"Easy" Nps

[chrisjj625]

I have a couple of spots in my tank that I was to add some "easy" NPS if possible. Not crazy about anything that would require lots of feeding, if something exists. I am open to anything (Sponge, Coral, Gorg, etc.). Thank you in advance for any ideas you may have.

 

[Ron Reefman]

There are very, VERY few sponges that do well in a reef tank. Trust me, I've tried a lot over the years.

NPS corals need to be fed, there is just no getting around it. And IMHO they do much better in a tank meant for NPS corals.

 

[AcroNem]

Photosynthetic Gorgonians are good to start with as they still require some feeding. Tubastrea is one of the "easier" non photosynthetic genera but still need daily feedings. Besides that there's no skimping on requirements of other species.

 

[hds4216]

Dendrophyllia is a good choice.

 

[codycolina707]

I have a couple of spots in my tank that I was to add some "easy" NPS if possible. Not crazy about anything that would require lots of feeding, if something exists. I am open to anything (Sponge, Coral, Gorg, etc.). Thank you in advance for any ideas you may have.

they have photosynthetic gorgs

 

[chrisjj625]

they have photosynthetic gorgs

Does that make it not NPS

 

[Rmckoy]

Dendrophyllia is a good choice.

I’ve saw walking dendro as frags .
They are nps

 

[elysics]

Does that make it not NPS

Well do you want to not need to feed it, or do you want it to be a true nps? These two things kind of exclude each other

These are animals, they need to eat somehow, either sugar from algae or food. And nps don't have the sugar option.

 

[chrisjj625]

Well do you want to not need to feed it, or do you want it to be a true nps? These two things kind of exclude each other

These are animals, they need to eat somehow, either sugar from algae or food. And nps don't have the sugar option.

The point is I want to throw them on the dark side of rocks and worry a
Little as possible

 

[hds4216]

The point is I want to throw them on the dark side of rocks and worry a
Little as possible

All NPS need to be fed regularly. The easiest NPS are probably fathead dendros, they take food like mysis. But you should still feed it every other day or every two days.

 

[elysics]

What you could do is go to other reefers and ask for a few of the sponges that grew out of their life rock that they have many of. (meaning don't go buy a big colorful one from your LFS).

Some of those could just survive on what's left over from feeding your fishes, assuming you don't have a super light touch with that

And if we are talking low light instead of no light at all, something like cyphastrea or leptoseris might work, maybe some zoas or palys

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Red and Yellow Finger Gorgonians if you're looking for that more "Branchy" look. They just need to have a lot of flow other wise they won't open up much. But super dim like you said your area is, is good for them since it limits algae growth (if the whole corals gets covered it can call them) and they have big polyps so they'll be able to take in stuff like Baby Brine Shrimp. I would recommend PhyroFeast as a good food, I've had a ton of success using it with my gorgs

 

[ScottR]

I have a couple of types of dendros. I haven’t spot fed them in months maybe. I put them in an area where they get leftovers from when I feed the tank (I primarily feed frozen). They will capture a good enough amount of food and they grow new heads every so often. For the OP, put them in a cave if you’re sure they can get food drifting down there

 

[Phycodurus]

tubastrea sun corals are rather hardy NPS. one feeding trick is to cut off the bottom of a 2-liter plastic bottle (weight it down) and place it over the coral to create a feeding chamber. keeps pesky cleaner shrimp & fish from stealing the food (frozen mysis, frozen brine shrimp, etc.).

i feed several times a week this way ... using a turkey baster to keep the food swirling around frequently (so yes, some amount of babysitting is necessary ... i go for 20-30 minutes). just don’t place the coral somewhere too inaccessible that you can’t conveniently place the feeding chamber over it.

HTH