What are some good start out corals?

H

Hambonej20

New member
29g oceanic with a Completely gutted sump. Mars-aqua lights on top of stock lid. Rydor skimmer in first chamber on to filter floss carbon then live rock into my 3rd with the heater and stock pump. Lights are 100b/30w on timers 6-10a blue 8-8white 6-10p blue 10-6p dark. water is testing perfect been running about 8 months. Two clowns and a clean up crew. Am I ready for corals? If so what kind? I know nothing about coral keep and what kind to get :(
 
You will want to start testing for alk.

Easiest stony corals, ime, are:
Duncans
Candycanes
Branching hammer, frogspawn
Favia/Favites/Goniastrea
 
Thanks! I will definitely have frogspawn. All of these corals are filter feeders right? Meaning they just feed off the light? I've tested for alk and my results come back perfect. I will be running a test later on and I will update
 
Filter feeders mean that they have to eat zoaplankton and/or phytoplankton from the water - you DO NOT want any of these unless you have a specialized tank.

Go slow. You might struggle with some stonies until you are growing coralline like crazy. If you are into softies, then that might be a good place to start - leathers are good starter corals and don't take over like other kinds.

Be sure and feed your cleanup crew if there is not enough in the tank to feed them.
 
Easiest corals end up being pests as your tank matures. I started with unkillable hairy mushrooms, green star polyp and pulsing Xenia. Now, I scrape them off with a blade only to have the smallest spec return back into a colony.

Pretty- but what a headache.
 
zoanthids, toadstools and mushrooms are easy starter corals that are super colorful

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karimwassef said:
Easiest corals end up being pests as your tank matures. I started with unkillable hairy mushrooms, green star polyp and pulsing Xenia. Now, I scrape them off with a blade only to have the smallest spec return back into a colony.

Pretty- but what a headache.
Click to expand...



I so resonate with this! Pulsing Xenia looked so good in some other tanks. I loved the movement and how easy they were to grow. Oh how I hate them now! They are everywhere, on every rock, taking over my zoa garden like the weeds they are. Green star polyps looked beautiful on their rock, waving in the flow of water. Now it encrusts a torch and frogspawn growing on what was a neighboring rock. Now it's all one. I really don't know what will eventually dominate my reef, but it won't be something I like. There are good suggestions for starters on this post. Here are three to avoid like dandelions in your lawn.


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Gsp can be okay if it's on a rock by its self. And don't even do the xeinia it is the worst thing I ever add to the tank.


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Ha that's probably why the LFS sells pulsing xeinia for 5$. I am very interested to see if my tank will be able to colonize anything. It has been cycling and I plan to add slow. I would love to pick up anything from other reefers around here.
 
No matter how much you are tempted otherwise by them being given for free or by being mesmerized, do not put Xenia in your tank.

Now go ahead and do it and recall this post in a year or two when you want to start your tank over because you are miserable from all of the Xenia that you can't get rid of. :)
 
it's a rite of passage... beg for xenia... get free xenia... love the xenia... get other corals... xenia kills other corals... hate life... hate xenia... hate the one who gave you xenia... remember the warnings... find peace... start over...
 
Hambonej20 said:
Sounds like this coral is a hate coral. For someone getting back into the reef it should be a no brainer right?
Click to expand...

No brainer to avoid, yes. But people don't usually listen to advice and get mesmerized by it, then we'll have a post in another year saying "HELP ALL OF MY OTHER CORALS DIED BECAUSE XENIA TOOK OVER!!!" lol
 
It's a hate coral because it is so easy to take care of that it naturally takes over.

You can certainly start there to get your feet wet, but be ready to use a razor blade and kalk to remove it so that you can start over.

Think of it as pretty aiptasia :D
 
I had Xenia in my 29 gallon for over a year. It was fine and I liked it, especially when the pumps were off for water changes. It will take over so be careful. I kept it on its own separate rock away from other rocks and there were no problems. I don't think it grows as fast if you put it in high flow areas. I could be wrong about that.

Start with some zoas then try some corals like a frogspawn after you get your magnesium alkalinity and calcium right. Make sure you get your magnesium where it needs to be first then correct the alkalinity and calcium. After that and you learn how to steadily maintain those levels, you can try a lot of different types of corals like pocillopora, birdsnest sps, and green skimmer acropora.
 
Wow guys thanks! I love this feedback. I did get some Xenia and looks like after five days it's bleached and going to die. I have read that it can take or it can go. Depends and sometimes takes a few tries. I was just curious Because if it's so easy to take care of, I wanted to see if I could host it or even start a Colone. Well nope!


I got a wild hair and completely redid my sump. I made the famous eggcrate media basket. Filterfloss, purigen, chemi pure elite, but! Instead of taking out all the live rock rumble I left some down at the very bottom near the return pump. ���� did I just complete mess up a already established tank?
 
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