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Corals for Beginners
Things to Consider for Any Coral Soft Corals Zoanthids: These corals are so colorful, fun and typically easy to care for that they even have something of their own cult following among some aquarists. Their many different colors and patterns have inspired common names which range from the intriguing "fire and ice" and "eagle eyes" to the wacky "people eaters." They come in just about every color you can dream in, grow quickly and often tolerate less than perfection from their aquarist care givers. Though they typically display brighter colors under more intense lighting, this isn't always the case. If you fall in love with zoanthids, don't be too disheartened if one or another type or colony doesn't immediately thrive in your aquarium. The key is to find the ones that do well for you. One mistake some people make is to try and introduce a dozen (literally) different small zoanthid colonies (frags) all at once. While this might work for some (depending on the size and population of your tank), you're more likely see your zoanthids succeed if you only introduce 2 or 3 colonies (per 50 gallons) at one time. It's better to let these get "settled in" before attempting to introduce others. Spot feeding small particle meaty foods can help them grow faster, but is not necessary. Generally, they are perfectly happy getting fish food "left overs."
Mushrooms (Discosoma sp): These corals can be so resilient in healthy aquariums that they actually become a pest. I personally have a few I've actually been actively trying to kill (unsuccessfully) for months now. The very characteristics that help them succeed in aquariums can become a problem for other corals. They can overgrow and kill competitors for space. The "hairy mushrooms" in particular can get to be the size of dinner plates and even eat aquarium fish! Thus it's with some reluctance that I recommend them as "beginner corals." I'm encouraged only by those of my friends who have found a love and appreciation for them that, while I don't understand it, is clearly there for some aquarists. They do come in many bright colors, can be dynamic and generally interesting to watch and feed (so long as they don't get big enough to eat your fish). Again, as with zoanthids, it's best not to add too many different types at once. Mushrooms appear to be, in some ways, more aggressive than zoanthids. Often times, it's difficult to keep more than 3 or 4 types of mushroom corals in the average size aquarium. If you have several in your tank and are wondering why all but one appear to be doing well, you might just have too many different types in one system. Clove Polyps (Clavularia sp.): I have two types of clove polyps in my aquarium; one I hate and one I love. The one I love is beautiful, dynamic and grows just fast enough to be interesting, but not fast enough to be a nuisance. The other is a hitchhiker that has become the bane of my aquarist existence. It's an ugly brown color and seems to grow faster and more relentlessly than aiptasia anemones. A healthy colony of the right kind of clove coral can be a stunning, the wrong kind will become a pest. Though sometimes it might be hard to tell the difference, generally I recommend that people avoid the brown colonies with the smaller polyps (i.e. the ones that actually look a little bit like aiptasia). If someone tries to sell these to you, don't be fooled by the "but these do well in low light" line that some vendors might give you. Basically all that means is that, once they become a pest, there's just one less way to get rid of them (they'll survive even if you try to shade them). The pretty ones you want are the ones which need more light.
Leathers (Genera Sinularia, Sarcophyton, Lobophytum, Alcyonium, Cladiella, etc.): Although leather corals are typically easy to care for, I don't recommend them as "beginner" corals. This is for several reasons. One is that many species can be highly toxic to other corals you might want to keep. Most also grow quite large (quickly) and can easily outgrow even a decent sized aquarium (consequently requiring regular "fragging" to keep them of a manageable size). However, if this appeals to you, and if you're sure you have no interest in keeping stony corals, many leathers can make very striking additions to a marine aquarium with room to spare. Stony Corals Pagoda Cup Coral (Turbinaria sp.): Though perhaps not quite as easy to keep as some of the soft corals, of the stony corals, I've found these to be some of the more forgiving species to keep in aquariums, especially Turbinaria peltata. However, unfortunately, I don't often see a truly healthy specimen in captivity. I strongly believe that this is simply due to lack of knowledge regarding this corals needs. Auquarists often position them incorrectly with the cup facing upward. These corals are very sensitive to sediment damage, and should be positioned tilting on its "side" so that debris can more easily fall off the coral (rather than accumulate on it). They seem to do best under moderate lighting and water flow, and when *well feed.* They can take some time to get settled into a new environment, but if target fed regularly with small particle meaty foods, they can become fabulously lush and dynamic corals. When well cared for they grow relatively quickly out of the cup shape (towards the light) and into very interesting, distinctive colonies. I've also seen them not only make remarkable recoveries from the brink of death, but also survive drastic temperature and pH swings (which I would have fully expected to kill any "delicate" coral). This is certainly not a recommendation to put these corals in less than ideal conditions. Ideally, you should never have to witness how resilient your corals might be. Moon and Trumpet Corals (Genera Caulastrea, Favia and Favites): I've had many moon corals since I started keeping marine invertebrates. With one exception, in my experiences, they can be some of the most resilient stony corals available. Again, this is something I learned through my own incompetence as a novice aquarist. I recall one particular coral I picked up out of the water to examine (not a good idea), when something on the coral bit me (or, at least that's what it felt like). Naturally, I screamed and threw the coral, which landed in a bucket of vinegar solution I had been using to clean my powerheads. Needless to say, the coral was not happy for quite some time. However, remarkably, the coral nearly completely recovered within a few months. These corals can adapt to a wide range of lighting and are generally easy to feed (small particle meaty foods). It's best to feed them at night or whenever they tend to put out their feeder tentacles (this is sometimes during the day). It often takes some time for a colony to get adjusted and "comfortable" enough to start putting out its feeder tentacles. You can encourage it by target feeding it regularly after lights out.
Short Tentacle Plate Coral (Fungia sp.): While not all (or even most) corals in the Fungiidae family are easy to keep, there are a few in the Fungia genus which can be fairly low maintenance and resilient. These species generally include those commonly called "short tentacle plate corals." These corals can also be quite fun to watch. When healthy, they display many dynamic feeder tentacles with an impressive ability to capture prey/food. And believe it or not, they can also "walk." Though very slow, they can move themselves along a flat surface. Generally, they're most colorful and healthy in systems with more intense lighting (especially considering that they need to be placed on the flat bottom of the aquarium). Beginners should avoid the "tongue corals," and Heliofungia sp. General Tips Copyright MarineAquariumMonthly.com 2009. All rights reserved.
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