High Tide Aquatics

Venturing into Corals

Hi BAR--I have one of the pulsating xenia and want to add to my coral population. I would like easy to care for and colorful coral recommendations. I have a 75g with Kessil lighting and two powerheads.

Advice? Also, who is best to buy from? I live in SF, but am ok visiting AC in Hayward
 
Torch, frogspawn and hammer corals are nice if you are up to testing and dosing calcium, alk and magnesium once in a while. They have long tentacles so they have a lot of movement in the water column and help fill in an empty tank. Expect to pay $20-$40/head for the common stuff.
 
Be warned that pulsing xenias, although cool looking, can grow like pests and take over your rockwork. If you do get them, it is recommended to isolate them on an island rock and trim them regularly. Even after doing that, xenias can have a stalk break off and float around the tank, land on another rock and start growing. So unless you want a tank full of xenias, you would need to be prepared to do a lot of pruning.


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Neon green toadstool (Sarcophyton elegance) are pretty, fast-growing and quite tough. They do like some nutrients in their water though, so if you are running an ultra-low nutrient system, they may not grow for you.

Green birdsnest are also super easy, one of the few SPS corals that are.

Pretty much any variety of Euphyllia (frogspawn, hammer, torch, in order of easy to harder) are easy as hard corals go.

Things to do as you explore more corals: Stability, stability, stability! Corals can adjust to high or low parameters of just about anything (temperature, alkalinity, calcium, etc.), but they generally do not like big changes.
Things you should have if you don't already:

Stable Salinity
- Aim for a stable SG of 1.026 or salinity of 35 ppt.
- Auto Topoff. This will make stable salinity a no-brainer.
- Invest in a good quality refractometer. The Marine Depot branded one is a great value for the money.
- Match your salinity when doing water changes

Stable Temperature
Invest in a calibrated thermometer. You can then adjust your heater to a known happy temperature for your corals.

Stable Alkalinity and Calcium (For stony corals).
A peristaltic doser is the easiest way to achieve this. The Bubble Magus is probably the gold standard here but the cheaper Jebao units work just fine. Large swings, especially in alkalinity, kill corals. I know aquarists who run their systems anywhere from 9-12 dKH. There seems to be no right answer here as long as the value is stable and you make any changes *slowly*, say over several days.
It's also advisable to drip acclimate new specimens so that you don't shock them.

Happy Reefing!


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Be warned that pulsing xenias, although cool looking, can grow like pests and take over your rockwork. If you do get them, it is recommended to isolate them on an island rock and trim them regularly. Even after doing that, xenias can have a stalk break off and float around the tank, land on another rock and start growing. So unless you want a tank full of xenias, you would need to be prepared to do a lot of pruning.


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Even isolated they become a plague it will find it's way onto other rocks.


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Zoanthids add a lot of color; there’s plenty of variations around.
You could plan for a zoa/paly garden.
A classic combo that I have not seen in a while is purple deaths and radioactive green palys.
Xenia is a beautiful coral; I like the pom-pom variation but isolated or to let it grow on the back glass.
 
Hi BAR--I have one of the pulsating xenia and want to add to my coral population. I would like easy to care for and colorful coral recommendations. I have a 75g with Kessil lighting and two powerheads.

Advice? Also, who is best to buy from? I live in SF, but am ok visiting AC in Hayward

  • A few months ago, I wanted a FOWLR tank.
  • Then I wanted a ZOA garden, since they were supposedly the easiest to care for. (I have 4 small Zoa colonies currently)
  • Somehow a Torch and a Frogspawn found it's way into my tank. (LPS)
  • Now I'm looking at Bird Nest and Montipora, since they are supposedly the easiest SPS to care for.
I purchased quite a few livestock from AC, they seem to have a good selection and the fishes/corals seems pretty healthy.
 
  • A few months ago, I wanted a FOWLR tank.
  • Then I wanted a ZOA garden, since they were supposedly the easiest to care for. (I have 4 small Zoa colonies currently)
  • Somehow a Torch and a Frogspawn found it's way into my tank. (LPS)
  • Now I'm looking at Bird Nest and Montipora, since they are supposedly the easiest SPS to care for.
I purchased quite a few livestock from AC, they seem to have a good selection and the fishes/corals seems pretty healthy.
can you send me a photo of your tank?
 
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