A beginner talking about beginner corals and how fast they grow!

[MoshJosh]

Just wanted to share my experience with my “beginner” corals and how fast they can grow! People aren’t kidding when they say growing like weeds!

keep in mind that all the times I provide are just guesstimates, as I don’t know exactly when I added all these corals.

also, I’m NOT Posting trying to brag or anything, all these corals are known to be beginner friendly and are known to grow super fast! I’m not an expert keeper, as stated in the title I’m just a beginner. I have certainly made mistakes and had failures, and I assume I will continue to do so. Just wanted to show my beginner progress with my beginner corals, might be helpful for other beginners looking at these corals

My pulsing Xenia started as a single “stalk” about 3 1/2 months ago, now it’s 4 plus stalks with an additional 3 “baby” stalks that sprouted elsewhere in the tank:

3 1/2 months ago

Today

Anthelia is about 3 months old and taking over the rock it’s on, you can see it crusting over the shell it started on and onto the rock

day one

today

montipora added about 3 months ago, broke it while gluing it. It’s regrown where it broke and is getting big:

3 months ago

today

If you look close you can see where it started/the algae from the store and the new growth

last my pavona, added about the same time as the monti, about 3 months ago, it’s starting to crust on the rock. . . Despite being move a few time, and being fragged once

No good pics of when I added it, but here’s a pic of it in crusting and the frag

the frag

 

[blaxsun]

Pulsing xenias could probably thrive in my toilet...

 

[mdb_talon]

Looking great. Even easy corals can be tough at first so u doing some things right for sure.

On a related not though this is why I am not a fan of some of these being marketed as "beginner corals". Xenia and anthelia are great if that is what a person wants in their tank, but often stores sell them as cheap easy corals without pointing out that they can quickly become a nuisance and a battle for that beginner to prevent them from taking over the entire tank. Something like a monti cap also can grow very fast but is much easier to control through trimming if desired.

 

[MaxTremors]

I’ve had GSP in my current tank for nearly a year and a half. In the first few months it fully covered the rock that it was on and then seemingly stopped growing. It actually didn’t though, it started sort of umbrella-ing out and then about a month ago it finally connected with the back wall, and in that month it’s grown about a 3”x3” mat on the back wall. A lot of the time you don’t notice growth day to day, but then you look at photos from months ago, and it’s crazy how quickly some corals grow.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Nice growth! keep it up!

 

[Sumo Reef]

Awesome stuff! You'll need another tank in no time

as stated in the title I’m just a beginner.

You are incorrect sir. Can we talk about how ingenious this contraption of a sump & ATO is???

AMAZING!

 

[Sumo Reef]

Also, did you swap to bare bottom? Some pics have substrate, and some don't?

 

[MoshJosh]

Also, did you swap to bare bottom? Some pics have substrate, and some don't?

Thank you, I’m pretty proud of the weird sound design.

and it’s two different tanks, one sand one bare bottom

 

[reaper93]

What do you dose?

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I had to scroll through months of photos which reminded me of the more challenging times, my GSP is one of my first corals added in sep, growing over my island nicely, my rhodactis (I think) was just one head but now looks like a tree with 5... Maybe more, candy cane approx 1 month and firework clove about 2 months (was 10 heads) I count 14 -16 now soo glad it's on an island

 

[undermind]

Nice work @MoshJosh !!

 

[MoshJosh]

What do you dose?

I dose kalk, though, just broke my ATO on the EVO so that’s on pause. I dose Chaeto Grow, “Zooplankton” by Seachem, and microbacter w/ water changes. Feed phyto and oyster feast plus “reef snow” most days. But still needing to dial everything in, on the bare bottom tank especially. . . Just had a nutrient spike and did some big water changes. . . Probably cause that tank actually has fish (probably over stocked)

 

[Wasabiroot]

Love it! Lots of classics and that monti colony is something to be proud of. Keep up the good work

 

[reaper93]

Love it! Lots of classics and that monti colony is something to be proud of. Keep up the good work

Forreal! I have a monti cap in my tank that hasn't grown at all in like a month. I love the look of big monticaps

 

[dannyd_]

The progress is great! Tank looks very nice. What is the clam/mussel/thing in your tank? I have seen them before in tanks thought they looked very interesting.

 

[MoshJosh]

The progress is great! Tank looks very nice. What is the clam/mussel/thing in your tank? I have seen them before in tanks thought they looked very interesting.

You’re probably talking about the flames scallop, it is pretty cool, but unfortunately I didn’t read a lot of about them before I purchased it/her. they are exclusively filter feeders and most sources say the at home aquarium cannot provide them enough food for them to thrive.

I trade off broadcast feeding and spot feeding a number of small liquid foods in attempt to keep her happy, but again sources say it’s probably not enough. Anyway, if you’re interested I recommend doing lots of research first. Also, technique not a scallop, but that’s what they’re called.

 

[Screwgunner]

My xenia 12 started with one stalk