What are some must have corals?

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Pazzoman

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2009
3,005
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New York
Hey Everybody,

Pretty soon I'm having my sump finally installed (less then 2 weeks ;)) after that I'm going to be on the hunt for corals.

Currently have:

-Orange Atlantic Tree Sponge (Don't think it's doing well as algae has grown on it...and solutions?)
-Duncans (Seem to be adjusting to new light as started to finally open after a month)
-Red Mushrooms (Seem to be opening up nicely after a few months of being shriveled)
-Button Corals (Always doing great, hardiest coral I know...looks great under blue leds)
-Peanut Butter Cup Zoas (Numerous had died, however may be revived)
-Hard to tell zoas...eagle eyes/watermelon (Doing good so far)

Hopefully my new led lights will help make these corals thrive as I noticed the corals responding well to them...also brand of lights are ReefBrite Tech Led which utilize high output 3 watt leds...two fixtures one all white and one all blue.

Any corals out thier that are considered a "Must Have?" or "Favorites"?

I defiantly want in the near future nice hammer coral and birds nest..

Check Out Tank in general salt... (Tank Upgrades)
 
It's definitely personal preference. I try to stay away from the "latest and greatest" as they are far out of my price range, and not worth the extra money if you ask me. Wait a year and the prices will drop as something newer and better comes around.

IMO you should base your tank around what you desire. I love LPS. I think if you are into LPS like Hammers, you'll definitely enjoy Frogspawns or Torches as well. Another great LPS is Candy cane or Trumpet corals. They are hardy and require very little outside good water parameters. My current favorite is an Acanthastrea lordhowensis frag I bought about 5-6 months ago. It's coming along nicely and has some great color. It's a bit fussier than the Frogspawn and Candy cane when it comes to placement and flow, but looks great when it's happy.

Another thing I really enjoy about LPS is that you can feed them. I personally love seeing their feeder tentacles grabbing a piece of mysis or brine shrimp. Very cool to see.

There is plenty of variety when it comes to corals so don't get caught up in the hype. Find something that you like because you like it, not because it's rare or new.
 
xEchOx said:
It's definitely personal preference. I try to stay away from the "latest and greatest" as they are far out of my price range, and not worth the extra money if you ask me. Wait a year and the prices will drop as something newer and better comes around.

IMO you should base your tank around what you desire. I love LPS. I think if you are into LPS like Hammers, you'll definitely enjoy Frogspawns or Torches as well. Another great LPS is Candy cane or Trumpet corals. They are hardy and require very little outside good water parameters. My current favorite is an Acanthastrea lordhowensis frag I bought about 5-6 months ago. It's coming along nicely and has some great color. It's a bit fussier than the Frogspawn and Candy cane when it comes to placement and flow, but looks great when it's happy.

Another thing I really enjoy about LPS is that you can feed them. I personally love seeing their feeder tentacles grabbing a piece of mysis or brine shrimp. Very cool to see.

There is plenty of variety when it comes to corals so don't get caught up in the hype. Find something that you like because you like it, not because it's rare or new.
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Thanks for the info, most likely it's gonna be mainly LPS Corals/Soft Corals/Zoas....maybe one or two frags of Sps... I'm gonna go look on liveaquaria for more info on desired corals....also by any chance do you know if it's ok to add multiple corals at the same time? Thanks
 
As long as your water parameters are stable yes, I think it's fine to add multiple corals at the same time. I prefer though, to do it slowly. If there happens to be a problem with the tank that is unforseen, all of your new corals are at risk.

As far as softies go, I have some Xenia that I really like and I've been meaning to look at a toadstool leather, a green one. Very sweet looking. Zoas can be hit or miss. I've got many varieties and some do better than others. I have a colony that is doing great and so far, it cost me the least amount of money. Some of the others that were more expensive are slower growing and are finnicky about water quality. I definitely like Radioactive Dragon eyes - they are fairly common these days and grow nicely. I also like the people eater variety (though I think technically they may be a paly) but they don't do as well in my tank.

Check out www.coralmorphologic.com for zoas. He has fair prices and is an upstanding businessman. I've ordered from here several times and have been pleased with the way they do business.

I also just ordered from www.coralprops.com another good shop. They do sell frags, but they are well recovered before they are shipped out. I ordered a Duncan and a Green lord acan from here and recieved a free bonus florida ricordea.
 
Pazzoman said:
Thanks for the info, most likely it's gonna be mainly LPS Corals/Soft Corals/Zoas....maybe one or two frags of Sps... I'm gonna go look on liveaquaria for more info on desired corals....also by any chance do you know if it's ok to add multiple corals at the same time? Thanks
Click to expand...

And their in lays the catch 22 in Reefing - Softies can emmit toxins into the water that attack hard corals and Hard corals attack with long sweeping tenticles. Careful with your placements if combining aggressive corals and softies with hard. Best to be running a Carbon reactor when runnin' the gambit.

As for best corals - it'd be hard to top Acro's and Aussie Elagance corals.
 
My must haves are anything bright red and/or bright orange, because they give a better mix of colours, as most corals available are pinks, blues, yellows, and greens. Oh and purple ones, just because I like purple haha. So no that wasn't very specific coral wise, but that makes sence as "must haves" is a matter of personal tastes.
 
Lol thanks guys for the selection of corals, pretty like you guys say it's all about my opinion. Probably gonna be purchasing most from my lfs because of prices, knowlege of staff and WYSIWYG...

Hey Kev, I have a question for you:

My Sponge has growndarkish red algae on it, is thier away to help it heal through it...this happened one time before and left..however this has been on longer and I see discolored paige lining of sponge..
 
hmmm generally that is a sign of decline in the sponge... If you knew 100% that it was nonphotosynthetic I would trim off the piece of the sponge and place it in the shade... but most sponges need a little light. So here is what I would do, get some sharp scissors and cut away the algae "infected" areas (throw them out). Place the sponge in an area of good flow, but not to powerful or the sponge could be damaged by the pressure of the water, so maybe off to the side of a powerhead, instead of directly in its path. Though often times if a sponge starts to decline there isnt much you can do, if it really starts to die, just cut of most of the sponge down to the base and let it recover naturally (in theory it should though slowly).
 
My "must haves":

Scoly - will be getting two this week
Gold/Blue torch coral
Rainbow Blastos
Rainbow Australomussa

If anyone has these and wants to frag let me know haha
 
Nice picks flesh, I wonder what kinds of corals I can have under these leds pretty sure it can handle some sps....however my main price of something that needs light would be a clam...hope the light can penetrate a depth of 22 inches.
 
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