Coral question

[Mercury64]

ok I have been doing corals for about a month or so
my corals are doing great, when I first started I decided to be safe and go with easy hardy corals
Im doing good, checking and keeping up with all that need to be but now im wanting to do more corlas but not the same as what I have
I have a pagoda cup-flower potts-star polyps-button polyps-hammer coral-open brain
What do they mean at the fish store when your compairng easy corals to keep vs a little more harder or for the expert
what is the difference in what im doing to maintain these corals vs the other?, is it that some are more forgiving then others or is there something you have to do that makes them harder to keep

 

[Phyl]

Flower Potts as in Goniopora? Alveopora? I hope you didn't buy that as an easy to keep coral. They are typically not suited for tank life as they are very hard to keep alive (I got one by accident so I've studied up on them quite a bit).

Leathers and zoos are easy to keep. Some of the harder corals to keep require special feeding. Sun corals, for example, need each polyp to be fed individually to survive. Each of these are separate animals and cannot rely on the colony for survival. Each of the "hard to keep" corals have their own requirements whether it is special feedings, pristine water parameters, intense lighting, high water flow, etc. I think the more "expert" a coral the less tolerant to a parameter going out of wack they are, but again each one will have their own nuance. Your best bet is to study up on the animals that you choose and make sure that you're going to be able to provide them with the special care that they require to survive.

The Xenias, Kenya Trees, Leathers, Zoos and Frogspawn that I have are all thriving. The SPS I have some are thriving, some are just existing until I get my MH installed (growing great but not colored up the way they should be). My sun coral is doing really well, but I hand feed it every other day, same with my goni.

Take your time and do your research. Some of the online fish stores that sell corals give you a good idea of why it would be hard or easy to keep as well as special feeding/lighting requirements. That would be a good place to go when you're wondering about a particular coral.

Enjoy!

 

[Mercury64]

Believe it or not I must be doing something good becacause my flower pott has trippled its size
by the way im looking for some corals that will do good on the bottom of the tank, what do you think of a chili pepper coral, nice bright red ,guy at store telling me you can't kill it, will live in mud

 

[Phyl]

I found Red Chili Coral (http://thereeftank.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-13008.html) and it sounds perfect for what you're looking for. Sand dweller, easy to care for. Make sure to give it plenty of room for tenticles that it will put out at night.

Glad to hear that your goni is doing well. The skeletin has tripled in size or the inflated size? Good polyp extension is a good sign. Bear in mind that these animals have been known to die suddenly some time shortly after the 6mo mark. Keep your eye on it because if it starts to deteriorate it is usually fast and there's generally no recovering at that point (most don't live past one year in captivity). Liquid life and blender mush is supposed to do wonders for these corals. My favorite bottom dwellers are hairy mushrooms, ricordea & sun corals. My Kenya tree is also doing great at the bottom as are my zoos. I have my candy cane up high along with my sps, frogspawn and pulsing xenia (more because it climbs than because it has to be up high though).

Be sure to post some pics in your gallery when you get it!

 

[Mercury64]

I know ,I was even told that up front before I bought it but as my first coral I wanted something that had some movement to it plus it was very inexpensive and being I was going to take the plunge and buy my first coral I went with some polypes and a flower pott

 

[lando]

You can try a green-tipped trch coral. Very cool and pretty easy to keep. My clowns love mine.