of wild reefs.
 
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Subtropic Reefer

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Then you should say in the first post that you want corals that are common on wild reefs, not that you want uncommon ones.

Which reefs? Which parts of them? Common corals depend on where you're looking.

The most natural look for your tank would be gotten by picking one or two species and letting them entirely take the place over. Coral reefs don't really have 20+ corals crammed into a small space. Look at pictures of wild reefs.
I know. I’m trying to make a small scaled reef
 

Tired

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Then, again, you would want to go and look at pictures of natural reefs. It's going to vary hugely depending on what area you pick.

A Caribbean biotope can be really fun- lots of soft corals, some macros, maybe a few gorgonians. Ricordea, rock flower anemones, that sort of thing. Most species caught in Florida (i.e. almost everything sold by ReefCleaners, Live-plants.com, etc) would be appropriate.
 

Rubymoon286

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Something I haven't seen kept very often, but is one of my favorites is blue sympodium. It's a dark blue and green softy that has lovely polyps and doesn't tend to explode in growth as opposed to like gsp or xenia
 

living_tribunal

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Fluted moon coral is one that comes to mind, temperate wilsonis, it’s still early days for lithophyllia, diaseris, blue sea fan, sun coral, lots of stuff
 
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Cole.mormon

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Coral on top, worm on the bottom.
What would happen if u remove worm?
 

1guydude

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Lol! Without reading the last 4 pages here.... blue ridge coral has blue white skeleton when u cut it... walking dendro dont walk... lol. Rhizo coral better called flabellum coral for the aquarium trade safe keeping sake.... aquaculted only.
Only thing rare in this hobby is the colors and deepness of your pocket.
D
 

Shooter6

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I love reefs and would never try to hurt them. But many corals with great care can be kept in aquariums. I have kept many play and zoa species from Florida that are really kept and have had great success. Many corals just need pioneered.
Those are some of the easiest coral you can keep. Gsp and zenia level....
 

1guydude

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Elkhorn is hydrnaphora
Ancapora is a little more on the rare side imo. Its like a smoothskin deepwater almost
 

ca1ore

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Elkhorn is acropora palmata! I’d love to get my hands on a frag of that and of staghorn, but given its critically endangered status, it’s not on the hobby that I’ve been able to find. Went diving Summer of 2019 and there’s very little left in the keys.
 

1guydude

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Hydrnophora has been commonly refered to as elkhorn or horn coral in the past...maybe just me.
You cant find stag?
Usually blue stag is available...
Efflo will be the closest to a plating sps coral you will get. Or monti cap. Maybe im just old and out of date. Lol
D
 

burningmime

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What would happen if u remove worm?
In a tank, nothing special; AFAIK the coral is just a regular LPS that can get energy from light and filter food. So it would survive. It's in the same genus as the Duncan coral. But why would you do that?

In the wild, it would get buried. The worm's movement keeps it from being covered with sand, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteropsammia_cochlea
 
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