Picking Coral...Need Help!

[chris13115]

hey guys,

I cleared up my ich and i need to restock, i have picked dragonets (OF COURSE), a nice tomini, and a starry blenny. Im also getting coral, but i can't seem to choose! I was thinking any Xenia, Mushroom, LPS, or SPS. Any suggestions? Your help can only make my tank better.

Keep reefing,

Chris

 

[uall8up]

I love xenia and mushrooms.

 

[chris13115]

any particular type of mushroom or xenia?

 

[Pappy]

Both Xenia and shrooms will take over your tank! How about richordia or a toadstool? Lps candy canes


Mike D "like the beastie boys" Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chris13115]

i got a nano pack of mushrooms polyps and lps, get them small and let them flourish!

 

[fab1971]

When I started out in this hobby I got mushrooms, some lps like hammers, brain + candy cane and a leather. All of them did great in my tank but some like the mushrooms and xenia can take over a tank after a couple of years. Especially a smaller one.

 

[NanaReefer]

Just don't get the Superman Shrooms, red with lil blue dots. They spread like crazy! Will also detach themselves, float around and anchor elsewhere.

 

[TrishW]

My favorites in my tank are duncans, acans and my frogspawn. I also have a green and pink birdsnest that I love. It grows like crazy.

How big is your tank?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I would need to know a little bit about the tank before offering a suggestion.

 

[TrishW]

I just looked at your profile so I guess your tank is still the 70G. I have a 90G with a 6 bulb H.O. T5 fixture so my opinion is based on what I have/know. WIth such a small tank I now know to stay away from anything that is extremely aggressive because they just take up too much space.

Things I would buy again:

Blue Acropora Millepora - it does well in my tank and has had good growth
plate montipora - it may grow too fast for your taste
Green star polyps - they grow like crazy and are such a pretty color
hairy mushrooms - I have a colony of about 7 or 8 large that are awesome. They look great with the lights on and the movement is great.
Duncans - started with 2 single head frags and a colony of 5 heads, the frags have a dozen or more heads and the colony has more than thirty now - that's in about a year
encrusting gorgonian - I used this to fill an area that is below my rose bta. It may be too invasive in a different place, but the nem keeps it kind of in check
birdsnest - I have one nicknamed "frog in a blender" It has grown from the size of a baseball to the size of a bowling bowl in about 9 months
frogspawn - only one word to describe - AWESOME
acan - slow growth but such beautiful colors are available
blue xenia - if I wanted xenia this is what I would buy
toadstoal leather and finger leather - I like these because they do well anywhere so they can be used for filler.

Things I would NOT buy again
brown, red or blue mushrooms
common xenia - mine doesn't take over but something eats it and it is a drab color
Torch - it just takes up too much room because it stings
pearl bubble coral - I had one that did great for a long time, but something knocked it down onto an acan and they stung each other. The acan survived, the bubble died off over the next few weeks. Like the torch it took up a lot of room.

 

[chris13115]

Update

UPDATE

Ok so i can get 4 corals: one polyp, one mushroom and one soft coral, one extra from each category those are ym options.

[TD="colspan: 2"]

[TD="colspan: 2"]

	Green Striped
	Red
	Lavender
	Bullseye

[TD="colspan: 2"] Mushroom Corals [/TD]

[/TD]

[/TD]

	Yellow Colony
	Button
	Colony
	Colony, Supercolored
	Colony, Multicolored
	Starburst

[TD="colspan: 2"] Polyp Corals [/TD]

	Toadstool Mushroom Leather
	Thin Finger Leather
	Spaghetti Finger Leather
	Tree Coral, Assorted
	Cabbage Leather
	Kenya Tree Out of these, which should i get

[TD="colspan: 2"] Soft Corals [/TD]

I also see everyone has a lot of success, and i wish for more in the future for you all

 

[bjledbetter]

Avoid the kenya tree like its the plague. They will take over your tank in no time and are extremely diffucult to get rid of. Toadstool Leathers are nice when there open but can go several days without opening up at a time. All leathers and xenia use alot of iodine and need to have it replaced regulary or it will die. At least thats my experience.

 

[Pappy]

I disagree. I have never put iodine nor have tested for it in 3 years and have had leathers and toadstools the whole time all of which have always stayed open. Then again I do water changes every week and have great parameters!


Mike D "like the beastie boys" Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bjledbetter]

Like i said just my experience. I do a 15g water change weekly in my 90g tank using reef crystals, All of my levals stay where they should be but my iodine level which i do test on a bi weekly basis when i do my other weekly water test. My whole back glass was covered in xenia and it started dying off. I did some research online and talked to a few lfs and they had me check my iodine level which was extremly low I started adding the iodine and my xenia grows better now and my leathers stay open more now than ever but if i dont add it my xenia starts dying and the iodine level nearly bottoms out so somethings using alot of it.,

 

[Lacktaters]

I would suggest (and this is just from my experience) staying away from Xenia. It's really cool, but it will literally take over your tank! Once it's established you can pluck it and wire brush your rocks and it will come right back.

GSP (although I love this stuff) can tend to do the same thing. I couldn't resist the GSP so I superglued a chunk on my overflow. It's easier to pull it off plastic than it is to pull it off your rocks. Only problem...it's a constant battle keeping it from growing into the overflow.

I'm not a fan of most mushrooms. Rics can be very beautiful though. I really like the rainbow yumas, but they can be expensive.

LPS and SPS...I like almost all of it!

 

[chris13115]

I have decided to get the toad stool, starburst, super colored and green mushroom. Thanks everyone so much and i will post pics of my new tank when the crals and fish get here

Keep Reefin,

Chris