Best Beginner Corals, Organized by What Actually Kills Them

Almost every “best beginner corals” list is the same eight species in the same order, written by somebody who has not killed any of them recently. This one is organized by the mistake that actually kills the coral, because for a first reef that is the more useful axis.

The honest starting point: a coral is not hard or easy on its own. It is hard or easy relative to how stable your tank is and how often you fiddle with it. A green star polyp will die in an unstable tank and an acropora will live in a boring one. Stability first, species second.

Before you buy any coral at all

• Give the tank time. If it has been running under about eight weeks, wait. There is nothing for a coral to do yet and a swing you cannot see will kill it.
• Get your alkalinity boring. A number that sits still beats a number that is theoretically perfect. If it reads 8.2 three tests in a row, that is your number. Leave it.
• Have a plan for pests before the first frag, not after. Dip everything. See how to dip corals.
• Add livestock in stages, not one specimen per shipment. For a first order, choose a small group of compatible corals you can observe together, then give the tank time to settle before the next addition.

The corals to start with, and what actually kills each one

Zoanthids — the standard first coral for good reason. They tolerate a wide range of light and flow and they tell you when they are unhappy by staying closed. What kills them: being buried in detritus in dead flow, and sundial snails that arrive on the mat and eat them at night. Check the mat with a flashlight after lights out.

Mushrooms — low light, low flow, forgiving of most beginner mistakes. What kills them: too much flow, which makes them detach and wander, and being placed high when they wanted to be low.

Toadstool leather — hardy, grows visibly, and gives a new tank something with size in it. What kills them: almost nothing, but they shed a waxy film periodically and new reefers panic and start dosing. Leave it alone, it is normal.

Duncan — the first LPS most people should try. It feeds from your hand, which is genuinely fun, and it multiplies heads when it is happy. What kills them: too much light too fast, and overfeeding, which fouls the water around the base. Candy cane / Caulastrea — moderate everything, splits into new heads readily. What kills them: a neighbor with sweepers. Give it room. Blastomussa — wants less light than people give it. Put it low. What kills them: being placed under the brightest part of the tank because it is expensive and you want to see it.

What to skip for now, and why

Acropora and most SPS. Not because they are magic, but because they show you an alkalinity swing by dying rather than by sulking. Come back when your numbers have been boring for six months. Goniopora. Beautiful, and it has killed a lot of confidence. It declines slowly over months for reasons that are still argued about. Anemones in a young tank. They wander into powerheads and they need a mature system. This is a year-two animal. Anything you cannot see the base of in the listing photo. That is not a species rule, it is a seller rule, and it applies at every experience level. Why the cheapest coral costs the most covers what the base tells you.

Placement, in one paragraph

Every coral you buy has spent 24 hours in a dark box and has no photoprotection left. Put it on the sand or low on the rock for the first week regardless of what it eventually wants, then move it up over the following two weeks. More healthy corals die from being placed correctly on day one than from being placed too low for a month.

The first thing to do when something looks wrong

Nothing. Look at it again tomorrow. Polyps close for a hundred harmless reasons: a snail walked on it, the flow shifted, somebody turned the lights on early. The signal that actually matters is tissue receding off the skeleton at the base, and that moves in one direction. Learn to look at the base rather than the polyps and you will stop panic-dosing. If it is a new arrival that has not opened at all, start with new coral not opening after shipping. If you think something is eating it, coral pests 101.

A first order that makes sense

If you want a shape rather than a shopping list: one soft coral with size to it, two or three zoanthid or mushroom frags to fill space, and one LPS you can feed. That is enough to learn on while keeping the first order intentional. Livestock ships by UPS Next Day Air. A $10 box-and-handling fee applies per livestock shipment, and qualifying livestock orders of $349 or more receive free shipping. Choose compatible corals you can place and observe together rather than sending one small frag by itself. Add the cleanup crew after the corals, not before, and buy it by the algae you can see rather than by tank size. That is its own page: the cleanup crew prescription.

The Underwater Gardener grows aquacultured corals in Key West, Florida (FL Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072). Corals ship UPS Next Day Air every Tuesday and Wednesday. Visit the shop at 2816 N Roosevelt Blvd, Key West.