Best Beginner soft corals

phishman1 · 12/02/2020, 10:21 AM

Looking for beginner corals to start out with. Tank is doing fine, relatively new, six weeks, damsel, two clowns, clean up etc. Parameters all perfect now going on two weeks. Local fish store, gave me a starter piece of coral, some xenia and not sure when the other thing on it is, some sort of polyp I believe.

I am ready for another piece or two of smallish pieces and wondering what folks thought I should get. I am partial to Xenia but I also like the color of zoos as well.

Thanks

Jim

ezzelld · 12/02/2020, 10:38 AM

Frogspawn, it glows in blue light

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Brieninsac · 12/02/2020, 11:01 AM

None. Your tank is too new. Give it a few months and then drop in a $5 frag from your local shop.

Sk8r · 12/02/2020, 11:43 AM

stay away from xenia. It grows like dandelions and takes over everything, including your glass. Frog is a stony coral, not a softie. Stony requires calcium supplementation, not hard to do and not all that expensive.

Softies like zoas are well-behaved but pricey. Leathers are cranky and antagonize other corals with chemical spit when annoyed. Mushrooms can move and reproduce at a relatively rapid rate in good conditions. It is hard to mix softie and stony in a tank because softies spit and stonies reach out and touch. Read up in the sticky posts atop this forum and that may give you some help in deciding on species. Knowing the requirements and habits of a given coral will save you both money and grief.

Michael Hoaster · 12/03/2020, 12:40 PM

It's a tricky situation, phishman1. On one hand, you want easy, beginner corals, on the other hand you don't want corals that will take over your tank. One of the saddest sights I've seen was a huge reef tank overrun with brown mushroom corals.

The best advice I can offer is to put new soft corals on isolated rocks. That way you can easily prune them back, before they latch onto another rock to colonize. Even then, you have to be vigilant. Be picky and avoid super-spreaders.

I agree with Brieninsac. Give your tank more time to stabilize. Take good care of your fish. You're in the kinda crappy, patience phase. Resist the urge to make big changes and spend that time on research. Make a fish list, with the order of introduction. Make a coral list. Research what inverts could be added to assist the clean up crew. Good luck!

Oldreeferman · 12/03/2020, 04:09 PM

Totally agree tank must mature,
When it does Green Star Polyps placed on its own rock looks really cool like wavy tall grass, grows fast for that instant grat we all crave & is about the easiest to remove or frag long as its kept on its own rock. Its my wifes fav so im always leaving a small frag to grow back after removing the majority for LFS. Its safe too no bad toxins can be handled with no fears.

djryan2000 · 12/04/2020, 04:23 PM

Ones that will grow very fast: xenia, GSP.

Other soft corals you can try: zoas, gorgonias, any paly. any type of leather, any type of mushroom.

Other non soft corals: Duncans (just make sure PO4 > 0), rock flower anemone, frogspawn.

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12/02/2020, 10:21 AM	#1
phishman1 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Daytona Posts: 62	Best Beginner soft corals Looking for beginner corals to start out with. Tank is doing fine, relatively new, six weeks, damsel, two clowns, clean up etc. Parameters all perfect now going on two weeks. Local fish store, gave me a starter piece of coral, some xenia and not sure when the other thing on it is, some sort of polyp I believe. I am ready for another piece or two of smallish pieces and wondering what folks thought I should get. I am partial to Xenia but I also like the color of zoos as well. Thanks Jim

12/02/2020, 11:01 AM	#3
Brieninsac Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 782	None. Your tank is too new. Give it a few months and then drop in a $5 frag from your local shop. __________________ Red Sea Reefer 350 (73gal/18gal sump) / Kessil a360WE Lights

12/02/2020, 11:43 AM	#4
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	stay away from xenia. It grows like dandelions and takes over everything, including your glass. Frog is a stony coral, not a softie. Stony requires calcium supplementation, not hard to do and not all that expensive. Softies like zoas are well-behaved but pricey. Leathers are cranky and antagonize other corals with chemical spit when annoyed. Mushrooms can move and reproduce at a relatively rapid rate in good conditions. It is hard to mix softie and stony in a tank because softies spit and stonies reach out and touch. Read up in the sticky posts atop this forum and that may give you some help in deciding on species. Knowing the requirements and habits of a given coral will save you both money and grief. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

12/03/2020, 12:40 PM	#5
Michael Hoaster Registered Seaweedist Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 5,807	It's a tricky situation, phishman1. On one hand, you want easy, beginner corals, on the other hand you don't want corals that will take over your tank. One of the saddest sights I've seen was a huge reef tank overrun with brown mushroom corals. The best advice I can offer is to put new soft corals on isolated rocks. That way you can easily prune them back, before they latch onto another rock to colonize. Even then, you have to be vigilant. Be picky and avoid super-spreaders. I agree with Brieninsac. Give your tank more time to stabilize. Take good care of your fish. You're in the kinda crappy, patience phase. Resist the urge to make big changes and spend that time on research. Make a fish list, with the order of introduction. Make a coral list. Research what inverts could be added to assist the clean up crew. Good luck! __________________ As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance, our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018

12/03/2020, 04:09 PM	#6
Oldreeferman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: NW Indiana Valparaiso Posts: 505	Totally agree tank must mature, When it does Green Star Polyps placed on its own rock looks really cool like wavy tall grass, grows fast for that instant grat we all crave & is about the easiest to remove or frag long as its kept on its own rock. Its my wifes fav so im always leaving a small frag to grow back after removing the majority for LFS. Its safe too no bad toxins can be handled with no fears. __________________ Montipora Digitas, Cyphastrea, Blastos, different Leptoseris, Green Stylo, GSP, gorgonions, Ricordea mushrooms, psammocoras, Birdsnest coral, Clownfish, Watchman goby, Royal gamma. Current Tank Info: Nano Reef tank

12/02/2020, 10:38 AM	#2
ezzelld Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 3	Frogspawn, it glows in blue light Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

12/04/2020, 04:23 PM	#7
djryan2000 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 441	Ones that will grow very fast: xenia, GSP. Other soft corals you can try: zoas, gorgonias, any paly. any type of leather, any type of mushroom. Other non soft corals: Duncans (just make sure PO4 > 0), rock flower anemone, frogspawn. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk