Easy Corals for Beg.

[ReefOcean]

I am going to have to chime back in and say that GSP is a good starter coral simply because it is extremely hardy and it will grow and spread under lighting less than halide or LED. It is also a good practice coral. it still suffers like other coral when it comes to being smothered by cyno when phosphates are up or from silt when flow isnt right but not the the extent and the cost of other corals. Why risk dying from palytoxin poisoning.....or have a really metal-tasting 6 months... when you can get accostomed to coral keeping with something cheeper and safer? Besides, if the mats get too big rip some out and sell em. I will take them off his hands.

[whatcaneyedo]

I agree with most of the recommendations so far and I'd like to add Hydnophora and Anthelia to the list. With regards to Hydnophora, I traded in a small colony to our LFS several months ago. It is now the oldest living coral in their system. At some point everything else they have had since has either sold or died. In many cases the latter has happened.

Some people may complain that many of these softies are too invasive and will eventually cause problems for the new aquarium owner. I have met very few people starting out that this has happened to. In most cases even green star polyps don't make it in the new persons tank. Their system is either so horrible that they cant survive or they have a major tank crash within the first two years and loose everything.

[ReefOcean]

Originally Posted by jorjef

Ya how ever wrote Zoes are a beginners corals in my experience is wrong and must assume a beginner has A) metal halides B) perfect water conditions and C) what ever it takes to feed them..... I have had little luck with them but my tank is a bit of a dirty coral tank.... I have had luck from the start with Frogspawn and torch corals and pipe coral seems pretty bullet proof.

agreed. Zoas are not for beginners.
In fact, until the water flow issue is figured out in a beginners tank, I would not recomend any button polyps because in my experience, they will detach from their rocks to find a better location (and ultimately never do and just float around the bottom until they die.

I would suggest:

Kenya tree
Torch
hammer
toadstool
mushrooms
Some leathers
frogspawn
colt

Polyps that build their own base like:
green stars
green poyps


I would also saty away from Xenia. Sure they grow like weeds, in an established system though. Everyone I know has had problems keeping it alive as beginners. Some LFS will say they are super hardy, some will say they are not. I will have to say they are not.