Potential Coral Stock List

[saiabiss]

I am in mega research mode right now. I want to have everything planned out before I move forward with purchasing anything (even down to the tank). To be honest, corals scare me the most when it comes to starting the hobby, so I am looking for hardy types that are fairly reliant in the tank. Based off of what I've read, here are my thoughts:

• 1 cabbage
• 2-3 mushroom colonies
• 1-2 button polyps
• 1 leather coral
• 1 bubble coral
• 1 brain coral
• maybe a branching soft coral

I guess my specific questions are:

1. If I purchase a tank between 90 & 125 gallons, is this list too large?
   
2. Would others agree that these are hardy corals?
3. From your experience, do they have nearly the same requirements as far as lighting needs?
4. Are any "picked on" by certain types of fish or other corals on the list?

Another random question I have regarding corals is whether I need to consider an anemone or anemone surrogate if I want to house a few clowns.


Thanks for your guidance. :question:

 

[SarahSmile]

Hi Saiabiss! An anemone is not a coral. It's a invertebrate that needs very stable conditions and a mature tank. It is usually recommended to wait until your tank is a year old before trying one. Clowns do not need an anemone so you are ok without it.
The corals you picked do not have the same lighting requirements. For instance, the cabbage leather you mentioned needs high lighting, the mushrooms do not. You can just put them in different parts of the tank to deal with this, i.e., higher or lower placement, under a shelf, etc. You can have many different types of corals in a tank, so, no, your list does not sound too large for the tank sizes you mentioned. Some that you selected are a bit more aggressive than others. Take a look at liveaquaria.com and you'll see which ones may need some more space from the others. You'll have plenty of room to space them out.

 

[Amba]

+1 smiles has ya covered

 

[Bifferwine]

You can keep literally hundreds of corals in a tank the size you are talking about. The possibilities are endless!

All of the corals you picked out are great choices for a beginner or a new tank.