Corals to get and avoid for LPS/Softie Tank

[SteinsFish]

I've decided to go with a LPS and softie tank, mainly for the wavy looks and also the compatibility with higher nutrient levels. Also really inspired by ziareefer's and Julian Sprung's tank (muted colors but still seem amazing for some reason).

 

However,it seems that many corals are either invasive/strong stingers/toxic so I would like to avoid those particularly notorious or risky.

 

Current livestock (please bear with the layman descriptions ):

Green fluorescent hammer

Orange/Pink torch

White frogspawn

Elegant coral

Pink goniopora

Duncan coral

Hairy finger coral

 

Suggestions considered so far: Colored xenias, Open brain, acan, blasto, plate coral

 

Corals I'm avoiding:

Invasive: GSP, Xenia, ALL mushrooms, kenya trees, blue clove polyps

Stingers: Bubble coral, galaxea, favia brains

Toxic: ???

 

Corals I'm thinking to add:

Purple gorgonians, sea fans, toadstool coral

 

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

EDIT:

 

A pic of my 55 gallon tank

[dutch27]

That invasive list looks about right. I personally would keep leathers out of it, but that's just because I don't care for them. Gorgonians are great and I don't think they get enough dap in the reef world, but they do pack a nasty sting if they brush up against neighbors, so give them a little space.

 

Also might want to consider blastos, they look great, are not aggressive, and are very easy to grow. The basic red/green are one of my favorite corals of all time, but there are some very nice variations if you look around and are willing to spend a little coin. But, they don't fit into the "wavy" LPS that you are looking for. Might be good for a coral on the sand bed if you want to fill some of it.

 

Also, what size is the tank, that would help as well. Favia brains have a nice sweeper, so I'd keep them out of there as well. And no "?" needed on the galaxea, those things put out HUGE sweepers. Also be careful with the elegance coral; they grow fast, get huge, and can sting neighbors. I had one in a 25g awhile back, and IMO they should only be kept in 40B or bigger considering how big they get and how fast they can get there.

 

Overall your list looks good though. I would venture to say the "white" frogspawn though is actually a bleached frogspawn.

[Mirya]

You will probably want to add Sansibia (aka blue clove polyps, blue snowflakes) to your list of invasive corals to avoid. It's unfortunate as I really like the look of them, but I've seen horrifying pictures of entire rockscapes taken over by them.

 

Soft corals you may way to look into include Clavularia (aka clove polyps). They come in a few varieties - with fluorescent green highlights, orange highlights or both. They are slow growers, so won't take over like Xenia.

 

Lastly Cespitularia (aka blue xenia) is another nice, slow growing softie that has been aquacultured:

 

You can see how the common names are confusing, as blue xenia isn't a xenia at all, and the two things called clove polyps aren't the same genus!

[Tamberav]

Yellow Fiji Leather Coral would make a great addition to your 'want' list. They are a bright neon yellow under reef lighting.

[jestep]

 

Lastly Cespitularia (aka blue xenia) is another nice, slow growing softie that has been aquacultured:

 

 

The vargus purple Cespitularia, purple monster, is another non malignant xenia species. It's my favorite color of any of them. Slightly more purple with yellow poms.

 

 

[cntrygrl23]

I would add an open brain and a frogspawn, hammer coral maybe a torch if your interested in LPS. Open Brains are my fav. for placing on the substrate and are hearty eaters. Frogspawn and hammer corals also add movement and are good growers. As far as stinking other corals I would just make sure you place enough room between them to grow. Also if you do like the look of GSP you could always place it on an island of its own so it would not be able to spread.

[PiscesFish]

You could do Colt Tree Coral. I have a rock with two Colts and they grow slowish. It popped off three tips, but that was because it got a bit too much flow that it kinda just broke off lol.

 

I have a galaxea, they do have crazy sweepers, I had it sting my Duncans even though the duncans were like a good 6 inches away, and an inch or two above the galaxea. But, the Duncan came through. Apparently it's like indestructable. But, if the galaxea doesn't really have any flow, then you shouldn't really worry too much. But, I like the look of mine when it's flowing so it grows crazy tentacles. . . And its a pretty fast grower after it settles and has enough nutrients for it to grow. Encrusting too, but I just leave it on the sand.

 

I currently have a toadstool, but it doesn't have long enough polyps, but i do love the look of it.

 

You could also try a Plate Coral. I personally like the short tentacle ones versus the long tentacle ones due to the fact that I've never really seen any good colored long tentacled plates and they kinda look funny :b. They're like torch looking corals, but . . . wider?

 

There are also some Sun corals and dendros.

 

And there are also some Carnations, but those are more of a higher care level. Though, in the future! :b

 

Theres the Pagoda Cup coral as well.

 

Wall Hammer Coral, unless you already have that :b.

 

If you want some non-moving LPS and softies for lower flow spots in your tank, you can do blastos, open brain coral, chalice, favia, acans, favites, maze, pallys (or is it just one "L"), and zoas. But that's all that I can think of.

[Red_Blenny]

Another invasive coral you should avoid is probably are Discosoma mushrooms (you generally see them at your LFS as regular blue/green/orange mushrooms).

 

Though, some discosoma mushrooms grow painfully slow, like Jawbreaker Mushrooms.

 

 

One softie I would recommend are Ricordea florida mushrooms. They're bright and full of colors.

[Gilligan]

Good thread.

[SteinsFish]

Great replies everyone! I posted a photo of my tank, since its much better as reference than words alone.

 

As you can see, my tank seems lackluster lol. I think I still need a good centrepiece coral and possibly the corals on the empty area at the bottom.

 

So definitely need some guidance to spruce the tank up!

 

All good suggestions, so far I'm leaning towards open brain/acans/blastos (any difference between acan/blasto?) on the bottom. I might need to move the elegance coral away from the lower right corner to avoid it stinging the bottom corals.

 

However detritus tend to accumulate in that area, will that be an issue?

[dutch27]

Acans and blastos are different in everyway except growth pattern. They both will spread along a rock surface. If you have sand and put a plug in the sand they will grow out like a ball. The polyps look completely different, are different sizes, and acans are more aggressive. I'd seen acans try to digest neighbors they didn't like, and have never seen a blasto get aggressive in any way.

 

I think your tank looks pretty great. What I would do is keep it as is and let all those big wavy corals have room to grow, and in that bare spot in the middle on top either start a zoa garden, ricordea garden, or put a couple killer blasto or acan frag on there and let it grow over that rock.

 

Bare careful on the bottom. Being barebottom lots of corals will grow over the glass. I know a guy who let a chalice grow out on his bare bottom and now he can't get it off the glass, lol. If you really want to fill it in maybe a scoly would be a good choice, or just leave the bottom bare. Negative space can be a good thing, avoids a cluttered look.

[doppelganger]

I'll add to the invasive. Some protopalythoas (things like yellow polyps, the green/brown ugly ones) can be quite invasive. They can grow really quickly and take over an entire area as well a stretch, shading lower lying zoa's. Plus they're very toxic so rather hard to get rid of safely. I would avoid them if possible unless you find a really nice ones you like and don't mind them spreading.

[kush.]

Acans are amazing for adding really nice colour to your tank. they are one of my favourite lps. You should also look at golden torches as they are by far my favourite torch and will have all the aesthetic appeal of a regular torch plus more!