Coolest coral for the buck!

You would probably never be able to find this coral for the price I did, but my favorite or coolest coral for the price, was a little 3 polyp blastomussa wellsi that I got at a lfs for $5. The employee thought it was a candycane (which $5 still would have been a great price). Anyway, it floated around in my tank for a couple months before I glued it down, but when I finally did, it started throwing out new polyps almost immediately. Now my $5, three polyp blasto has about 25 polyps, and is absolutely gorgeous.

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree on the earlier anemone comments. I love my Bubble Tip Anemone. Having an anemone/clown pair in my tank is "Da Bomb". Nothing else compares to watching the interactions between the two. For me, getting a symbiont pair in my tank was the goal of starting a reef tank in the first place. Yes, the anemone can move if it isn't happy. Mine hasn't moved in ages. I did make the mistake of adding it too early in the life of my tank. It did move and got sucked into a filter intake. I saved it pulling each tentacle out one by one. If I had to do it again I'd wait a year and make sure I had the lighting to keep it happy.

Anyway, as far as best corals for the buck. I'd either go with Pom-Pom Xenia or Frogspawn.

The pulsing Xenia catches everybody's eye and it spreads nicely. I trim it and sell the frags to my LFS. It is now sustaining my additional coral purchases. I'd wait at least 9 months before adding it. The first time I added Xenia it melted away.

My second coral purchase was a single Frogspawn head. Now, 16 months later, it has 12 heads.

 

Best coral for my buck so far was a metallic green open brain ($50) or my torch coral ($20), or maybe my dendro frag that i bought for $19... at any rate, coral doesn't come in the $5 variety around here. At any rate, I love these guys and are very hardy.

 

Well, concerning anemones, just be careful. That is the bottom line. Consider the size of the tank, the other inhabitants and realize that you literally have to pay attention to them daily. Usually, that is just looking at them and making sure it is behaving.

Also realize that anemones rarely live for years in a tank. There are those few of us who have taken care of a nice specimen for over six months, but they die more often than they live and when they die, they try to take the tank with it. They get a little poopy in the end.

I kept one for about nine months before it got caught up in the PH intake. Despite my best efforts at hiding the intake, it found it anyway. I was shaking my head bigtime. I was lucky I got to it while it was still alive....obviously distressed, but alive. It didn't make it. I damaged the foot trying to get the tenticles untangled. It was a mess.

So just beware, they are beautiful creatures. But, sometimes, beauty comes with a price.

 

I would agree go small frags. Not only easier to place but fun to see them grow. Like I had polyp floating in the bottom of a bag I got from the LFS so I stuck it in a hole and now there are about 12 polyps.

 

I definitely agree with you. You do need to be careful and watch and study. I've had mine for over a year and love it.

 

I have been lucky with a mystery anemone (carribbean from Petco) that is been in my tank for about 5yrs and just recentlhy added a bubble tip for my clowns which they love, but always have plenty of back up water incase.

 

coolest coral for the money is the hitch hikers on live rock. I am alway in my lfs looking at there live rock for coral. green star polyps for LR price and mushrooms and zoas. All for LR price. Granted they look sick when I get them but I have not had one die on me yet. those are the coolest.

 

Is your mystery anemone a condy? I am not sure why that came to mind, but it did right away. Red base, light brown tenticles (when healthy) with purple tips (sometimes....it varies)...???

 

I like Hammer and frogspawn, candycanes...... And some stuff that looks like palm trees..
That really spread..?? mushrooms are nice.. Leathers..
LOL, I like them all.. !!!

My clowns host my hammer..

Larry