Coral recommendations for newbies

Redstorm423 · 04/29/2016, 09:28 PM

Hey everyone...

Me and my wife are new to the hoby, about 9 weeks in now. 67 gallon Red Sea tank. Cycling is pretty much done, what I'm looking for is some advice on types of COLORFUL and "flowy" corals I can get that are relatively easy for newbies like us to care for. Quick rundown of the current set up of live stock, beside the snails and shrimp, we have:
2 Clown fish (ocellaris)
1 file fish
3 button polyps (which only just found out today can be very, very poisoness)
1 mushroom coral

Been looking into some hammers, frogspawn, greenstar polyps and pulsing Xenia. Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated, along with any general tips, tricks, or advice you may have (especially with the button polyps)

Thanks

rocksaus · 04/29/2016, 10:13 PM

What's your lighting like? Most softies are pretty hardy. The ones you mentioned, toadstools, zoas and palys. As far as LPS, trumpet/candy cane aren't flowy but are colorful and Hardy with decent light. Any of the euphyllias are good(torch,frogspawn,hammer) you could also look into gorgonians and macroalgae. I've got some macros that flow really nicely and even fluoresce under actinics

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

Reef Frog · 04/30/2016, 01:20 AM

If you decide to start with a frogspawn or hammer, you should probably learn how to test for alkalinity, calcium & magnesium now with a good kit. You need to know that down the road you will probably need to supplement these elements as the corals grow. But it's straightforward and not too expensive. If you like hard corals, you can eventually move on to some really beautiful moving stuff like gonioporw, aleviopora, bubble corals and others.

I don't think the advice to buy "starter corals" to new hobbyists is always best just because they're the "easiest". Don't buy something invasive like Xenia unless you LIKE that coral, understand how it grows and are likely going to want to have it years from now. Sometimes mixing hard corals & soft corals is difficult and a decision some come to regret. It's best to start with a vision for your reef, not just add stuff randomly. Just something to think about.

Cool_fish · 04/30/2016, 07:58 AM

I liked this thread because the plan for mine is to have corals and coral fish, much like it sounds like their setup/livestock.

BigEZ77 · 04/30/2016, 08:01 AM

Note that GSP and Xenia will spread like crazy so best to keep them isolated on their own rock where you want them. Leathers are good starters but once you move on to LPS you may not want them anymore. At least that was the case with my tank...I wanted more room for LPS so removed a couple leathers...not colorful as LPS.

thegrun · 04/30/2016, 09:34 AM

Here is a good website showing easy to care for corals, as posted above some of the easy to care for corals can spread and become problematic:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/cor...5-Easy-Corals/
This website lists many of the common corals in the hobby and their lighting and water flow requirements:
https://sites.google.com/a/asira.org/www2/caresheets

Redstorm423 · 04/30/2016, 11:53 AM

Not to sure what info your looking for when you ask what my lighting like so to keep it simple till I better understand we have a reefer LED, it's on for about 9-10 hours a day.
We've already started learning and testing ourselves for nitrates, ammonia, ph and alkalinity. Haven't gone any further then that yet.

I have 2 rocks already designated for corals like GSP and Xenia that tend to spread just incase we do decide to go for one....think I'll just make a small list of what we want that are all LPS and go from there as far as colors, their needs and what can mix with what

uncleL · 04/30/2016, 03:19 PM

Leathers, mushrooms and zoanthids are good starter corals

Sk8r · 05/01/2016, 10:03 AM

First, don't try to mix softies and stonies: extra headaches. Start either with softies OR with basic stonies like hammer, candycane. Learn about lights. They determine what you can keep successfully. Corals are simple, and tough, but to get them to grow, provide them their life requirements. Calcium supplement for the stonies. Carbon purification for the softies, who get ticked and spit chemicals at each other...works fine in the ocean, but our tanks just send the water back again.

lou the reefer · 05/01/2016, 06:41 PM

mushrooms all the way!!!

