What you're saying makes perfect sense. My first obstacle is, since I've never had any, I don't actually know which ones I like. I do like bright colors, flowing shapes and movement with the flow of the water. I do have a lot of fish, a few shrimp and a couple crabs. So I guess compatibility is an issue as well. I have made a point of acquiring only reef safe fish since I decided to eventually add corals, but a do have a bluespot puffer that's been in my tank since I planned it to be FOWLR in the beginning. I could re-home him if necessary.
What is a good resource for what are easier and more difficult to keep corals? I have come to rely pretty heavily on LA's descriptions for compatibility and care requirements for fish, is their info on corals similarly reliable? I don't really know what to look for.
While I can't speak for all of LA's descriptions, I can tell you without a doubt, when concerning octorals, most of them are incorrect and mix up species calling them the same thing when they aren't. This is a common issue with a lot of sites. People just don't seem to have a desire to actually understand what they have in their tank beyond cute fluffy names that sound good in a sales pitch.
IOW, it's not going to be easy to get the information you're looking for. You can check out a few books, but even they tend to be lacking in a lot of relevant information.
As boring as it sounds, this is what I would suggest, get a biology book, learn the basics. When it comes to what fish eat what, I've found LA's information a bit more accurate, and of course there are species overviews on actual edu sites.
https://www.inaturalist.org is a good place to get actual scientists who specialize in corals and fish to give input on the correct species (there are all kinds of scientists there but more than a handful of marine biologists). From there you can hit up sites like WORMS: World registry of marine species.
While I always suggest forum information with caution, there are many knowledgable people here on Reef 2 Reef. Most are open minded and willing to learn and adapt. New information about species comes in every day. New species are categorized and listed on a regular basis or species are subdivided or combined. So at some point your right info can eventually be wrong.
It's a learning process with no end.
But I think there are some good peeps here who are more than willing to help by sharing their knowledge.
In my experience, corals that are the hardest to keep are usually the bizarre morphs that occur in very particular tank conditions. The chances of you being able to match those conditions are slim and you may lose more than you keep alive. Keep things simple. Your psyche will thank you as well as your wallet.
Lastly: I honestly think people make keeping corals seem harder than it actually is. It's more about not putting fish in that will eat them than anything else. Or have fish prone to disease you have to constantly medicate. Or be constantly adding or removing fish. Except for a few out there, they're honestly fairly simple.
As long as they're compatible.
P.s. To find out what you like, take a look at some tanks in person.
