beginner trying to pick my very first coral

[Rvs187]

I got a 60 gallon tank that I have been running for about 6 weeks now , 2 shrimps , 1 clown , 12 clean up crew ... I was thinking of getting a torch coral ... but I’m open for some opinions ... thanks

 

[lavoisier]

Howdy, and welcome to R2R. Can you post a pic?

 

[pcon]

Welcome to Reef 2 Reef!
Torches are somewhat difficult coral, I struggled with them for years. I would recommend starting with their cousins hammers, frogspawns, and octospawns and being comfortable growing those corals before attempting the more expensive and difficult torches. even these are not generally advised as a first coral. Good starter corals that are most commonly recommended are softies, like leathers, pulsing xenia, mushrooms, zoanthids, green star polyps, kenya tree, green sinularia all come to mind as first corals. Some approachable LPS include, Trumpet corals, Candycanes, Duncans, Blastomussa, Acans, Favias, Hammers and Frogspawns. Easy SPS are Birdsnest, Monti cap, Proscillipora. Just my 2cents, torches are fantastic corals, and not impossible for a beginner but they are sensitive to odd aspects of flow and lighting which a bit of experience will help in getting them to thrive. Everyone's experience is different for every coral so find out what you like and spend a lot of time researching them for the best chance of success.

 

[Dom]

Stick with something simple to start. My experience has been that Hammer corals and Zoas are relatively easy to keep.

 

[JoshO]

What are your parameters? What light are you running?

 

[Mhart032]

Welcome to the forum..

Welcome to Reef 2 Reef!
Torches are somewhat difficult coral, I struggled with them for years. I would recommend starting with their cousins hammers, frogspawns, and octospawns and being comfortable growing those corals before attempting the more expensive and difficult torches. even these are not generally advised as a first coral. Good starter corals that are most commonly recommended are softies, like leathers, pulsing xenia, mushrooms, zoanthids, green star polyps, kenya tree, green sinularia all come to mind as first corals. Some approachable LPS include, Trumpet corals, Candycanes, Duncans, Blastomussa, Acans, Favias, Hammers and Frogspawns. Easy SPS are Birdsnest, Monti cap, Proscillipora. Just my 2cents, torches are fantastic corals, and not impossible for a beginner but they are sensitive to odd aspects of flow and lighting which a bit of experience will help in getting them to thrive. Everyone's experience is different for every coral so find out what you like and spend a lot of time researching them for the best chance of success.

^^ This is really solid advice!

 

[Dom]

I got a 60 gallon tank that I have been running for about 6 weeks now , 2 shrimps , 1 clown , 12 clean up crew ... I was thinking of getting a torch coral ... but I’m open for some opinions ... thanks

What kind of shrimp? Careful... some shrimp might attack corals. Also, the lighting and flow are important.

As has already been asked; What lighting do you have? Also some details and a photo of your tank would be helpful.

 

[Rvs187]

I’m at work cant take a pic Right now , I don’t remember the name of the light I’m getting , my fish guy told me they are good lights ... 1 cleaner and 1 fire shrimp ... I post a pic late today

 

[Rvs187]

Howdy, and welcome to R2R. Can you post a pic?

At work now will post a pic later today...

 

[Rvs187]

Welcome to the forum..



^^ This is really solid advice!

Thank you I’ll definitely will wait then thanks

 

[Rvs187]

Stick with something simple to start. My experience has been that Hammer corals and Zoas are relatively easy to keep.

Everyone seems to be saying that , I’m definitely going that rout , thanks

 

[Miller535]

Welcome to reef2reef and good luck

 

[Gareth elliott]

by far my favorite starter coral is corky finger. Very forgiving, grows relatively quickly but grows up not out. So spreading isnt is as much of an issue as some other soft corals.

 

[aqua_code]

My first was a hammer coral definitely recommend as a starter. Zoas have palytoxin in them so make sure you are aware of that. Always wear goggles fragging them and be careful cleaning any aquarium with zoanthids.

Make sure to dip your new coral!

 

[Dragon52]

 

[WiscoFishNut]

The first corals I grabbed were some zoas, a favia, a lobo, a hammer, a torch, and a duncan(I think). I managed to kill the favia, lobo, and hammer. The rest are all going strong lol

 

[Streetlamp]

Duncan for me, one of my first and it did well under a generic white led bar.

 

[Rvs187]

by far my favorite starter coral is corky finger. Very forgiving, grows relatively quickly but grows up not out. So spreading isnt is as much of an issue as some other soft corals.

Wow I

by far my favorite starter coral is corky finger. Very forgiving, grows relatively quickly but grows up not out. So spreading isnt is as much of an issue as some other soft corals.

thanks that looks amazing, I’m definitely going to take a look at that

 

[Miller535]

by far my favorite starter coral is corky finger. Very forgiving, grows relatively quickly but grows up not out. So spreading isnt is as much of an issue as some other soft corals.

Gareth, I really like this. Is this a corky finger Goronian? Just want to make sure I have looked up the right thing. Also your's looks pretty big in your picture, about how big is yours, and how long have you had it?

 

[homer1475]

Yes a gorgonian. I have the exact same one, and over the years I have given peices away, traded to the LFS that no longer wants it, to even throwing it away. Grows very well in almost any condition.