propagating colony polups

[SpriTzin]

I'm fairly new to the aquarium hobby and am interested in starting to put corals into my tank. My problem is i went a little overboard on the initial tank cost and am only going to be able to get 2 maby 3 corals to start, then the women says i have to stop spending money compleatly! SO, i would like to get the three best corals to propagate so i can trade into my lfs for credit twoards others. from my reading thusfar the easies corals are mushrooms, and pulsing synthia ( i can't spell, sorry ). I also noticed that the brightly colored colony polups are a nice looking addition but have found nothing on how to propagate them. Anybody know how to do this? and what kind of test kits should i get for the corals? i have the standard amonia, nitrate-trite and ph. and can i put the corals onto base rock rather than live rock when i do propagate them? Thanx

125g 130 lbs liverock \ base rock, argonite substrate with live sand
2 emperor 400, seaclone 150, 2 maxi-jet 1200 powerheads,
lighting ( a little unusual for the moment untill i can afford better)
2 standard florecent tubes on one side of tank, and one fixture with 1 mh 150 and 2 96w compact florecent actinics. ( this is the side for the coral )

[wesward]

i would get one or two ricordia mushrooms. they split fairly fast and can even be cut.(but I dont recomend doing so) if you get the more expensive ones they do just as well as the cheep ones and you will get more in trade.

[phistio]

yeah...i agree. if you're wanting to propigate easy corals that are highly collectible, Ricordea sp. are a great investment. i personally don't know why they're so expensive. but they're hot in the hobby right now.

[blue hippo]

also colt coral is easy to propagate and grow very fast. i dont know how the tradein on these are but it is a great specimen if you are looking to propagation

[elvictre]

I don't know your budget but you could spend a $200 at http://www.reefermadness.us/ and get 20 frags to start. I have bought from them, they have great stuff.

Vic

[Jamokie01]

They pick the corals in the 20 for $200 deal, and I dont think he has the lighting for them. Though he may get away with some of the monties I think the acros would have a tough time.