Best soft coral

[dcefiacsjr]

I am fairly new to the saltwater tank hobby, I was given an established 30 gallon tank with about 15-20 pounds of live rock and one coral that I posted earlier trying to identify. I want to add some soft corals with nice color once I get the nitrates lowered. I was wondering what are the more hardy soft corals to invest in for first timers. I am changing out 4-5 gallons of water twice a week. other than the nitrates being high, the ph is a little low, slowing coming up though. Fish in the tank are damsels, a clownfish, a goby, a purple lobster, and an emerald crab.

 

[pugcrush]

Welcome to RC! What kind of lighting do you have? Alot of the softies out there are easy to take care of, esp with good lightning. I recommend investing in a T5ho for lightning if you do not already have it on there. Some people like xenias & kenya trees as a softy & you really do not have to do anything to take care of them. However, many people will dissuade as it can grow like a weed and take over a tank. If you can keep it trimmed, I reccomend the xenia. I still like it's pulsing motions.

Many will recommend getting zoas or even mushrooms. Many people have zoa only takes which looks real nice. These are fairly easy to take care of also.

On a side note, I'd recommend at least 10 more lbs of live rock in there. The fish stocking is pretty maxed out for a 30 - not sure how many damsels you got. On that note, what do you have for further filtration or nutrient export?

 

[bryan007]

Yes welcome to RC. I believe your post said this is an established tank. Nitrates will pose a problem with SPSs and LPS corals but softies are a little more forgiving. You didn't state what level their at-curious. Softies are a bit more forgiving of nitrates. Do you have a quality skimmer? If not before you buy any coral invest in a good skimmer if you really want your animals to not just get by but thrive and grow to their full potential and live many years for you. IMO it is the most important piece of equipment you can own. I've been in the hobby for more than 30 years and I just can't emphasize how important a good skimmer is. Softies will engage in chemical warfare so a good skimmer will help remove the toxins.

As far as really nice softies there are many but I particularly favor the genus Sarcophyton which includes your leather corals. These however to require excellent lighting to really do well and a medium to high flow current. I grow mine under HQI 250watt HQI lights. The green polyped toadstool coral and the yellow fiji leathers are really beautiful IMO.

Bryan