Beginner Corals

Beginner does not mean cheap. It means the animal will tolerate the swings a new tank still has: the alkalinity that drifts before you are dosing consistently, the light that is too strong or too weak for the first month, the week you go away and nobody tops off the water.

These are the corals we put new reefers on. Zoanthids, mushrooms, leathers, star polyps, clove polyps and the photosynthetic Caribbean gorgonians we grow here. They keep going while you learn to hold parameters steady, and most of them will visibly spread within a few months, which is the part that keeps people in the hobby.

Goniopora, acropora, elegance, sun corals, non-photosynthetic gorgonians, anemones and clams are deliberately not on this page. They are not harder to sell. They are harder to keep alive, and a first coral that dies usually takes the second one with it.

Build your box. The $10 Box & Handling Fee is charged per box, not per coral, and UPS Next Day Air is one flat shipping charge per order. The $10 box and handling fee covers the insulated box, heat or ice packs and the time it takes to pack live coral safely; UPS Next Day Air is what it costs to get livestock out of Key West alive. A box typically holds around five small frags, so a starter group of three to five usually travels for the same packing and shipping as a single frag. Larger colonies, species that cannot share water, or extreme weather can require a second box. Qualifying livestock orders of $349 or more ship free.

Florida: $30 UPS Next Day Air livestock shipping. Qualifying Florida livestock orders under 6 lb ship UPS Next Day Air for a flat $30, plus the $10 box and handling fee. Heavier or mixed shipments use the UPS Next Day Air rate calculated at checkout, and qualifying livestock orders of $349 or more ship free.

Aquacultured or conditioned in our Key West systems · FL Cert #AQ0254072 · Live Arrival Guarantee · UPS Next Day Air Tuesday & Wednesday · Free shipping at $349 or more on qualifying livestock.

Report a dead arrival within 4 hours of the UPS delivery scan with the animal still in its sealed, unopened bag. We do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii.

52 in stock right now

Green Star Polyps Frag$29.99View details →Aquacultured Zoa Frag – Farmer's Choice, 2 to 3 Polyps$29.99View details →Gorilla Nipple Zoa$29.99View details →Green Bay Packers Zoanthids$34.99View details →Purple Hairy Rhodactis Mushroom$49.99 Original price was: $49.99.$34.99Current price is: $34.99.View details →Red People Eater Zoa$34.99View details →Neon Green Hairy Rhodactis$49.99 Original price was: $49.99.$34.99Current price is: $34.99.View details →Purple People Eaters$34.99View details →Blue Steel Zoa$39.99View details →Elephant Ear Mushroom$39.99View details →WYSIWYG Leopard Mushroom – 1 Polyp$39.99View details →Green Pipe Organ Coral$39.99View details →Pink Panther Palythoa$39.99View details →TUG Neon Green Pipe Organ – Cut to Order Frag$39.99View details →Kedds Red Zoa$44.99View details →Blue Hornet Zoa$44.99View details →WYSIWYG Radioactive Rhodactis Mushroom$49.00Only 1 availableView details →ZOI Zoa$49.99View details →Corky Sea Finger Gorgonian Frag (Briareum asbestinum) – 3-4"$49.99View details →King Midas Zoanthid$49.99View details →Halle Berry Zoanthids$49.99View details →Nebula Zoa$49.99View details →TUG Impastas Zoanthid – Aquacultured Frag$49.99View details →Lava Lamp Mushroom — 1 Polyp$49.99View details →Fruit Loops Zoa$54.99View details →Green Carpet Rhodactis$54.99View details →KO Nightmare Zoa$59.99View details →Purple Sea Rod Gorgonian Frag – 3-4"$59.99View details →Firework Clove Polyps (Clavularia sp.) – 6–8 Polyp Frag$59.99View details →Fireworks Clove Polyps$59.99View details →WYSIWYG Bullseye Rainbow Rhodactis Mushroom (2-3") – 1 Polyp$59.99Only 1 availableView details →Gobstopper Zoa Lony Polyp from Hawaii$59.99View details →Green Forest Clove Polyps$59.99View details →Purple & Green Pipe Organ$59.99View details →Bob Marley Zoa$59.99View details →TUG Illuminati Zoa – Aquacultured Frag$59.99View details →Fire and Ice Zoanthid$59.99View details →Seduction Zoa/Paly – 5 Polyp Frag$59.99View details →Florida Keys Orange Ricordea$69.99View details →Citrus Rhodactis$69.99View details →TUG Circus Freak Zoanthid$69.99View details →Rusty Gorgonian Frag (8") – Muriceopsis flavida$69.99Only 1 availableView details →TUG Candy Apple Zoanthid – Aquacultured Frag$69.99View details →ACI The Lorax Zoanthid Aqua-Cultured Brightest Zoa in the whole shop!!$79.99View details →Toadstool Leather Coral (Sarcophyton sp.) – 3" Frag$79.99Only 1 availableView details →WYSIWYG Yuma Mushroom XL 3"$79.99Only 1 availableView details →Blue Angel Zoanthids (Zoanthus sp.) – Aquacultured Frag | 5 polyps |$79.99View details →Playboy Bunny Zoanthids (Zoanthus sp.) – Aquacultured Frag$79.99View details →Exosphere Zoanthids — Aquacultured, 2–3 Polyps$79.99View details →WYSIWYG Ultra Neon Green Lampung Hairy Mushroom$89.99Only 1 availableView details →Corky Sea Finger Gorgonian Colony (Briareum asbestinum) – 8"$89.99View details →WYSIWYG Ultra Yuma Mushroom (Ricordea yuma)$89.99Only 1 availableView details →

Before you buy: Best Beginner Corals for a Reef Tank covers what each of these actually needs. How to Dip Corals covers what to do the day it arrives, whoever you buy from.