Corals to avoid/corals you regret?

[Jellyfisher]

Hello! I am new (obviously) and working on my first reef tank - 265g, ideally mixed reef, about 7 months in.

For those of you have have been around the block a few times, what corals would you avoid if you knew then what you know now? Any corals you regret adding to your tank? I know to stay away from Xenia and the like, but anything else you would put on the no-go list?

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Kenya tree. At first I thought it was perfectly fine until last week I noticed something weird... the branches are breaking off and scattering kenya tree around the entire tank

 

[andrewkw]

In almost 15 years of reefing and 100s of corals bought I can only think of 3 I really regret.

1) Elegance - this no longer applies as they are very easy to take care of now, but where they were previously sourced survival rate was very very poor. Mine melted very quickly. I remember thinking hmm this is an LPS I've never seen before and brought it home.

2) My first goniopora. Again no longer applies. We know how to take care of them now. The one I have now started as a tiny frag and is probably 10x bigger then when I got it maybe 15.

3) and the only one that still applies australophyllia wilsoni. There seems to be a few who succeed but they just don't mesh with most reef corals. I feel like they need really really cold water. The thing is they take forever to die. I bought mine in april 2019 and it bleached in probably may or june and has been continuing its slow decline since then. To be honest I've basically given up on it but even that hasn't sped up the decline much.

I should also mention pom pom xenia is still one of my all time favourite corals and still enjoy watching it pulse.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Mushrooms and green star polyps. If you're going for a softie and lps tank they're great. When you start throwing sps in the mix the mushrooms and gsp will win a turf war everytime

 

[Indytraveler83]

Goniopora (flower pot coral)

For some reason these get sold all the time as "beginner" corals, and an lfs will tell you they are easy to keep.

The reality is, unless you are an expert (or really lucky) this coral will thrive in your system for a few months, then suddenly die for no reason. They seem to do terrible in captivity.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Mostly some of your soft corals because they can out of control and hard to remove. Xenia and green star polyps are the two I worry about lol

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Pocillipora. It can eject polyps spreading all over your tank.

 

[Jellyfisher]

Goniopora (flower pot coral)

For some reason these get sold all the time as "beginner" corals, and an lfs will tell you they are easy to keep.

The reality is, unless you are an expert (or really lucky) this coral will thrive in your system for a few months, then suddenly die for no reason. They seem to do terrible in captivity.

Yep, already made that mistake. I picked one up (an “ooh, so pretty” moment) and it’s not been a happy camper since Day 1 in my tank... Live and learn, I guess.

 

[Jellyfisher]

In almost 15 years of reefing and 100s of corals bought I can only think of 3 I really regret.

1) Elegance - this no longer applies as they are very easy to take care of now, but where they were previously sourced survival rate was very very poor. Mine melted very quickly. I remember thinking hmm this is an LPS I've never seen before and brought it home.

2) My first goniopora. Again no longer applies. We know how to take care of them now. The one I have now started as a tiny frag and is probably 10x bigger then when I got it maybe 15.

3) and the only one that still applies australophyllia wilsoni. There seems to be a few who succeed but they just don't mesh with most reef corals. I feel like they need really really cold water. The thing is they take forever to die. I bought mine in april 2019 and it bleached in probably may or june and has been continuing its slow decline since then. To be honest I've basically given up on it but even that hasn't sped up the decline much.

I should also mention pom pom xenia is still one of my all time favourite corals and still enjoy watching it pulse.

Thanks for the tips! Too bad but good to know about the australophyllia wilsoni - I find them super beautiful but definitely don’t want to buy it just to watch it die an Old Western slow death for months, lol. But sorry to hear about yours, that stinks.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Carnation corals(dendronephthya) and flower tree corals, (scleronephthya), still a challenge. They do need a dedicated tank, design for them. From 1983-1989, and 10/2017 to present we're still trying . But one day, things my change.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Pulsing xenia, pocciliopora, pink n gold zoas

 

[Barrett]

Pocillipora. It can eject polyps spreading all over your tank.

+1 to this they are a pain

 

[Waters]

Any of the encrusting Montis....you will be looking for ways to stop them from encrusting when they start taking over all of your rockwork.

 

[krbnsol]

pulsing xenia........just say no.

 

[Homebrewer]

Kenya tree. At first I thought it was perfectly fine until last week I noticed something weird... the branches are breaking off and scattering kenya tree around the entire tank

+1 on the Kenya Tree. Tried to convince myself that I liked having it spread everywhere.

I was wrong.

Maybe the only thing good to come of my tank crash a few years ago is that all of it finally died!

 

[homer1475]

Blue clove polyps....Need I say more?

 

[Sean Duggan]

Not a coral but I kind of regret my anemone. Like a walking bomb with my other corals. Started with one small one and then it grew massive and split. At most I had 5. Currently got it down to two and they haven’t moved or split in the last few months.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Any coral ive killed lol.

specifically mariculture aussie acro pack. Hey i can grow this stick and this stick. This 12 pack is only $99.
just no lol.

 

[dansreef]

This is a great question.... and one that I spent more time thinking through. I have a 220 g TWV tank. My initial goal was to have it as a mixed reef... but with some nice SPS....and specifically nice acros.

The corals I regret are palys and fuzzy mushrooms. They have absolutely started to take off in my tank. The palys are a nice orange. I have tried nearly everything I can think of to eradicate them. My big fear is to cause a palytoxin issue.... poisoning the tank or myself. I wished I had never ever considered putting them in. I also have some smaller green palys that somehow came in as a hitchhiker. Palys will gain a foothold and start taking off in good reef conditions.

I mentioned green fuzzy mushrooms. I have literally hundreds of them. I have pulled, ripped, removed too many to count. They just grow right back. They are nice for a new tank to get some life in.... and get some color started.... but they again will take off in good reef conditions...and once they get a foothold, they are darn near impossible to eradicate.

One other coral families to be careful of are leathers. I had a huge population of Devils Paws in some of my tanks. In good condition...they will drop buds and reproduce like crazy. I have pulled, ripped and removed. If you leave some materials of foot...they will grow back. Interestingly... I also have some neon toadstools....that I have pulled, ripped and removed that have grown back from nothing now 4 times. I keep giving them away.... and they keep growing back.

I wish some of the acros.... had such a growth habit. Ugh!!!!

 

[MTBake]

Forest Fire digitata. Its spreading like a wild fire. Starting to encroach and kill other corals. Its gonna difficult to remove without pulling out 3 rocks with it.