Easiest Corals List

[HappyGuppy]

Hi folks,

I have been wondering, what are some of the easiest corals to keep?  Mushrooms and xenia (if you can keep them) seem to be two very easy ones.  How about GSP?  Kenya Trees?  Leathers?

What survives best in a tank with relatively lower light (say, moderate), and easy on water parameters?

Reason for asking is that I'm working on another marine "planted" (macro) tank and would enjoy some basic corals too, though lighting is not intense, and I do let nutrients build up a bit.

Thanks for any advice.

[Thunda]

Hey Happy,

We just bought our first three corals last week.

We were told from various sources that Frogspawns, Zoos and Mushrooms are very hardy and recommended for beginners.

[ordi260]

You could go with a couple zoas or riccordias, see how they do after a couple weeks and then go with different lps (ie. hammer or torch), see how they do and continue nice and slowly!

[HappyGuppy]

Thanks guys.  I didn't think that hammers/frogspawns would be candidates.  Hmmm... riccordias - that's a great idea!  Thought zoos need more light.  All cool suggestions, thanks!

[Darth]

zoa are hit and miss for me ( I love them though my fav coral) xenia leathers are good there are tons of different leathers

[HappyGuppy]

Yeah, leathers are really nice.  I would like to get a few more kinds.

[White Lightning]

I have found the easiest for me have been leathers, mushrooms, candycanes and beleive it r not torches. Also fox corals are pretty easy to keep.

[cdylnicki]

I have found my Fox to be a bit of trouble to keep.  He just seems to be really picky about where he wants to be.

Star polyps, zenias & mushrooms I find are easy to keep.

[dan2x38]

I knew it! You said when you 1st posted RE: your marine tank wouldn't be doing corals... LMAO a FOWLR is just reef waiting for corals... try some srooms & zoas If you want to feed them try Sun Corals they require no light. Not a coral but how a feather duster and/or coco worm?

[NanoSF]

Nobody said Favia. Very easy. Different kinds of polyps are easy too. My favorite is glove polyps.

[Darth]

I would stay away from sun coral especially for a beginner they require a feeding regiment that unfortunately is good in the beginning but often falls to bottom of the list and the coral will pwrish

[NanoSF]

I would stay away from sun coral especially for a beginner they require a feeding regiment that unfortunately is good in the beginning but often falls to bottom of the list and the coral will pwrish

+1 Even if you keep the feeding up it will create a lot of nitrates.

[cdylnicki]

+1 - my sun coral is driving me crazy right now!!

Such a hard coral to please!!

[HappyGuppy]

I knew it! You said when you 1st posted RE: your marine tank wouldn't be doing corals... LMAO a FOWLR is just reef waiting for corals... try some srooms & zoas If you want to feed them try Sun Corals they require no light. Not a coral but how a feather duster and/or coco worm?

Dan LMAO (seriously, I did laugh out loud).  Ok ok ok.  You were *totally right*.  That first tank turned into a coral tank so fast I don't know how it even happened.  Now that I have 5 saltwater tanks (counting a qt & an elaborate sea monkey tank), and a 6th planned, I am making a serious attempt to do a macro tank... but even that (lol) must have at least a few corals.  I bow to your infinite wisdom Dan.  You were right.  Resistance is futile... the corals & I are one.  Ironically, recognizing their addictive nature, I told another ovas friend just starting up into salt with plans of being fowlr only that he will get corals.  He was a bit offended and denied these allegations.  We shall see

[HappyGuppy]

NanoSF - I actually dose a bit of potassium nitrate, along with other stuff, into my macro grow out tank.  I think I could handle extra nitrates (within reason of course).

cdyinicki - you're right, very hard to please.

I actually have accidentally gotten a single sun coral head (long story).  I did feed it at first, but must admit that as Darth pointed out, it has suffered a bit of neglect.

Thanks NanoSF, never thought of favia.  Will research.  And clove polyps too.

Thanks everybody.  I think I've got some good ones to research further.  Appreciate everyones' input!  May all your tanks be gorgeous!

[NanoSF]

Thanks NanoSF, never thought of favia.  Will research.  And clove polyps too.

Well "clove" polyps would be okay too if they were blue, but they are a bit tougher. The easy ones are glove which is what I had said. They are much bigger and are very nice I think.

[Jean L]

+1 - my sun coral is driving me crazy right now!!

Such a hard coral to please!!

Yes indeed... I had the entire lot at one point..yellow, orange and black.. they are just gorgeous... no matter what I did they just slowly faded away..

[NanoSF]

I'm not sure why people have problems with Sun Corals. They are very hardy when it come to tank conditions. They need a fair amount of food, but to just keep them alive maybe one direct feeding a week is all it takes. Other than that they get a bit from the water column and the left overs of fish feeding. If you want them to grow, then you are talking direct feed 3-4 times a week. So if your tank can't handle that, it may not be a good idea. It's odd though, I have found them particularity easy. And it's not like I haven't lost my fair share of corals.

[kole18]

I'd find mostly LPS much easier to keep than sps although this is also a family of sps corals & for softy's way to easy to keep for newbies you don't need a lot of calcium & magnisium it will live for as long as you want this in your tank

[Hookup]

what kind of corals are you referring to?

in general;
Softies are easier than LPS.
LPS are easier than SPS.

Some Softies are harder than others
Some LPS are harder than others and some are easier than some softies
Some LPS are harder than some SPS
Some SPS are easier than some LPS
Some SPS are darn near impossible

[NanoSF]

what kind of corals are you referring to?

in general;
Softies are easier than LPS.
LPS are easier than SPS.

