Is there coral commonly considered “easy to keep” that you find challenging to keep healthy/alive?

[CHSUB]

I’ve tried Goni’s a few times, never had any luck! Any help is appreciated, I think they are beautiful and would make a great addition to my display

WWC in Orlando has tank raised Goni, if you happen to get wild colonies from a LFS they will almost certainly die in a year.

 

[InvaderJim]

I can grow anything from softies to acros. But I've never any luck with candy canes, duncans, and both of my tanks now zoa's wont survive.

 

[FortyFour44]

Xenia

 

[Gellisjr1]

My nemesis coral is Ra Ja Rampage Chalice. I've tried three different times to keep it. Each time I've tired to keep it. I placed it in a different location in the tank. It always ends up dying on me. The weird thing is I purchased a mystery frag box to start my reef off with. In that mystery box of coral was a chunk of Pink B**bie Chalice. That piece has been thriving in my tank and is about 2.5 inches in diameter now. My display is a 35 gallon cube with a 14 x 20 sump. I have no idea why I just can't keep this coral. My theory is my nutrient levels. My tank has always run high nutrient levels no matter what I do to lower them. (Nitrates average 20-30, Phosphates average .15 - .20) I change 5 gallons of water min. once a week sometimes twice a week. I even experimented with several smaller water changes through out the week and one five gallon water change on my day off. I've cleaned my sump, I run a DIY HOB refugium, DIY Algae Reactor (Both units produce Chaeo consistently), I carbon dose. I was using Tropic Marin Bacto Balance. (.3 mL daily) However I recently decided to try the Korallen Zucht ZeoVit system. I have been doing this for about 2 months. I am seeing very positive results with polyp coloration, extension & growth. I am still trying to dial in the dosages. Making very minor adjustments slowly as the products are highly concentrated. One would think with the amount of effort I put into this tank and utilizing the Zeovit system i should have an ultra low nutrient system. I have never vacuumed my sand bed since the tank was established a year and half ago. I recently built my own DIY recirculating filtered vacuum cleaner to clean the sand bed. I think this is where the nutrients are coming from. I just cleaned the sand bed yesterday & I could not believe how much gunk I was able to pull out of the sand. I am currently working today and can't wait to see how everything looks when I get home. I plan on testing the water parameters here with in the next few days. my fingers are crossed this was my issue.

 

[Bob Weigant]

My kryptonite is Paletta Pink Tip Acro's. I do fine with most others but not that one

 

[acropora4u]

Green slimer is my nemesis

 

[mattgsa]

For whatever reason, I could never keep Green Slimmer alive for more than a couple of weeks.

 

[Cherie cook]

Torches…they do great for me, until they don’t!

 

[starfishguy869]

Mushrooms, they are easy to keep, but when I put them in my tank, they melt.

 

[VintageReefer]

Fungia (plate coral). They last about a month or two.

You are not the only one. I gave up on them for 10 years

But about 6 months ago I tried something new. I bought a spawn of one from someone else’s tank. just under 1/2”.

I feel a lot of plate issues are from sand irritation causing receding tissue, which opens the door for other problems

So this time - captive born, and I glued it to a frag plug and threw it on my rack…figure lets keep it out of the sand and see what happens

6 months later …

I have the most awesome plates I’ve ever seen in person. If you try again, get a baby, and keep it out of the sand. They don’t need sand.

 

[AlexandraDreadlocksPanda]

Any sps. Right now I have my very first ones that are growing. One growing, one staying the same, and one dying. But hey, it's progress. I want to get them growing well before I try my hand at my dream coral goniopora.

Goniopora and Acropora are tricky to keep together as they both require very different levels of light and flow…. I have a big red Goni sat in the shade underneath my floating reef and it seems pretty happy there. Doesn’t get any supplemental feeding, no corals get directly fed in my system.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

My torches don't die but they are not long and flowy. Tank is still a little young though.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

My torches don't die but they are not long and flowy. Tank is still a little young though.

Same. My torch is alive, but never extended or flowing.

 

[corosato]

Single head zoas. i've gotten several "free" ones tossed into orders from various vendors and they always melt on me.

 

[BryanM]

So far I'm feeling fairly lucky. I had a favia slowly decay and never really looked good, but everything else seems to be thriving. we'll see how the next couple months go, as I'm getting quite a few new pieces (9 over two weeks). Possibly a little too much, but I'm optimistic things will be good.

 

[Rbull8]

when my tank was running it was the zoa's. they were slow to grow for me regardless of strain. sometimes would just melt on me(which is the case with some of the more expensive "designer" morphs).

Same for me. I can never seem to get them to take off and thrive.

 

[DebFerreira]

Zoas for sure. They can be like weeds, or the most delicate fragile hot house flowers. They can thrive in one tank, and the next you stare at them with beseaching eyes begging them to open up.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Same. My torch is alive, but never extended or flowing.

I've been bumping up my Mg to see if that helps (yes I know that Mg is hard to get accurate tests for). Nothing yet. I sit at 1340 with All for Reef dosing.

 

[kdx7214]

Goniopora and Acropora are tricky to keep together as they both require very different levels of light and flow…. I have a big red Goni sat in the shade underneath my floating reef and it seems pretty happy there. Doesn’t get any supplemental feeding, no corals get directly fed in my system.

I'm avoiding acropora like the plague. I still struggle with other sps and do want to keep things open for a goniopora. Right now my light levels are good enough for some sps and good for gonis.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Zoas. Might try again if I can get my algae under control