04/29/2016, 09:28 PM	#1
Redstorm423 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2	Coral recommendations for newbies Hey everyone... Me and my wife are new to the hoby, about 9 weeks in now. 67 gallon Red Sea tank. Cycling is pretty much done, what I'm looking for is some advice on types of COLORFUL and "flowy" corals I can get that are relatively easy for newbies like us to care for. Quick rundown of the current set up of live stock, beside the snails and shrimp, we have: 2 Clown fish (ocellaris) 1 file fish 3 button polyps (which only just found out today can be very, very poisoness) 1 mushroom coral Been looking into some hammers, frogspawn, greenstar polyps and pulsing Xenia. Any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated, along with any general tips, tricks, or advice you may have (especially with the button polyps) Thanks

04/30/2016, 08:01 AM	#5
BigEZ77 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Ottawa ON Canada Posts: 797	Note that GSP and Xenia will spread like crazy so best to keep them isolated on their own rock where you want them. Leathers are good starters but once you move on to LPS you may not want them anymore. At least that was the case with my tank...I wanted more room for LPS so removed a couple leathers...not colorful as LPS. __________________ Russell Banggai / Yellow Wrasse / Black Ice and Davinci Clowns / Flame Angel / Royal Gramma / Blue Chromis / LPS (dominated) / Monti's / Softies / BTA's Current Tank Info: 45G Rimless, Tunze 9004, Kessil A160WE, Gyre XF130, 50lbs rock, Reef Crystals, Phosguard in reactor, Matrix, Chemipure Blue and NP XL biopellets in sump

04/30/2016, 03:19 PM	#8
uncleL Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: NC Posts: 411	Leathers, mushrooms and zoanthids are good starter corals __________________ Current Tank Info: 75g QT, 90g DT, 180g under construction Current Tank Info: 150 Gallon setting up slowly, 90 Gallon Mixed Reef No Sump 3 Tangs,, 4 Clowns, Lawnmower Blenny, Coral Beauty, Coralband Shrimp, Cleaner Shrimp, Snails, Zoas, Mushrooms, FrogsSpawn, Toadstools, FeatherDuster, Xenias, Anemones,29g, 20g

05/01/2016, 10:03 AM	#9
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	First, don't try to mix softies and stonies: extra headaches. Start either with softies OR with basic stonies like hammer, candycane. Learn about lights. They determine what you can keep successfully. Corals are simple, and tough, but to get them to grow, provide them their life requirements. Calcium supplement for the stonies. Carbon purification for the softies, who get ticked and spit chemicals at each other...works fine in the ocean, but our tanks just send the water back again. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

04/29/2016, 10:13 PM	#2
rocksaus Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 74	What's your lighting like? Most softies are pretty hardy. The ones you mentioned, toadstools, zoas and palys. As far as LPS, trumpet/candy cane aren't flowy but are colorful and Hardy with decent light. Any of the euphyllias are good(torch,frogspawn,hammer) you could also look into gorgonians and macroalgae. I've got some macros that flow really nicely and even fluoresce under actinics Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

04/30/2016, 01:20 AM	#3
Reef Frog Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,121	If you decide to start with a frogspawn or hammer, you should probably learn how to test for alkalinity, calcium & magnesium now with a good kit. You need to know that down the road you will probably need to supplement these elements as the corals grow. But it's straightforward and not too expensive. If you like hard corals, you can eventually move on to some really beautiful moving stuff like gonioporw, aleviopora, bubble corals and others. I don't think the advice to buy "starter corals" to new hobbyists is always best just because they're the "easiest". Don't buy something invasive like Xenia unless you LIKE that coral, understand how it grows and are likely going to want to have it years from now. Sometimes mixing hard corals & soft corals is difficult and a decision some come to regret. It's best to start with a vision for your reef, not just add stuff randomly. Just something to think about.

04/30/2016, 07:58 AM	#4
Cool_fish Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Navarre, Florida Posts: 49	I liked this thread because the plan for mine is to have corals and coral fish, much like it sounds like their setup/livestock.

04/30/2016, 09:34 AM	#6
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	Here is a good website showing easy to care for corals, as posted above some of the easy to care for corals can spread and become problematic: http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/cor...5-Easy-Corals/ This website lists many of the common corals in the hobby and their lighting and water flow requirements: https://sites.google.com/a/asira.org/www2/caresheets

04/30/2016, 11:53 AM	#7
Redstorm423 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2	Not to sure what info your looking for when you ask what my lighting like so to keep it simple till I better understand we have a reefer LED, it's on for about 9-10 hours a day. We've already started learning and testing ourselves for nitrates, ammonia, ph and alkalinity. Haven't gone any further then that yet. I have 2 rocks already designated for corals like GSP and Xenia that tend to spread just incase we do decide to go for one....think I'll just make a small list of what we want that are all LPS and go from there as far as colors, their needs and what can mix with what

05/01/2016, 06:41 PM	#10
lou the reefer Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 145	mushrooms all the way!!!