Some Softies are harder than others
Some LPS are harder than others and some are easier than some softies
Some LPS are harder than some SPS
Some SPS are easier than some LPS
Some SPS are darn near impossible

+1...I think LOL

[JetJumper]

what kind of corals are you referring to?

in general;
Softies are easier than LPS.
LPS are easier than SPS.

Some Softies are harder than others
Some LPS are harder than others and some are easier than some softies
Some LPS are harder than some SPS
Some SPS are easier than some LPS
Some SPS are darn near impossible

What about NPS?

[dan2x38]

I had a sun coral it was fine for a year than I traded it b/c I got bored of it. I feed it a least once a week by direct target feeding. I made a feeding chamber (for lack of better term) for it so it got all it's food so the hermits didn't get the food first. It was simple I used a clear plastic container from some sort of food. Used a drill bit to make a crap load of holes in it. Then used some old gravel with a length of pantyhose placed the gravel all around the bottom then rolled it up into a ring. Then used some fishing line to tie it closed and onto the outside lip on the bottom of the container. There was a larger hole in the end to squirt food into the chamber. Now I just placed the container over the coral and it stayed in place with all PHs running and the coral got all it's food. The polyps would all extend I did this well before lights out. I'd read you can train them to extend during photo periods more often and better if feed with lights on and it worked. They are more work but quite easy to maintain if you feed them like mentioned. They are also very attractive IMO. Never liked the black ones look though.

[Hookup]

Good point!  NPS...  They might even trump SPS for difficulty... 

[redbelly]

Definately NOT NPS!!
NPS require SPS quality water and constant feeding.
There are a few exceptions, which would be the carnivorous corals like sun corals, dendros etc. But in a system where nutrient are allowed to build up already I would not recomend these as they require additional feeding which overall will decrease the water quality further...

I have heard people at various LFS say that NPS do best in dirtier tanks but nothing can be further from the truth. NPS need pristine water quality in order to be able to smell their food and start feeding + they need a constant supply of food. Dosing pumps are really best for this although some pieces do ok with manual dosing (aka some sea fans)

Softies are the obvious answer but most LPS should do very well in your water too.

Euphyllia (aka frog spawn, hammer, torch) do quite well in lower light as do many trachaphyllia.

If you really would like a gorgonia there are several species of caribbean gorgs that do well and are photosynthetic. Typically these are like a pastel purple with brown polyps, although there as a couple "golden" varieties as well. Your water just has to be clean enough that algae will not grow on the gorg and they prefer decent flow. I find these pretty easy to keep, but other people may have diff opinions. Dont buy a damaged piece and make sure all the polyps are open before you buy it. If you touch the gorg and the flesh comes off dont buy it too.

[dan2x38]

NPS = non-phytosynthetic corals

[bongo]

stay away from gsp it's evil!

as for an easy coral you can try pulsing xenia.. still my favorite coral to watch... pulse, pulse, pulse...

[Thunda]

I agree with the Pulsing Xenia! I love that one!

[HappyGuppy]

Thank you thank you thank you all for all your insightful replies.

I have done some more research, prompted into directions some of you shared, and have settled upon the types of corals I shall be working with.  I have also gathered a few of them already, and this past week, though I still want to find a few more (rics and gloves are high on my list at the moment).    Like I said above, my ambition is to focus upon a nice planted macroalgae tank with a few softies here and there.

So far what I've gathered and am currently growing (ignoring the corals not planned for the macro tank)
* 4 kinds of leathers (3 kinds of fingers and a kind that is broad)
* Purple Kenya Tree
* A few kinds of mushrooms
* A brown type of GSP (wish it was green)
* Maybe a xenia... if lives
* a tiny blue c/glove (tiny polyps - very cute)

I bought a few, traded a few, and I have to give GVV special honorable mention for "trading" extremely generously with me (considering what I gave him his stuff was really a gift).

Like I said, high on my list is to get a couple of brilliantly colored rics (2 kinds), whatever c/gloves I can possibly swing trades for, and contemplating a colt (had a trade lined up for a colt that never happened).

My main current project is to get more macroalgae types.  I have succeeded in getting several kinds, but mostly just tiny tiny tiny bits of that I'm currently strongly encouraging to grow out in a dedicated 10g macro grow out tank.  The few kinds that are already of some decent size look AMAZING; far more incredible than anything I've enjoyed before in freshwater planted before, which was my main hobby (growing planted tanks).

Hey, if any of you happen to have a little macro sprout out on your rocks please PM me about it.  Your tank probably is not conducive to growing macros (you probably keep low nutrients for your corals) so I'll happily grow it out for you and return it larger, and with friends (other macros) if you like.  I wish it was easier to order stuff from the USA - they have so many awesome macros available so cheap & easy (see ebay) it's a shame we can't get stuff like that in Canada.

[HappyGuppy]

Looking over that list I have to tip my hat to Dan.  He was right about not being able to resist corals in my macro tank.  I'm suprised how long that list of corals has quickly grown.

Also, completely forgot to mention that I plan to have some nice sponges in there too.  I've been growing my sponges with lots of feeding for them (bacteria) and I must say that IMHO they are extremely lovely too.

[dan2x38]

also check out Duncan corals they are easy to keep for the most part... I lost mine in tank transfer but it was my first coral and it grew quickly... they are very nice looking when fully extended.

[JetJumper]

Sorry Mr Guppy, but if there are no pictures, it doesn't count!

[redbelly]

also check out Duncan corals they are easy to keep for the most part... I lost mine in tank transfer but it was my first coral and it grew quickly... they are very nice looking when fully extended.

Agreed, duncans are very easy to keep.

Good choice Dan.

[HappyGuppy]

Sorry Mr Guppy, but if there are no pictures, it doesn't count!

It's on my list of "To Do"... on page 76.