What types of corals are in shallow reefs besides acros?

[Miami Reef]

I have a tank that is inspired by a shallow reef. Meaning, strong lights and flow with tridacna clams and acropora.

What other types of corals, besides acropora and clams, are commonly found on shallow reefs? I was thinking of expanding the variety of corals I kept but I didn’t want to go too off theme.

I do have some Gonioporas which I like a lot.

 

[Jekyl]

I have a tank that is inspired by a shallow reef. Meaning, strong lights and flow with tridacna clams and acropora.

What other types of corals, besides acropora and clams, are commonly found on shallow reefs? I was thinking of expanding the variety of corals I kept but I didn’t want to go too off theme.

I do have some Gonioporas which I like a lot.

Carpet nems, although not technically a coral.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I have a tank that is inspired by a shallow reef. Meaning, strong lights and flow with tridacna clams and acropora.

What other types of corals, besides acropora and clams, are commonly found on shallow reefs? I was thinking of expanding the variety of corals I kept but I didn’t want to go too off theme.

I do have some Gonioporas which I like a lot.

Montipora

 

[Ghost25]

Pocillopora, Stylophora, and Porites are some of the most common shallow water corals I have seen in the Red Sea.

 

[firechild]

What you find in a shallow lagoon is going to be vastly different to what you find on an exposed reef crest, though both would fall under the definition of shallow reef. In a lagoon, you'll find a lot of massive and sub-massive corals such as Porites, Mussids such as Colpophyllia and Diploria, Merulinids such as Goniastrea and Favites. You'll also find some encrusting corals and some branching corals (besides Acropora) such as Montipora digitata and Porites cylindrica.
On the reef crest, some of the same corals are found but the coverage is vastly different. Caespitose and corymbose forms of Acropora are far more numerous. Massive corals are still present but Porites is more common and some other massive and sub-massive corals are less common. More robust species will generally be found on the reef crest than in lagoons, for example Pocillopora eydouxi will be more common on the reef crest whereas P. damicornis will be more common in the lagoon.