Easy corals for a coral-noob?

[Spork3245]

They are referring to other corals mainly. Brain corals are LPS (long polyp stony corals) and at night they will extend their feeder tentacles that can sting other corals. Place them in the sand bed and give them enough space between others and they play nice.

Brains are very easy, mainly just need decent light. Supplement feeding of phytoplankton once/twice a week when the tentacles are out

Favites and platygyra are good beginner Brains

Oh, okay! So when LA calls it a "veracious night time predator" they aren't saying it's going to hunt/kill my fish and inverts, but other corals? I left an open area in the sand in case I eventually purchased something that needed to be "isolated" from the rest of the LR.

Would an Australian Duncan coral be a good idea for a newbie? I found one for a very, VERY good price (even with shipping!) from a reputable seller (store front with 99.8% postive feedback) on Ebay

 

[ReeferBill]

Yes , a Duncan is a good beginner LPS as well as brain corals.

 

[Every1jockzjay]

I actually am havin trouble with my torch coral, they seem to b a little more fragile then most of the others...also flowerpot coral gonipora, i would stay away from, basically just because im not having great succes with them...hoping my gfo reactor will help when it come in the mail...cant find what skimmer u have? I thought u mentioned lol wierd..

 

[johnk183]

Duncan corals and Favites are easy corals to keep .
The duncans like to be feed meaty foods like brine shrimp 1-2x per week to grow quickly.
Coral dips I have had good results with 2 kinds Coral RX and Revive.

 

[johnk183]

I actually am havin trouble with my torch coral, they seem to b a little more fragile then most of the others...also flowerpot coral gonipora, i would stay away from, basically just because im not having great succes with them...hoping my gfo reactor will help when it come in the mail...cant find what skimmer u have? I thought u mentioned lol wierd..

I have had 0 luck with Gonipora.
They need to be feed meaty foods.
The ORA red gonipona is supposed to be able to thrive and grow in cativity.

 

[Mcgeezer]

gonipora are notoriously difficult to keep, id def stay away as a noob

alveopora is a better alternative and looks just as good

 

[Mcgeezer]

Oh, okay! So when LA calls it a "veracious night time predator" they aren't saying it's going to hunt/kill my fish and inverts, but other corals? I left an open area in the sand in case I eventually purchased something that needed to be "isolated" from the rest of the LR.

Would an Australian Duncan coral be a good idea for a newbie? I found one for a very, VERY good price (even with shipping!) from a reputable seller (store front with 99.8% postive feedback) on Ebay

the only kinds of "voracious" predators you need to be careful of are anemones, especially carpet anemones. they will straight up eat your expensive fish.

i wouldnt suggest an anemone as a beginner anyways because they are difficult to keep, plus they move constantly and if one ends up next to an expensive colony of coral, kiss it goodbye. or...if it floats into a powerhead and minces the anemone into 50 million pieces, your tank is nuked and you wallet will scream.

 

[Spork3245]

I actually am havin trouble with my torch coral, they seem to b a little more fragile then most of the others...also flowerpot coral gonipora, i would stay away from, basically just because im not having great succes with them...hoping my gfo reactor will help when it come in the mail...cant find what skimmer u have? I thought u mentioned lol wierd..

I have some older Red Sea model protein skimmer. It sucks... On its own at least. At the suggestion of another member on this forum, before dumping it for a $200+ reef octopus, I attached a $10 air pump to it with a control valve and now it skims like an absolute champ.

Duncan corals and Favites are easy corals to keep .
The duncans like to be feed meaty foods like brine shrimp 1-2x per week to grow quickly.
Coral dips I have had good results with 2 kinds Coral RX and Revive.

Should I be using both dips or just the one? Is there a difference between the two?

the only kinds of "voracious" predators you need to be careful of are anemones, especially carpet anemones. they will straight up eat your expensive fish.

i wouldnt suggest an anemone as a beginner anyways because they are difficult to keep, plus they move constantly and if one ends up next to an expensive colony of coral, kiss it goodbye. or...if it floats into a powerhead and minces the anemone into 50 million pieces, your tank is nuked and you wallet will scream.

