First Coral

itsfreakingmatt

New member
Hi i am completely new to coral and i was wondering for some advice. What are some good beginner corals and, what are corals to stay away from. stuff like that. I would appreciate any info/advice.
Thanks Matt
 
Zoo's are great for beginners, red mushrooms (these can grow fast and all over your tank), some leathers, green star polyp

Stay away from LPS and SPS right away. You will have to wait until your tank is a little more established for these corals.
 
[welcome]

Any soft corals will do just fine to start with. Mushrooms are impossible to kill so buying some of those would be a good start :) Some shrooms tend to spread like no others and some are impossible to get to divide up.
 
Zoo's are great for beginners, red mushrooms (these can grow fast and all over your tank), some leathers, green star polyp

Stay away from LPS and SPS right away. You will have to wait until your tank is a little more established for these corals.

I've been waiting on corals, but then I was told that my BTAs and Maxi-Mini Anemones (which are thriving) are actually more difficult to keep than zoas, palys, mushrooms, rics, leathers, etc. (pretty much your list above). Is that true?
 
How long have you had the BTA? I would wager if it is doing well, you should be fine venturing into other corals.

Perhaps try an LPS like a hammer or frogspawn (some of my favorites). Or you can find yourself a nice montipora or birdsnest which are pretty easy sps.
 
Your nems need to be well-settled and nearly immoveable before trying corals: nems that move about can cause havoc.
LPS stony is possible at any time, but requires calcium supplement and careful water management. Hammer, frog, candycane.
Softies don't get along well with stony and if you think you eventually want stony coral, best to start with it and not let softies get onto your rockwork, but softies also don't take calcium supplement, and are pretty tolerant of new-hobbyist conditions.
If you're keeping nems successfully, you can probably handle stony.
Either softies or stony can make a beautiful tank---
 
How long have you had the BTA? I would wager if it is doing well, you should be fine venturing into other corals.

Perhaps try an LPS like a hammer or frogspawn (some of my favorites). Or you can find yourself a nice montipora or birdsnest which are pretty easy sps.

I've had my yellow BTA for about 3 months, and it's grown into a monster.

Aquarium_YBTAandFDout_22APR2012.jpg

Aquarium_YBTAandWhiteSpotAndSexy1_22APR2012.jpg


Is there a recommended mushroom that if it spreads still looks nice?

Have you seen hammers or frogspawn host crustaceans?
 
Aww, and you have sexy shrimp! Love those little guys, but my clown won't allow it.

I enjoy my hairy mushrooms, they don't split often, but have grown quite large.

Euphyllias I have had experience with have all seemed to dislike agitation, be it high water flow, a fish, or a crab.
 
Well if your tank has been runnig for a while and you have nems then yes most corals will do ok including LPS and SPS. Hammers and frogspawn are awesome LPS, green birdsnest is an east starter SPS. Like the others said LPS and SPS require good cal and alk intake, they use these supplements much quicker than softies.

Red mushrooms will spread like wildfire overtime and they can be hard to keep under control once they get out of control.
 
i really like the look of gsp, i was also wondering about pulsing xenia, also i have a 40 gallon and i was wondering what knida flow i would need,
thanks matt
 
LPS stony is possible at any time, but requires calcium supplement and careful water management. Hammer, frog, candycane.
Softies don't get along well with stony and if you think you eventually want stony coral, best to start with it and not let softies get onto your rockwork, but softies also don't take calcium supplement, and are pretty tolerant of new-hobbyist conditions.
If you're keeping nems successfully, you can probably handle stony.
Either softies or stony can make a beautiful tank---

Then the decision will be made by my wife when we're at the LFS. ;)
 
soft soft soft

hairy mushrooms, kenya trees, xenias

all +1

great entry level confidence building softies :D
 
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My frogspawn went through hell when I was a beginner. It now has 4 heads and is about the size of both my hands. Red mushrooms are awesome as well, I do not cut them or split them because I do not want them growing like wildfire. Star Polyps are great as well. I am basically listing you the corals I have lol.
 
thank you all for the advice, but i am still lost about what kind of flow i am going to need, like what size power heads, ect
thanks matt.
 
Unlike most sps, softies can manage with low flow, but many, especially leathers, will do just as well in very high flow water.

As for powerheads, look into vortechs or tunzes if you can afford them, or koralias if you want to go a cheaper rout. Flow is hard to give an exact answer to, you kinda have to play with it. Once you pick a type of powerhead to start with, you can then look into the sizes. Offhand, a vortech mp10 will work for a 40, but I couldn't really say on the other brands.
 
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