Best SPS to start with?

[Noah Hemingway]

Hello! I have been keeping coral for a reasonable amount of time now & have successfully kept many Soft corals, LPS corals & even sun corals! I am finally wanting to branch into SPS for my mixed reef (it will be soft, LPS & SPS)! What would you say are the best first SPS to try? What have the highest success rates etc? I feel confident in my coral keeping ability but don’t want to push too hard on my first few sps frags Any advice would be much appreciated! - Thanks

 

[boacvh]

Not an expert here but I have a mixed too. I would vote for Montis. My short experience has been that many of these are way easier than some LPS. The other one would be pocci. Grows like a weed in my tank and survived all my noobie mistakes.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Green Slimer is pretty "easy" when it comes to SPS.

 

[GillMeister]

I found birdsnest, stylophora and pocillopora grow fast and easy but they are sensitive to alkalinity fluctuations. Make sure you check your water mix when doing changes to match alk.

 

[reefiniteasy]

I started with a birds nest and stylo.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Stylophora & Birds Nest

 

[old salt reefer]

I'm going add my vote for birdsnest and my favorite purple stylo. Every tank I own has purple stylo in it.

 

[Shannon_Hill]

Montipora’s and pocillopora are fairly easy. Birdsnest and stylophora are both pretty easy as well.

 

[Dkmoo]

Word of caution tho, what makes birdsnest and stylos "easy" also has a lot to do with the fact that their lighting requirement is likely most similar to what's currently in your tank. I'm guessing in mixed lps and softies tank your "high light" area tops out at around 250 par. So just because you will got comfortable that your montys, nests, and stylos all start to grow and you feel good 6 month later thinking you are ready for acros, ur first acro stick will likely still brown and lose color bc you simply do not have enough par. Acros like 300 to 400 par. So it won't be an "experience" issue. Itll strictly be an equipment issue.

At least thats my experience incorporating SPS into my mixed tank, I'm finding that what acro needs is vastly different than what other SPA needs

 

[cbs49er]

I’m a complete noob and went with a purple stylo about a month ago and it’s looking good

 

[Noah Hemingway]

Word of caution tho, what makes birdsnest and stylos "easy" also has a lot to do with the fact that their lighting requirement is likely most similar to what's currently in your tank. I'm guessing in mixed lps and softies tank your "high light" area tops out at around 250 par. So just because you will got comfortable that your montys, nests, and stylos all start to grow and you feel good 6 month later thinking you are ready for acros, ur first acro stick will likely still brown and lose color bc you simply do not have enough par. Acros like 300 to 400 par. So it won't be an "experience" issue. Itll strictly be an equipment issue.

At least thats my experience incorporating SPS into my mixed tank, I'm finding that what acro needs is vastly different than what other SPA needs

Thanks but I have correct lighting and PAR in my tank for sps. I just place my softies lower down or under ledges if they’re low light

 

[Proteus Meep]

Montipora Setosa are easy to keep in a mixed reef very hardy and with seriously intense colour and wild variety of growth form

 

[GardenReef]

Timely post ! ive been in the same boat here. My ID pic looks nothing like that tank i rescued from someone several years ago now. I eventually solved the bad algae issues and luckily saved all the coral that were in there, then added a few more to try increasing my skill level - slowly. Talking with the folks at my LFS 2 months ago they knew what i had in my tank and suggested Green Slimer so i gave it a shot. The slimer is doing great - fluffed up and overgrew the frag plug already. Starting little branches now too.
I think there have been lots of great suggestions in here already. I am still looking for a place for some Monti Cap as i love the growth formations of those as well. YMMV but my 2 cents is that the key is to keep doing what got you here - slow and steady. try not to mess around with things too much and let everyone settle in. My bet is you will do great whatever option you pick. Best of luck and have fun!

 

[Noah Hemingway]

Timely post ! ive been in the same boat here. My ID pic looks nothing like that tank i rescued from someone several years ago now. I eventually solved the bad algae issues and luckily saved all the coral that were in there, then added a few more to try increasing my skill level - slowly. Talking with the folks at my LFS 2 months ago they knew what i had in my tank and suggested Green Slimer so i gave it a shot. The slimer is doing great - fluffed up and overgrew the frag plug already. Starting little branches now too.
I think there have been lots of great suggestions in here already. I am still looking for a place for some Monti Cap as i love the growth formations of those as well. YMMV but my 2 cents is that the key is to keep doing what got you here - slow and steady. try not to mess around with things too much and let everyone settle in. My bet is you will do great whatever option you pick. Best of luck and have fun!

Timely post ! ive been in the same boat here. My ID pic looks nothing like that tank i rescued from someone several years ago now. I eventually solved the bad algae issues and luckily saved all the coral that were in there, then added a few more to try increasing my skill level - slowly. Talking with the folks at my LFS 2 months ago they knew what i had in my tank and suggested Green Slimer so i gave it a shot. The slimer is doing great - fluffed up and overgrew the frag plug already. Starting little branches now too.
I think there have been lots of great suggestions in here already. I am still looking for a place for some Monti Cap as i love the growth formations of those as well. YMMV but my 2 cents is that the key is to keep doing what got you here - slow and steady. try not to mess around with things too much and let everyone settle in. My bet is you will do great whatever option you pick. Best of luck and have fun!

Thanks! And best of luck to you & your reef too!

 

[Hersheyb]

as everybody mentioned... montis, birdnest, pocci, and stylo are all pretty easy. These corals will tolerate a bit more than the other sps. They will struggle if you have crazy alk swings... just as long as you keep you alk somewhat steady and decent light you will succeed.