New to corals... need help choosing

[Ramiro Casal]

So I have a 20gallon high, and I am ready to start adding corals, this will be my first ever reef tank so I want the easiest and hardiest corals. I heard soft corals where the way to go. Any suggestions on what I can or should get?

 

[DeniseAndy]

If you want to stick with easy, some of the so called "pest corals" are a great start. Especially if you will be upgrading or changing tanks when ready for some more challenging corals. These are hardy, tolerate swings and can be downright beautiful in their own right.

Kenyan trees (can get green, pink, I have even seen crazier yellowy color)
Leather toadstood (can get white or green or brownish)
Cabbage leather (cool yellow, green and pinks)
Mushrooms (discosoma easiest - red, blue, green)
Pulsing xenia
Green star polyps (I prefer Briareium over Pachyclavularia)

Then maybe zoas after you get things under control and more comfortable with maintenance, etc.
This of course is jmo from my experiences. I do not give advice on animals I have not kept.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

Certain zoas and palys are also easy to keep and grow. Dragon eye zoas are a good beginner zoa, and nicer palys such as purple death palys and palythoa grandis are fun to keep.

Otherwise leathers and other softies are a great place to start. Once you feel comfortable with maintaining alk, ca, mg etc. some easier stony corals include duncans, favia, and open brain corals.

 

[Ramiro Casal]

If you want to stick with easy, some of the so called "pest corals" are a great start. Especially if you will be upgrading or changing tanks when ready for some more challenging corals. These are hardy, tolerate swings and can be downright beautiful in their own right.

Kenyan trees (can get green, pink, I have even seen crazier yellowy color)
Leather toadstood (can get white or green or brownish)
Cabbage leather (cool yellow, green and pinks)
Mushrooms (discosoma easiest - red, blue, green)
Pulsing xenia
Green star polyps (I prefer Briareium over Pachyclavularia)

Then maybe zoas after you get things under control and more comfortable with maintenance, etc.
This of course is jmo from my experiences. I do not give advice on animals I have not kept.

Wow They look amazing, I was expecting beginner corals to be quite ugly. I will probably start with some pulsing xenia, they look so sick.

 

[Ramiro Casal]

This might be a really dumb question but with these so called pest-corals what will be the procedure to adding them to the tank. Like do I have to dip them in something first? and how would I place them in my tank as at my lfs all corals are stuck to these little circular rocks?
Sorry if this seems very dumb and basic I have 0 knowledge on corals.

 

[Ramiro Casal]

This might be a really dumb question but with these so called pest-corals what will be the procedure to adding them to the tank. Like do I have to dip them in something first? and how would I place them in my tank as at my lfs all corals are stuck to these little circular rocks?
Sorry if this seems very dumb are basic I have 0 knowledge on corals.

EDIT: I also heard these pest corals will "take over" the tank, I assume this wont be a problem if all my corals are pest ones? and will this pose problems for my fish in any way?

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

This might be a really dumb question but with these so called pest-corals what will be the procedure to adding them to the tank. Like do I have to dip them in something first? and how would I place them in my tank as at my lfs all corals are stuck to these little circular rocks?
Sorry if this seems very dumb and basic I have 0 knowledge on corals.

Those are called frag plugs. The corals will eventually encrust off the plug and onto the rock.
You dont need to dip softies but a 30 min temperature acclimation never hurts.

 

[DeniseAndy]

They are called "pest" because of their ability to take over the tank. But, if you have many of them, they can hold each other at bay pretty well. Plus, you can cut back as needed with these corals since they are fairly easy to "frag"(meaning cut small pieces off to give away or sell).

No problems for fish. More places to hide and play. Clowns love kenya trees.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I actually have these lovely corals in my main display because I house over 13 species of gorgonia and these are the only corals that can tolerate the toxins of the gorgs. Love my toadstool (oldest coral I own at 15yr), finger leather, cabbage, etc.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

For starters ... try getting "trial" corals from local reefers. Don't go crazy buying expensive corals or you're gonna regret if the corals don't make it alive in your system. Believe me I've been down that road before ...

 

[XNavyDiver]

Wow They look amazing, I was expecting beginner corals to be quite ugly. I will probably start with some pulsing xenia, they look so sick.

Xenia is one of those corals that has the ability to multiply rapidly, and can overtake your rock work. If you don't what that to happen, just glue your frag of xenia to a dedicated rock that you can isolate on the sand bed. Xenia Island, if you will.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

I actually have these lovely corals in my main display because I house over 13 species of gorgonia and these are the only corals that can tolerate the toxins of the gorgs. Love my toadstool (oldest coral I own at 15yr), finger leather, cabbage, etc.

Is there any ways I can check out your gorgonia collections? Online that is as i don't think it's plausible to drive all the way from Toronto to Ohio ...;Smuggrin

 

[DeniseAndy]

We made that drive last summer. It is so much cheaper to fly to England from Toronto than Cincinnati. Only 8 hrs.

Yes, I hope to get some good pics and videos done soon. Just shoot me a conversation. That way I remember to do it. Just doing annual cleaning, so tank is a mess.

 

[Ramiro Casal]

Quick little update:
I got some corals from my lfs yesterday, I got two strands of Pulsating Xenia and a GSP they have both opened up and seem to being doing well or I atleast think so. Thank you for helping me choose some corals and properly get into the reef hobby.