Coolest coral for the buck!

What do you guys think are some of the coolest looking corals for a relatively small price? With anemones; Do they cause alot of problems in tanks? Hard to take care of? How many should you put in a tank of maybe the 80 gallon range?

Thanks guys n' gals

-Ben ;D

 

Theres almost way too many to list. zoa's, mushrooms, kenya, pulsating xenia. I dont know its really up to you I think they are all cool
In regards of anemone's. Yes, they are VERY hard to take care of. And yes, they can cause problems in tanks. Besides for the usual stinging and killing of corals and fish, if one were to die, they release toxins and when that happens you can kiss every other living creature in the tank bye bye. I've really started to lean to Tangster's advice on them: they have no place being in a community reef tank.
But thats just my highly biased views on them

 

Clowns get along just fine without them right?

 

Would you also recommend buying small and less expensive and let them grow?

 

Yep. Mine are happy as can be without an anemone. They host in a patch of zoa's
Most breeders flat out will not keep anemone's with them as well

 

yes. anemones are really a pain to take care of, they move around the tank stinging crap. eating stupider fish. clowns may get aggressive when they take up a anemone.

there like slimy dogs that do what ever they want, that you can't talk to or discipline, if there cage gets a little dirty it may kill them.

 

got side tracked in my anemone rant.

its generally easier to place small corals, if you buy big rocks of corals its hard to find a place for them.

 

I really had to watch my anemone when it was alive. When it went on the move, I had to start moving corals right and lift. Finally, it moved right by the intake of a powerhead and got sucked in. I got lucky and found it alive. If it would have died, it would have sent out it's toxins, which would have set off my sea apple and killed the tank....and probably Jason's as well from 1500 miles away.

Am I going to get another one? You bet. I love living on the edge. Nothing like a clown in it's obligate symbiote. But a clown fish DOES NOT need an anemone to be healthy. Only in the wild. A clown without an anemone in the wild is a dead clown. They are awful swimmers.

But your tank has a ways to go. You need to be up and running for about a year with a good lighting system to have any hope of keeping one successfully. Even then, they can die on you within six months for no reason. Anemones in captivity do not live nearly as long as in the wild.

 

aren't you living close enough with your sea apple. any closer and you would be licking the apple to see if its like a dart frog. lol

 

Neon Green star polyps is probably my favorite economy coral. And if it cost a lot I think I would still pay a lot . But it has to be the neon green ones.