Which of these is the most hardy coral?

[dansemacabre]

Frogspawn, Torch, "Candy Cane" (Caulastrea furcata), Starburst Polyps, Pulsing Xenia, Plate Coral, or Galaxia?

I'm pretty sure it certainly isn't the plate, but I'm wondering. I may be ordering it online and I want it to survive. Also, I just found out I _might_ be moving in a few months. Short move, just down the road, but I want my little coral to be happy and healthy throughout. Thanks!

 

[lando]

I would say that the Xenia, star burst or trumpet will be the hardiest of the bunch. Especially the xenia, they grow like weeds in my tank. I bought two two stalks a while ago and I now have split it into at least eight large stalks and growing still.

 

[SquishyFish]

Xenia tends to be a wild card. For some reason some people cant grow them at all, while others have it taking over the tank. I havent heard an explination as to why, but that seems to be the trend.

I have had all of the corals you mentioned except the Galaxia. Here is my take on them

Frogspawn....easy to maintain given the right light. Proper Ca levels and it will grow like crazy.

Tortch...basically the same as the FrogSpawn.

CandyCane...Light shy. Tend to be touchy. One day they are doing great, the next they refuse to come out.

Starburst...are you talking about Green star polyps? If so...you cant kill them. Mine were out of the water for several hours and they still made it. (the movers left them on a plastic mat thinking they were just a rock )

Plate corals: Short tenticle variety tend to be more hearty than the long tenticle, but that still isnt saying much. I would avoid them short of being given one for free.

Galaxia...these guys are the some of the coolest looking LPS corals you will find. The down side....LONG sweeper tenticles that pack a very potent punch. That is the reason I have yet to get one. IMO, you need a large tank with a lot of rock so that you can give it the 12 inch radius they need (obviously, the size will effect the radius needed. But a softball sized Galaxia will need 6 inches all the way around.) I have a 175 gallon tank with 400lbs of LR and I dont think I have a tank big enough to house one.

 

[BBReef]

Agreed with everything said. i have all but the plate in my 60 gal. ive only seen my galaxia put out a long sweeper a couple times, maybe once a month. it has about 6 in around it and has never bothered any of my coral. my candy coral dont seem to be touchy at all. i have them placed at different levels in my tank and they have grown a lot. xenia tend to not acclimate very well. once acclimated properly tho, they should do quite well in any aquarium. try to stay away from wild xenia tho, they almost always die ime. my favorite is the torch.

 

[yaksplat]

My galaxia is doing great in my 55. I haven't seen the sweepers extend beyond 6". It is definately my favorite. My xenia took a bit to acclimate....I actually thought it was dead. There were no stalks left at all, just a small glob. 3 weeks later there are 12 1/4" stalks pulsing away.

I've also got a frogspawn, torch, zoos, star polyps, a few mushrooms, ricordia, some green colony polyps and a toadstool leather.

I had a hammer coral but it didn't make it when everything else thrived.
I did have one branch on my frogspawn die when the tank temperature raised up to 85F. But the other 6 branches are fine.

Jim