would you reccomend soft corals and lps corals to a begginer

[marc harrison]

i want lps corals and soft corals and i heard that most of these corals are easy to take care of but i just want to be sure these are the corals im interested in: green open brain coral,bubble coral, candy cane coral,cup coral,toadstool leather,finger leather,colt coral,cabbage leather, green button polyps is there any other corals you would reccomend to a beginner?????
thanks for your help


marc :lol:

[RazerCorals]

Some easy corals are Mushrooms and Polyps. They will grow fast under high lighting but will survive under NO's

[Pineapple House]

That seems like a fairly hardy selection. LPS corals are generally moderate to care for corals. Some can be quite hardy, like most of the ones you listed, while some can hardly ever survive in captivity, this includes the flowerpot coral, Sun polyps, as well as much more.

What lighting are you planning on keeping these under?

PH =)

[marc harrison]

im not sure if these are the exact type im going to use but i just have an idea i was thinking VHO some one suggested i should use 2 super actinic and 2 actinic white bulbs oractinic w/ daylight bulbs but im not really sure

[Pineapple House]

I would go with 5, 110wt VHO's if you going that rout. 3 daylight 10,000k, or 2 actinic 03, or vis versa. That would give you 550wts of VHO lighting over a 100 gallon tank, which will be good for most LPS corals.

PH =)

[RazerCorals]

To go along with PH dont get a FlowerPot. I have one and it is extremely hard to keep.

[Harpo]

I think we all started with lps because they are "easy." However most are wild caught and in new tanks have a high death rate. As reef keepers I feel we should stock our tanks with captive propagated-- especially for new reefers--to reduce our impact on wild reefs.

I would suggest softies like the leathers you mentioned. Also mushrooms, zooanthids, green star polyps etc.

After your tank is establiched and stable then lps that are captive propagated like some fungia, Blastomusus mertili, and candy cane. Only when you have a good record with those should you move on the wild caught lps.

jmo, Mark

[HoopsGuru]

I just wanted to second the thoughts of Harpo, couldn't be said any better.

[Fugly]

I aquired a goni in the liverock tank at my local pet store very cheaply. With the help of a couple of MH lights have produced a more vibrant specimen. It is sensitive i might add. Lighting is the key. This is a great learner coral for it has suffered loss of some pollops before purchase but exsisting ones seem to thrive. (Hopefully the skeletons will be reclaimed)
Make sure there is enough water circulation!!