What are your best starter SPS coral ?

[vetteguy53081]

For many, SPS can be a challenge and often by many avoided. We here many refer to starter SPS coral, but what makes it good starter coral . . . is it ease of care, simply better than other SPS or your experiences?
Montipora and stylopora corals are often less troublesome, but still challenge many. The nice thing about Monti is the fact that it comes in many color, shapes and often grows quickly. Some are branched, plated or box-like.
Poccilipora is a very easy but invasive type of SPS, yet can be colorful and hardy. Stylopora under the right conditions can quickly take off and as does birdsnest. Other desired and recommended beginner SPS are Pavona, goniopora, Pectina and Hydnophora
To me, what makes a beginner species a good beginner species is resilience, forgiveness, growth ability and price.

What is your favorite beginner species and recommendation and why do you choose this type?

For me is Stylo, monti, staghorn and birdsnest.

 

[CRABDADDY]

I have been having success with monti caps and pocilopora. Just picked up milka stylo, a nice sized birdsnest, cyphastrea and some more plating montis this weekend at a coral show.

I think most consider cyphastrea LPS because of its low lighting requirements, but it looks much more like sps to me. An easy coral I've never had luck with. Hopefully this time is different because I think it's an awesome coral.

 

[Dburr1014]

For many, SPS can be a challenge and often by many avoided. We here many refer to starter SPS coral, but what makes it good starter coral . . . is it ease of care, simply better than other SPS or your experiences?
Montipora and stylopora corals are often less troublesome, but still challenge many. The nice thing about Monti is the fact that it comes in many color, shapes and often grows quickly. Some are branched, plated or box-like.
Poccilipora is a very easy but invasive type of SPS, yet can be colorful and hardy. Stylopora under the right conditions can quickly take off and as does birdsnest. Other desired and recommended beginner SPS are Pavona, goniopora, Pectina and Hydnophora
To me, what makes a beginner species a good beginner species is resilience, forgiveness, growth ability and price.

What is your favorite beginner species and recommendation and why do you choose this type?

For me is Stylo, monti, staghorn and birdsnest.

If your looking to get into sps, I suggest you start with a monti cap for your first sps.
If that does well, then maybe a Stylophora.
The metallic green pocillapora is the one that spawns everywhere, stay away from that one but the others are fine.
Birds nest are finicky and I don't recommend them as an early edition.

 

[JTP424]

You mentioned Pavona, which I think almost falls into a very similar category as Monti in terms of growing etc.
Some of them, such as the green hairy ones, (IME) can seem to handle intense water change swings and still come back from basically dead! Plus I find they grow quickly, you can find less plating ones and more.. "upward growing" ones if you're looking for different visual than plating montis.
(I love montis and have some, just rooting for the Pavona!)

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

From my limited experience.... In order of what I'd encourage someone to start with:

1) Orange/red monti cap everyone has
2) Montipora Digitatas
3) Miyagi Tort
4) Easy/aquacultured Staghorns
5) Acros with lots of legacy/aquaculture history (like a PC rainbow)


I choose the above based mainly on ease of growing it out, and general success rate across varied tanks.

 

[drtechno]

I'm going to throw up another thread after this one, because beginner SPS is something very commonly talked about .. but what isn't (at least not that I have found) is what comes NEXT Like the second tier SPS. Where do you go from here? I don't think people would say Tenius (I wouldnt know Im still on beginner SPS) so what constitutes the next level ?

I'll have to ask in a separate thread