soft corals and anemones for beginners

#1
Hello, does anyone have any input on what type of soft corals, and or anemones are good for beginners? Something easy to care of and that wont harm my clowns.
 

ReefCheif

Reef Shark
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#2
Zoas are always good beginner corals. Also things like Kenya tree, Green Star Polyp and xenia are good beginner corals as well.

Anemones are not for beginners in my opinion.
 
#3
I'm gonna be that guy that says do what you want. A lot of people will say nems aren't for beginners and should only be added to a mature tank, but I added mine within 2 months and he's still alive and kicking, the only thing I would recommend as far as that goes is ensure you have cycled completely first, and that you can commit to doing the maintenance required to maintain stable parameters. If you answered yes to that, then by all means go for it.

As for corals, zoas and palys for sure, plethora of colors to choose from and they aren't always as picking about water conditions as other corals, also you could shoot for frogspawn or hammer corals if you were interested in LPS, I've had great success with mine, they appear to be a very hardy coral imho, and they add a nice look to any tank. Gsp is almost impossible to kill, its aggressive though so placement is key, igrow mine on the sand bed and trim it back before it reaches the rock work. Shrooms are also sweet corals that come in a lot of different variations and can add extra flare.

Do what makes you happy is the best advice I cab give. Make sure you will smile every time you look at your tank, when you can sit and stare for hours you'll know you've hit the sweet spot and keep going that way! Have fun
 
#4
Oh and your best bet is a bubble tip nem, your clowns could potentially make it home, and to me that's one of my favorite parts about keeping my nems, I love the bond they share with my clowns. Most are reasonably affordable and fairly hardy as well. They're not aggressive, I've never lost a fish to one yet and I have 5 on my tank! Sometimes they walk around though and park close to my corals for a small time, they can sting corals and kill them, I lost have a nice colony of bubble gum chalice to my huge rose nem. Totally a risk that is worth it in my opinion though
 

FishTV

Sting ray
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#5
1st of all, Welcome! A lot of soft corals are quite forgiving, as are most clown fish. Clownfish will even host quite a few lps, torch coral, frogspawn, etc. Make it a habit of researching coral, nems, and other fish before you add them to an existing system. Most of us have been the victim of the impulse buy, and have feverishly looked for a good home for things we researched only after they got home. http://www.liveaquaria.com/ is a good resource of information, with tons of information, as well as skill level, lighting, and water condition recommendations.
 

zombie

Dolphin
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#6
Welcome. My personal favorites for beginner corals are palys and ricordia mushrooms. They are both very forgiving and dont grow out of control like xenia, GSP and trumpet mushrooms. If you see growth on those in a month or so, you can try adding easy intermediate corals like frogspawn, torches, hammers, acans, favia, etc.

Even though an anemone sounds awesome to have right away, don't get one right away. Test the waters with some hardier corals like the ones I mentoned above. That will give you enough time to learn how to keep your parameters stable and determine if your lighting and flow are adequate for a nem. While some people have gotten away with a nem a few months in without problems, the majority of people who add nems too early lose them to powerheads (from wandering), subpar water quality, or lack of lighting/flow. Especially in a smaller tank, a dead nem can nuke your tank possibly killing every inhabitant in a matter of hours from the toxins and ammonia. It is that reason that the majority of us recommend waiting to add anemones until your tank has matured and you have had practice with other corals that dont pose the same risk.
 
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Fitz19d

Bat Fish
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#7
Or depending what your definition of anemone is. There are some cool and usually pretty cheap (with exception of super high end colorings) mini maxi and rock flower anemones. Some of the basic semi bland rock flowers in my experience have been pretty hardy and still stick and eat things for that venus flytrap experience.

Careful on some of the paly's. Sure some are bomb proof, but if we are talking ... crap forget name now, but the kinda pale pink/gold flecks and some of the other ones you see for free DBTC? Yeah grow like wildfire and I find harder to remove than just xenia stalks. (Had 2 zoa's and 2 pally species and the cheapo one crowded and grew over the others.)


zombie;327226 said:
Welcome. My personal favorites for beginner corals are palys and ricordia mushrooms. They are both very forgiving and dont grow out of control like xenia, GSP and trumpet mushrooms. If you see growth on those in a month or so, you can try adding easy intermediate corals like frogspawn, torches, hammers, acans, favia, etc.

Even though an anemone sounds awesome to have right away, don't get one right away. Test the waters with some hardier corals like the ones I mentoned above. That will give you enough time to learn how to keep your parameters stable and determine if your lighting and flow are adequate for a nem. While some people have gotten away with a nem a few months in without problems, the majority of people who add nems too early lose them to powerheads (from wandering), subpar water quality, or lack of lighting/flow. Especially in a smaller tank, a dead nem can nuke your tank possibly killing every inhabitant in a matter of hours from the toxins and ammonia. It is that reason that the majority of us recommend waiting to add anemones until your tank has matured and you have had practice with other corals that dont pose the same risk.
 
#8
What size tank do you have? Zoas/palys and mushrooms are the best to start with IMO. See how you do with those for a couple months and do as much research as you can during that time on all the other types of coral and anemones. Advanced aquarist, Mr saltwater tank tv, and live aquaria are great sites for gathering info. There's nothing worse than spending money on impulse buys.
 

flyfish

Angel Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
I have a ton of mushrooms and rics that you're more than welcome to have.The mushrooms spread like crazy though
 
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