Your favorite COral

[thirty5]

I only have a few corals in my tank:
Candy Cane
Blue/Purple Shrooms
And some other tiny little tree thing. It is really tiny.
What is your favorite coral that I should add to my tank. I have a 180 bow with a lot of realestate. I would like to eventually be able to easily frag them and then trade/sell them to get more for the tank. So not only what is your favorite, which do you think most people will go for with a trade/sale. I will even try difficult ones to raise.
Thanks guys...

 

[Deanos]

Are you looking to buy? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like your asking which of my corals you should add to your tank so you can propagate them later and not which is actually my favorite.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

zoos, rics, leathers and many other lps grow and spread pretty quick. you can try your hand @ those.

if your tank is suited for sps then you can give it a whirl and see how it goes. i would do a lot of research first if your just starting out.

 

[thirty5]

To rephrase my question. It is a 2-fold question

What is your favorite coral?
What do you feel is the best coral to frag and trades/sells easy. I would like to be able to keep the tank filled with specimens and new stuff by trading/selling.


My tank will have (next week) 3 250w mh 14k. I am building a new 90 gal fuge. I am also adding a calcium reactor next week. I should have no problem with most things in my tank.

 

[Deanos]

What is your favorite coral?

Right now, it's Duncanopsammia axifuga.

What do you feel is the best coral to frag and trades/sells easy.

Zoanthids/protopalythoas.

 

[fritz]

Hmmm just like all industries coral farming / propagation is subject to market trends.

For example, when I first found MR zoanthids were the hotness. Then it was rare sps morphs, blastos, acans, duncas, dendros, acans again etc. I'm leaving some out and I messed up the order I'm sure but you get the point.

What happens with coral farming is if you buy some ultra rare coral, by the time you grow it out it will no longer be in fashion. There are a few exceptions to this but those corals are very slow growers (Super Man Danae) which is why their staying power is so great.

 

[tosiek]

I always liked any coral from the echino family. Or any of the encrusting monti's.

This isn't the hobby to make money off your tank (specially not here) and most people that will be trading the nice stuff your looking for either have whatever you have and don't want to trade or can find it cheaper (or free) than what your offering. Plus the fact that most coral your waiting a half year or so to grow out to be able to frag at a descent size or your selling 1 zoa polyp frag packs and SPS that are 1/4 inch and get to say "BUT Look at the colors! oohh!" There are too many people that browse the web sites or ebay when they start the hobby and see the prices and automatically see $$$ instead of the coral itself and miss the big picture. This hobby is about successfully keeping a little part of the ocean in your living room.

I dunno, i'm in this hobby because i enjoy it and am learning something i am interested in. If i was to sell a coral i had and enjoyed but need to make room or make a change i will give it away or sell for cheap to someone that cares/enjoys the hobby also, or if its a very nice rare coral i would sell for under just under market price for a coral 2x the size beeing sold (not saying selling coral for the market price is bad or wrong, its always nice to make back money you spent on it all). If you enjoy the propagation of coral and trade so be it but turn it into a true prop tank and not a display littered with frags your growing out.

I dunno, sorry for the rant, was it too much?. This should have been two separate threads because the coral your making the most off of question takes away from the favorite coral question (which would have been a nice post to have on the site in itself with pictures).

 

[thirty5]

I can appreciate the "rant" but was not a rant. I am not really looking to make money off my tank. I would just like to be able to keep my tank going with new things by trading/selling stuff. I don't have to tell any one how expensive this hobby is. I absolutely love my tank. It sits in my family room. My wife laughs at me. At night when the kids are in bed. I turn off the main tank lights and just leave the blues on, and i will sit in my daughters (4 years old) tiny chair and i will just sit there and stare at the tank. I am obsessed with it. It is very soothing just just sit there and look at it. This is the reason that i am in the hobby, i just love the tank and the specimens in it, even though my tank does not have much. I am going to probably get 2 nanos, one for each of my daughters to put in their rooms. It is bad enough to have to pay for the damn electric for the MH but that is life. So if i can save a little cash by selling/trading some frags to keep my tank changing then I will have to do it.

But that was a rant i guess to. But that is life....

TOSIEK, if you are looking to give away any corals, don't forget me!!!!!!! LOL

 

[jackson6745]

Just add LE Steve Tyree in front of a corals name and it is worth 10x the $$ amount.

To answer your questions my favorite corals are SPS with different growth patterns/color morphs.

Best corals to grow for propagation would be zoos and blastos

I notice you will have halides, a fuge, and a calcium reactor. What about the skimmer? If you decide to add SPS a skimmer is probably the most important choice. While there are exceptions of skimmerless tanks that look great, the majority look like crap. Don't fall into that fad

 

[thirty5]

I forgot about that. I do have a skimmer. Slipped my mind. Once i am done not sure if there is anything that i have to add. Im not sure if i mentioned it earlier, but i have a RO unit waiting to be installed.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

What type of lighting do you have?

 

[DevIouS]

What type of lighting do you have?

My tank will have (next week) 3 250w mh 14k. I am building a new 90 gal fuge. I am also adding a calcium reactor next week.

RIF! :fishhit:

 

[NYreefNoob]

tank

how long has your current tank been up ? picture's ? and are you using a phosban reactor or using carbon ? as ive found out there's alot more too having a successful reef than having alot of equipment. proper flow is a huge part of it. water change's ect. before just jumping into as some of us have done and learnt the $$$$$ way, take some time you'll be happy you did

 

[thirty5]

Tank has been up for like 5 months now. I am running carbon for the time being. I am running a pretty powerful pump i have good flow throughout the tank, no dead spots. Since i got my cleanup crew i have not had to clean the glass at all, and the base is CLEAN. Tank is very healty. Im assuming once i add the MH my algae growth might increase but i have a small cleanup crew i will have to add some more. I have a fried of mine that has been in the business for ever. He dives in FL for his own stuff and so forth, he had his own store, so i take most of my guidance from here. And most things that he tells me, I come to the fourms and most of the time most people will agree with his guidance.

 

[Deanos]

Im assuming once i add the MH my algae growth might increase but i have a small cleanup crew i will have to add some more. I have a fried of mine that has been in the business for ever. He dives in FL for his own stuff and so forth, he had his own store, so i take most of my guidance from here. And most things that he tells me, I come to the fourms and most of the time most people will agree with his guidance.

Never assume! Adding more light will only increase nuisance algae growth if there is also in increase in the nutrients the algae use to grow.

Also, taking colonies from the ocean and/or selling corals gives little insight into coral propagation. There's truly a science behind it.

 

[thirty5]

Deanos,
I was just giving you a little background. My buddy is an all around. He builds custom acrylic tanks. He has built his own skimmers, he does dive in FL but not much any more. He as basically done almost all that you can in the industry. The only thing that he hasnt is raised clams, which we might want to try. But other than that he is good.