First coral suggestion for a noob?

[mishmaster]

I agree xenia and zoas are easier and cheap, just don't keep moving them around, if you want zoas to spread u got to put them somewhere and then leave them alone, don't keep moving them around

Here is another tip, I've only been reefing for 1.5 years but I have many different corals, one thing I didn't notice was that I was accumulating too many fluorescent green corals like gsp, radioactive zoos, green mushrooms, green goniopora, green bubble, etc. and it looked like a glow n the dark martian took a dump in my tank, so don't get too many corals of the same color. Get browns, blues, reds, yellow.


Also, most corals aren't "hard", its just that you have to have proper husbandry down pat, once you get things right then you can keep anything after researching its needs.

 

[DD]

Zoanthids and palythoas are very good beginners corals.

I'm a fan of GSP, AKA green star polyps myself. They can be invasive, but only if you don't pay attention to the matting. They have a flesh type of matting they lay down to attach to rocks, the polyps emerge from the matting. If you're careful where you glue the mat, you should be good. I think the reason I like them is because they sway in the current and have the look of grass.

As far as SPS, the easiest are birdsnest. But honestly, once you start going down the SPS path, it's hard to get back off of it. It takes a lot of time and dedication to keep sps. If you neglect the tank at all, they will perish. I was the hugest fan of SPS, but didn't have the time to dedicate to them and ended up with a crashed tank. Zoanthids, palythoas, and gsp all survived lol!

My advice would be to start off slow. Pick a frag of zoas or palys, then don't buy more for a week or two, or even a month. Part of the fun of this hobby is finding corals that you like, and buying them. The thrill of the hunt, so to speak. Remember to give everything room to grow as well. When I first started, I PACKED my tank full of frags. It looked great but the corals had no room to grow.

Good luck and if you have any questions, let us know!

 

[pensiveone]

5.5 gallons... my first coral after cycling my current tank was a xenia.. Now I'm trimming back big time as i'm making room for more corals. If you want some Pink pulsing it's free for pickup... or I may be able to meet you somewhere that's not too far.

Make sure you find a way to confine the xenia to one spot like a rock so they don't over run the tank.

It's a small tank so soft corals sounds like the way to go IMO, they tolerate parameter swings a lot better than hard corals (with skeleton). My favorite pico tanks have a bunch of different zoa colors .

Hey, that would be great! I work in Des Plaines, so maybe we could work something out once my tank cycles. Hoping I don't have to wait like a month for it to cycle! :sour:

 

[pensiveone]

Here is my tip, I've only been reefing for 1.5 years but I have many different corals, one thing I didn't notice was that I was accumulating too many fluorescent green corals like gsp, radioactive zoos, green mushrooms, green bubble etc and it looked like a green martian took a dump in my tank, so don't get too many corals of the same color. Get browns, blues, reds, yellow.

Good advice! Thanks!

 

[pensiveone]

Zoanthids and palythoas are very good beginners corals.

I'm a fan of GSP, AKA green star polyps myself. They can be invasive, but only if you don't pay attention to the matting. They have a flesh type of matting they lay down to attach to rocks, the polyps emerge from the matting. If you're careful where you glue the mat, you should be good. I think the reason I like them is because they sway in the current and have the look of grass.

As far as SPS, the easiest are birdsnest. But honestly, once you start going down the SPS path, it's hard to get back off of it. It takes a lot of time and dedication to keep sps. If you neglect the tank at all, they will perish. I was the hugest fan of SPS, but didn't have the time to dedicate to them and ended up with a crashed tank. Zoanthids, palythoas, and gsp all survived lol!

My advice would be to start off slow. Pick a frag of zoas or palys, then don't buy more for a week or two, or even a month. Part of the fun of this hobby is finding corals that you like, and buying them. The thrill of the hunt, so to speak. Remember to give everything room to grow as well. When I first started, I PACKED my tank full of frags. It looked great but the corals had no room to grow.

Good luck and if you have any questions, let us know!

Much appreciated. Thanks!