A reader asks what corals he should use for his reef set-up, Jeremy Gay advises.
Please can you recommend a couple of good LPS coral choices for a 90 l nano reef set-up? I’d prefer to start with frags if possible. Is there anything I should definitely avoid? I’m a beginner with marines but have kept community fish for three years.
ALEX NEALE
Jeremy replies:
The first LPS I recommend you try is Duncan’s coral (Duncanopsammia axifuga). You can buy it by the single head on a frag plug and it’s relatively cheap, hardy and widely available.
If you can keep Duncan’s corals you know you’re doing okay with LPS. Next, I would try acans (Acanthastrea spp.). They are colourful, collectable and again fairly easy to keep.
Both Duncan’s and acans will appreciate occasional feeds, either with frozen fish food or pellets aimed at LPS corals. They aren’t very aggressive either, so can be placed near to other corals and they won’t sting them.
Trumpet, or candy cane corals (Caulastraea spp.) also make a good options for beginner reefers. They tend to be tolerant of occasional blips in water chemistry and grow quite quickly.
Candy cane corals are available in various colours- Photo by Shutterstock
If your budget allows, try a branching hammer (Fimbriaphyllia paraancora) too, which are lovely.
They don’t need direct feeding. Avoid Goniopora which are a bit more tricky to keep.
Related article: A quick guide to hard corals