I've Never Had Coral Before! What Do I Do?

[Meadowofdragons]

Hey guys! So recently I had to tear down my 72g tank because I moved across the state. I'm not bothering to set it up again because I'm living on campus at my college next year instead of at home so I can't take it with me. I've decided to start a 20g tank since its small enough that my college will allow me to bring that with me.

I've only ever done FOWLR tanks and would like to start getting some soft corals and LPS corals when I start my 20g. The only problem is, I've never done coral before! And frankly, I can't find much of beginners with coral online so I'm at a loss! I know you have to have the proper lighting, but not too intense since I'm not doing SPS.

Which corals/anemones would you recommend starting out with? Do I feed them? If so, what do I feed? I know anemones can crawl around the tank, but do I have to buy a specific food for corals and anemones? Is there a certain place in the tank I have to place them? Do I put them on the live rock? Or just throw them anywhere? Please help and give me any information about corals as you can!

Tell me about your experience! What did you do when you first started out?

Thanks guys!
Rachel

 

[SeaCucumberFan]

The easiest corals are mushroom corals, mine survived a rockslide when changing the aquascape. If they are photosynthetic, you do not have to feed them, the corals you have to feed are NPS and bleached corals. For the anemone, remember to let the tank establish itself before adding one, around 3-6 months after setup IMO. I recommend a̶i̶p̶t̶a̶s̶i̶a̶ a Mini Maxi Carpet anemone.
Softies=Beginner
LPS=OK
NPS=Moderate
SPS=Experts