your very hardest corals to keep

[polywise]

A question for multiple attempts / failure.

Do you ever think about buying your next try from a different vender, or friend in the hobby? The coral might be slightly different with regards to how it takes to your tank.

 

[clowndude]

Hawkins for sure, followed by pearlberry and I seem to have a curse on pink lemonade for some reason.

 

[slojmn]

Tubs A. horrida. I can never get it to stay alive.

Ditto for me. I have tried it countless times. My other nemesis is the ORA Pearlberry.
Love the revival of old threads, hehehehehe

 

[TankStudy]

Do you ever think about buying your next try from a different vender, or friend in the hobby? The coral might be slightly different with regards to how it takes to your tank.

Yesh, I have tested this out a few times with SPS and some zoanthids.

Sometimes the condition of the coral maybe already poor by the time you get them. Other times the difference in water parameters will just knock them out. So I have bought the same coral from different people and places and have had success.

I'm struggling with xenia and always have. I have birdsnests, acros and zoanthids growing like weeds in my main display. Some people grow xenia like weeds, I grow them like bonsai's that can melt. Maybe, I will just have to order some xenia...sadly I don't enjoy paying 20.00 for a stalk lol.

Of all the things I can keep, these things have always been tough for me. So much for a beginner coral lol.

 

[Bpb]

I'm very new to sps corals. My tank is a year old and started collecting sps back in January. I'm still not an expert on quickly identifying species but right now I have 6 different acropora species, two pocilloporas, a couple birdsnests, and 5 montipora species. All of them are growing well and have completely encrusted over their frag plugs and onto the rock work and are branching except 1.
Oregon blue tort. Some may say its beyond my skill level but it was a freebie with other purchases so I figured why not. It's got great color and has polyp extension but just hasn't grown at all. While others have doubled or tripled in size, the oregon tort looks exactly like it did the day I got it.

 

[Reef Bass]

Ditto for me. I have tried it countless times. My other nemesis is the ORA Pearlberry.
Love the revival of old threads, hehehehehe

Hi Alicia.

Yes, old threads can be amusing.

I have also lost Pearlberry but my current frag is doing well. My A. horrida is a furry guy.

I killed A. turaki a time or two before I got it right.

I lost a lovely yellow A. surharsonoi during my tank's decline before moving and would love to try that again.

My Oregon tort is growing again with beautiful blue tips and excellent polyp extension, though its lower body color is not as blue as it has been. IMHO, it hasn't fully recovered yet from having been through a complete tank tear down and move.

Currently I hold my breath a bit when I first inspect my tank in the morning to make sure my new A. desalwii didn't RTN overnight. It's being stingy with polyp extension but seems to settling in otherwise.

 

[stevedola]

Ive killed an Oregon tort twice after growing to large 5"+ colonies. Very temperamental species the torts...even lost a cali from small salt swing.

I lost Rommels Rainbow milli 3 times now, after all encrusted color is remarkable and start to grow...something just goes wrong and it dies slowly over 2-3 mths and eventually is done. I have 5 other millis in my tank but green and rainbow have always been an issue. dont know why.

 

[power boat jim]

Pearlberry here also, Im on the third one and it has taken 6 months to barely encrust.

 

[Peter Eichler]

Hoeksemai. Three strikes. I'm out.

Ditto here, the same with Pearlberry... I've also had two tries at A. sarmentosa with bad results.

I wonder if we can find some commonality with those of us that have had problems with hoeks and Pearlberry...

 

[Spirofucci]

Cool on the thread revival!

Sps are the easiest for me...have a very hard time with everthing else.

But blue turaki has been tough. No growth for over a year...and all of a sudden it is looking good and growing.

 

[purge43]

Any of the bright red or blue guys. I can grow mostly anything green, grey,pink,yellow,purple,tan etc etc. Also Ive noticed, if I mount them right away they have better odds.

 

[JP SPS]

I'm surprised to see so many people having trouble with Montiporas. I thought I was the only one!

I started with about 30 different frags (acros, birdnests, monties), 4 out of the 5 monti digis I added receded from the base and died while everything else thrived and grew into colonies. No idea why the supposedly hardiest SPS's die for me.

 

[honkit]

Certain acropora species from South Pacific waters (i.e. Fiji, Tonga) such as A. monticulosa, A.gemmifera and the beautiful Fiji tricolour A.valida are amongst the most challenging corals for reefers to maintain their bright colouration.