Yea I really don't want an anemone. I used to want one when I initially got into the hobby because I thought I'd enjoy seeing my clowns host in it, but then I read that once in a blue moon a clown will swim too close to the anemone's mouth and wind up as food... Ever since then I knew they were out for me

 

[E46Twist]

I am niib and have GSP, zoas, a toadstool, and some mushrooms all doing great. They all require minimal if any work.

 

[Mcgeezer]

I am niib and have GSP, zoas, a toadstool, and some mushrooms all doing great. They all require minimal if any work.

any kinds of soft corals, mushroom, and zoanthids are your best bets

but dont be shy about venturing into LPS as long as your lighting is sufficient. I love Euphyllias (torch, hammer, frogspawn)

there is also some very easy SPS, again if your lighting is sufficient. Montipora Capricornis and Birds nests are good choices and have alot of character. alot of the encrusting montiporas are very visually appealing and can turn any boring piece of live rock into a showcase piece for your tank

 

[Mcgeezer]

FYI - ive gotten to know the people who own one of the cheapest online Coral stores in the US.

Exotic-reefs.com

they live close by to me, so i get to handpick my stuff. their prices are beyond reasonable, they want people to be able to afford the hobby so their prices are highly competitive.

 

[Spork3245]

Just won this brain on ebay:

The species is Australian Acanthastrea Acan Lord, they seemed to be going for $40+ on LA and other sites so I figured for $17...

I also got this Duncan coral (Duncanopsammia axifuga) from the same seller for $11.50

Offers combined over night FedEx shipping for $34 for first item + $2 for each additional so total for everything after shipping is ~$64.50

How'd I do guys?

Where would you recommend placement for each of these corals?

PS: I just celebrated with a water change

 

[Mcgeezer]

Acan towards the bottom/sand bed, the duncan in middle/bottom

all depends on your lighting

would get better price at a LFS, prob woulda got both for $40 or less

i suggest checking out exotic-reefs.com

ive been in the owners house to pick up specimens (they live by me) and their prices are highly competitive, downright cheap in most cases

 

[Spork3245]

Acan towards the bottom/sand bed, the duncan in middle/bottom

all depends on your lighting

would get better price at a LFS, prob woulda got both for $40 or less

i suggest checking out exotic-reefs.com

ive been in the owners house to pick up specimens (they live by me) and their prices are highly competitive, downright cheap in most cases

Was just at LFS to pick up a new, small, piece of LR for the brain to be on. This LFS in particular usually has the best prices, generally slightly cheaper than LA and BlueZoo (my onespot foxface, for instance, was $24 and my flame angel was $39 from them) and no $40 shipping charges, the cheapest Acon brain they had was $50 and didn't have nearly as nice colors as the one I got (IMO) and their duncans were $40 each. *shrug*

Just checked out exotic-reefs, prices seem decent, a similar colored Acon looks to be $12-16 and the neon duncan is $20 per head but their shipping seems to be $50 per order so I definitely got a cheaper deal on ebay as it would've been an ~$85 order from exotic-reefs. Though I like what I'm seeing on there (quality and color wise) so I'd consider them in the future, but that shipping rate kills me ... If I was in Florida, that $20 shipping would be sweet though!

 

[Mcgeezer]

Was just at LFS to pick up a new, small, piece of LR for the brain to be on. This LFS in particular usually has the best prices, generally slightly cheaper than LA and BlueZoo (my onespot foxface, for instance, was $24 and my flame angel was $39 from them) and no $40 shipping charges, the cheapest Acon brain they had was $50 and didn't have nearly as nice colors as the one I got (IMO) and their duncans were $40 each. *shrug*

Just checked out exotic-reefs, prices seem decent, a similar colored Acon looks to be $12-16 and the neon duncan is $20 per head but their shipping seems to be $50 per order so I definitely got a cheaper deal on ebay as it would've been an ~$85 order from exotic-reefs. Though I like what I'm seeing on there (quality and color wise) so I'd consider them in the future, but that shipping rate kills me ... If I was in Florida, that $20 shipping would be sweet though!

its super cheap for me since i only live 20 min from them, meaning free pick up.

if you order a significant amount though, it ends up being significantly cheaper. their prices are very good

 

[Spork3245]

its super cheap for me since i only live 20 min from them, meaning free pick up.

if you order a significant amount though, it ends up being significantly cheaper. their prices are very good

Well if I lived ~20 minutes away from them and could pick it up for free I'd love their prices too! :beer: