Zero care corals

[adeebm]

I have a 180 FOWLR at my parents house that my parents want to spruce up. Right now, it's bare rock with some lovely aiptasia. I'm looking to add some coral that require 0 care(since my parents are not reefers).

Blue mushrooms, GSP, and pulsing xenia are basically weeds, so those are good options. Are there others that I'm missing? Basically corals that will survive with low/med light and water changes.

[MurphyLong]

Originally Posted by adeebm

I have a 180 FOWLR at my parents house that my parents want to spruce up. Right now, it's bare rock with some lovely aiptasia. I'm looking to add some coral that require 0 care(since my parents are not reefers).

Blue mushrooms, GSP, and pulsing xenia are basically weeds, so those are good options. Are there others that I'm missing? Basically corals that will survive with low/med light and water changes.

Zoas, Hammer/Torch/Frogspawn...

[WatDatThing]

Fake corals, and I'm not being mean or sarcastic. Corals are much less forgiving when it come to water chemistry compare to fish. They are also too expensive to throw in the tank and give 0 care. Just my 2 cents.

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[anbosu]

Waving hand anthelia & Kenya trees

I don't know about zoas for this tank, but green palys are basically indestructible.

[Jon0807]

My galaxia has thrived no matter how much I neglected the tank. But I'm swaying twords the fake stuff as WatDatThing said.

[kevin21]

I say no to torch/hammer/frogspawn. These corals require proper maintaining of calcium, mag, and alk levels.

Stick to softies. Kenya tree, xenia, some types of mushrooms, some polyps, and GSP all good options that will grow fast. Saying the lighting is sufficient for soft coral.

[ReefMaster48]

Originally Posted by kevin21

I say no to torch/hammer/frogspawn. These corals require proper maintaining of calcium, mag, and alk levels.

Stick to softies. Kenya tree, xenia, some types of mushrooms, some polyps, and GSP all good options that will grow fast. Saying the lighting is sufficient for soft coral.

+1 but get rid of the aiptasia first. Even if you just buy a fish for a little while to eat it all, you don't have to worry about a non reef safe fish nipping at corals. Just my 2 cents. I think there is also a number of aiptasia eating fish that are reef safe too, but with caution.

[Shia]

I agree with group of treating the aiptasia first. Most softies will be relatively low maintenance. LPS I don't think would be a great place to start, IMO they do require more care than softies. Very large colonies of softies are great at filtering water as well. Start with the 'weeds' on isolated islands and see how they do for you.

[Uncle99]

Zero care mean certain death to any coral. Will still need appropriate lighting (food) and good water conditions. Poor water will eventually lead to retraction, shrinkage and in the end death. A lot of the softies mentioned above (excluding LPS and SPS) like zooanthids and Xenia will be the best bet but still requires moderate care to keep for long periods.
There a ton of really colourful zooanthids out there, are realitively inexpensive, and propagate themselves once established. You can put them high, put them low, moderate to high but not blasting on current. Just if you go high, start low and bring them up slowly unless to can do this with your light....say 2 weeks....have fun....but All need some care

[adeebm]

Originally Posted by Uncle99

Zero care mean certain death to any coral. Will still need appropriate lighting (food) and good water conditions. Poor water will eventually lead to retraction, shrinkage and in the end death. A lot of the softies mentioned above (excluding LPS and SPS) like zooanthids and Xenia will be the best bet but still requires moderate care to keep for long periods.
There a ton of really colourful zooanthids out there, are realitively inexpensive, and propagate themselves once established. You can put them high, put them low, moderate to high but not blasting on current. Just if you go high, start low and bring them up slowly unless to can do this with your light....say 2 weeks....have fun....but All need some care

Perhaps I misworded the question. The tank has lighting, skimmer, water changes, etc. what I’m looking for are hardy corals that don’t need specialized care, as my parents are not reefers and only know basic maintenance.

Zoas and frogspawn are out of the question, but the ones I listed, I think, are hardy enough.

As for aiptasia, I’m planning on getting a few pepps. Should do the job.


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[xCry0x]

Softies for sure -- leathers and mushrooms are pretty hard to kill.

My first tank I did an awful job with the chemistry. I thought I was topping off with kalk for a year and realized it was all precipitate and my ato container was basically just ro/di water =)

My leather grew like crazy and I had to start kalk bombing mushrooms off rocks.

[saf1]

I think you would be surprised by hammers and their potential without dosing or frequent water changes. I started with 1 frag and now have four softball sized heads and I hardly do water changes and zero additives. Then again my tank is mostly if not all soft so no competition but still. Frogspawn is also another one that just grows.

Look for corals that frequent muddier or lower quality water. Xenia, Kenya Trees, Mushrooms, Leather Corals, etc. I would also try a hammer and frogspawn frags.

[thaitopher]

Originally Posted by adeebm

Perhaps I misworded the question. The tank has lighting, skimmer, water changes, etc. what I’m looking for are hardy corals that don’t need specialized care, as my parents are not reefers and only know basic maintenance.

Zoas and frogspawn are out of the question, but the ones I listed, I think, are hardy enough.

As for aiptasia, I’m planning on getting a few pepps. Should do the job.


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Zoas are SUPER hardy. Mine grow like weeds. Started with about ten heads six months ago and now I have close to 150

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[thaitopher]

Originally Posted by saf1

I think you would be surprised by hammers and their potential without dosing or frequent water changes. I started with 1 frag and now have four softball sized heads and I hardly do water changes and zero additives. Then again my tank is mostly if not all soft so no competition but still. Frogspawn is also another one that just grows.

Look for corals that frequent muddier or lower quality water. Xenia, Kenya Trees, Mushrooms, Leather Corals, etc. I would also try a hammer and frogspawn frags.

No to hammer and frogspawn. Terrible suggestion. They will definitely die under beginner supervision.

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[phenom5]

Originally Posted by adeebm

Perhaps I misworded the question. The tank has lighting, skimmer, water changes, etc. what I’m looking for are hardy corals that don’t need specialized care, as my parents are not reefers and only know basic maintenance.

Zoas and frogspawn are out of the question, but the ones I listed, I think, are hardy enough.

Too bad, zoas and euphyllia would be the ones I would suggest. As long as they are getting WC's, both are easy to keep, and way more interesting than leathers, sofites, or shrooms. IMO at least.