Suggestions to first Coral(s)

[Lyngsaa]

Hi,

I am in the process of setting up my first tank (20Gal) Red sea Nano. And since I do like to plan ahead I have started to compile my initial plan for Corals. The tank will be a LPS dominant tank with a few softies. My current wish list for for Corals are:

1) Euphyllia (frogspawn, Hammer & Torch) - I really like this coral, so hoping for a Eyphyllia garden of sort.
2) Ricodea (probably one of my favorite corals - so will defiantely get several of them)
3)Blastomussa (planning to get several as I am quite fond of them)
4) Acans (would like a garden of Acans)
5) Duncans (just one I think)
6) Candy cane (maybe a few different)
7) Tracyphyllia (thinking of placing in substrate)
8) Maybe Singularia & Pulsing Xenia - not entirely sure about this softies
9) GSP (will get an island in the substrate so I don't risk it will overtake my tank)

My big question now is where to start. Obviously I do not have my parameters and husbandry fully under control as I am a complete beginner, so need something easy and forgiving (think all above are classified as beginner friendly). I do plan to buy Frag corals and want to start off with some inexpensive corals in the beginning (just anticipating I will mess up something that will throw off the cliff).

My initial thinking was to start off with 3-5 frags of different types to have some testers (i.e. Blastomussa, Acan, Duncan, GSP, Riccodea as "starter pack"), then based on the success/failure I would expand the collection.

Any suggestion to which and how many would be good start?

 

[homer1475]

While GSP and Xenia are considered pests, they do quite well in new tanks. As long as you keep up with them growing they do quite well. I really like xenia and had it in my last tank, but the weekly culling got to be too much for me, so it no longer has a place in my tank.

Any softie really is a good place to start. They tend to like "dirtier"(read as higher nutrients and any ALK, CAL, and MAG swings that will happen as a new hobbyist) water, and are pretty forgiving in terms of any swings that will take place in a new tank.

 

[40g Nano]

just get a 5 dollar frag from a lfs like a zoa or paly and see how it does.

 

[Lyngsaa]

Thanks a lot for the feedback Homer.

Xenia is on my maybe list for the exactly that reason. I like to look of the coral however don't like the fact it could overtake the tank.

Would it be suicide for me to dip right into a few LPS right off the bat? I will be running the tank with Triton other method with a dosing pump to hopefull help keeping parameters stable.

 

[homer1475]

Some LPS are more forgiving then others.

In my experience, and from your list, duncans, and candy canes are a bit more forgiving then trachys, blasto's and acans. As far as uephyllia go, frogspawn is a bit hardier then torch's or hammers.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

If you’re just going with a soft coral first your chemistry won’t take a huge hit. Dosing wouldn’t really be needed until you get a large amount of corals (in your regards the LPS).

 

[ReeferWarrant]

I’d figure your aquascape out first too, you need to think about flow and lighting for each of them. If you don’t take those into account you might have some unhappy corals and overcrowding in areas.

My first coral was a Zoa frag, it’s a huge colony now and super forgiving. My hammer was my second and candy cane third. All of those are fairly hardy, keep in mind LPS growth patterns too. Euphylia and Candy Canes will occupy a bit of real estate once established in your 20 gallon.

 

[homer1475]

Didn't even think of real estate!

Seriously euphyllia can get HUGE! My frogspawn a year ago was 2 heads, I have since fragged it and gave 4 heads to a friend, but still have over 30 heads. While I didn't intend for it to be the center peice coral in my tank, it certainly has grown into that position.

 

[Lyngsaa]

You kind of hit a nerve here. I have attached a picture of my scape. My initial plan was to put euphylliaoin left side up, so they wouldnt herras other corals. Blastos, ricodea on right side (from substrate and upwards). Acans left low (might be an issue with sweeper tentacles?), and Candy cane somewhere in the middel. One issue i have is right side top is getting direct flow from return, so not sure what to put here as it need to tolorate getting blastet with flow

 

[Zionas]

Following. I have pretty much the same plans as OP.

 

[New&no clue]

I think you have a good list, but you might want to pare it down some. Many of the things listed can get big even duncans and candy canes can be very large. However, if you have the means to frag then you can keep the colonies smaller.I would try to think of your different light/flow zones. When I was planning my tank I did the same thing. I found the corals I wanted and made a map of my tank to map out where I would put everything.

