Corals for a begginer

[HB AL]

Ya you don't need to pay the extremely overpriced from WWC. There doing something right since they just had their 15 year anniversary!

 

[encrustingacro]

First, there are no Favias in the hobby (there are only two species, both from the Caribbean and there is no stony coral collection in the Caribbean), what are sold as ‘Favias’ come from 6-7 different genera, some are more forgiving than others. Of those, I would recommend a Favites pentagona (war coral), or Dragon Soul ‘Favia’ (Goniastrea sp.), they are both fairly hardy.

I assume by ‘Acans’ you mean Micromussa lordhowensis (used to be Acanthestrea) and not Acanthestrea bowerbanki/pachysepta/echinata, micro lords are fairly hardy, just need to be fed to thrive. Blastomussa wellsi is another great beginner LPS coral.

I would avoid any Euphyllia/Fimbriaphyllia (torches and hammers) until your tank is a little more mature and you’ve gotten the hang of keeping your alkalinity stable, but if you want something in a similar growth form that offers similar movement, Duncanopsammia axifuga (Duncan coral) are a good choice for beginners.

And few a more: bubble corals (Plerogyra sinuosa), Fox corals (Nemenzophyllia turbida), and open brain corals (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi) are all hardy options as well.

Dragon soul/prism favias are actually either favites paraflexuosus or dipsastraea rosaria.
Bowerbankis are actually in the genus homophyllia, which is the same genus that scolies are in.
Echinatas are not necessarily in the species acanthastrea echinata, as there are 3 other species of acan that look similar: subechinata, rotundoflora, and hemprichii.
There are 2 genera of bubble corals: plerogyra and physogyra. There is also a species of plerogyra that looks similar to a fox coral.