As far as were to start I would suggest one of the softies you mentioned. However, there is no issue with starting with and LPS you would just need to be more aware of the nutrients in your tank and also would need to test more regularly to see if it's using up the Big 3 (Calcium, Mag, Alk). Make sure you have the test kits you need ahead of time, and know how to properly test. My hammers have been pretty bulletproof.

 

[Everything Aquatics]

I would say get some zoas that are cheap and see how they do

 

[Zionas]

Are there any species of Zoas and Palys that aren’t lethal? The nearest hospital is 1 hour away from me.

 

[homer1475]

99.9% of them are safe. We have no way of knowing which ones are not.

As long as your not actively fragging them, or taking them out of the water, you should be fine. Palytoxin is blown way out of proportion.

 

[Lyngsaa]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. It's becoming clear that I need to make a Map of my coral scaping so I don't make a stupid mistake. As for Zoa's would actually not consider them. Even though they are great beginner corals, I am not a huge fan of them (maybe they will grow on me eventually).

I will try to work out the Coral scape and placement of the different types I want. Then I will share it here to check if my plan is making some sort of sense overall.

 

[Uncle99]

I would put in a fish after cycle.
I would not put any softy in a new DT until the end of the ugly period, they don’t like the uglies as well.
I would not put any Stoney coral in a new tank until I see the first signs of coralline.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Hey I think your list looks great! I’d definitely add the Xenia in on something removable, such as a small rock if you want it on your main aquascape. I’ve been fragging and selling pulsing Xenia for a while now and have had zero issues with it self/fragmenting or spreading out of control because I keep it on its own Little Rock within my main aquascape, plus fragging it keeps it under control. First additions IME should be the GSP and Xenia, if those to well then go ahead to the Duncan. If all three are doing good after a week or so then I feel like that’s a green light to add the acans, ricordias, blasto, and candy canes. I’d definitely leave the euphyllia and trachy towards the end because they are very sensitive corals, but make sure to leave nice big spaces for them, especially the euphyllia. Please make sure that you feed reefroids or something like that, LPS needs to be fed IMO, once a week/every two weeks should be fine but yk adjust as needed. I’d definitely recommend a toadstool to you as well, beautiful softie and kinda gives off the same vibe as euphyllia without all the stinging, just something to look into. Personally, I don’t like zoas alone, but when there are multiple different colors growing together in a garden I think they’re stunning! Lots of pics and Inspo to look at here. And IME zoas and palys are 100% safe. Im just a dumb 16 year old and have been fragging and selling zoas for months now with zero previous experience or training. I’ve never experienced anything bad with zoas regarding palytoxin. Clove polyps are also a good option for you, easy to care for and beautiful colors. If you like ricordea, you might also like Yuma mushrooms and rhodactis (rhodactis are aggressive shrooms just btw) please make sure that when you add acans, you get the same ‘types’ (lords, enchinata, etc, and research compatibility) bubble coral also adds interesting shapes and texture to softie/LPS tanks, just make sure none of your fish are popping the bubbles! Good luck!

 

[Lyngsaa]

Thaks a lot for advise. Very usefull for me! Will start soft with gsp and Xenia, and go from there.

But will be a month or more depending on how fast my parameters stabilize and after ugly passe. Next on the list is to get fish and cuc in place. But now I know where to start at least for corals! Whole point for me to venture into reefing after all.

 

[Olefreebe]

just get a 5 dollar frag from a lfs like a zoa or paly and see how it does.

This!

 

[PicassoClown04]

Did you start with wet live rock? If you didn’t, your LFS probably sells wet live rock pebbles for super cheap. Throwing these in your tank/ sump really speed up the cycling process because it seeds the tank with beneficial bacteria and stuff like that. I get that you might’ve not started with wet live rock because of the risk of hitchhikers but IMO it’s the only way to get enough biodiversity to have a healthy tank I’ve never started a tank without using at bare minimum half wet live rock and have never experienced a beginning cycle that lasted more than 1 1/2 months. Pebbles can’t really carry pests anyway