Rate these corals in difficulty please :)

[Scorch268]

Xenia
Ricordea
Colt
frogspawn
long tenticaled plate
GSP's
Hammer coral
Mushrooms
Toadstool leather
Zoo's


This is my tank :) Kinda boring now, just curious as to what you guys think is the hardest to take care of.

[Wind]

they all seem pretty decent... zoos, shrooms being really hardy, frogspawn, hammer, and plate might be hardest OUT OF the list, but yeah all seem pretty easy, and hardy ..it should be okay.. if ur parameters are well,

[jdallred]

I would say besides the plate (which I have no personal experience) it is pretty much a wash, none of them are difficult. But here goes: (easiest to hardest)
Xenia
GSP
Zoo's
Toadstool
Colt
Ricordea
Frogspawn
Hammer

[CaddyofClowns]

heres my opinion. easiest to hardest.

1. Zoo's - how do you KILL THESE???
2. Frogspawn - Very good beginner coral.
3. Ricordea - Usually always does well, can acclimate to many different lighting schemes
4. Colt - just plain easy.
5. GSP - similar to xenia in some sort.. sometimes people have the problem - they take them home from LFS and they just dont open :\
6. Toadstool - Very Hardy coral.. but can get many different infections and not always easy to treat.. Buy a healthy specimen and this coral is a nobrainer.
7. Hammer - Be wary of the specimen you buy. Make sure the polyp is in tact all around the skeleton. But still relatively easy.

---- Xenia is a class of its own.. sometimes it can be the only coral in someones tank they cant keep.. Sometimes people cant kill this stuff off. Just a coral you gotta try your luck on... if it does well.. prepare for some cutting :)

[CaddyofClowns]

woops i copied his list above..

id say plate fits in between toadstool and hammer.

Find a spot in your tank it likes and it does very well.

[Scorch268]

Thanks for the help guys :) im going to try some more difficult species, perhaps some acro's, still not sure though

[o2manyfish]

I am curious about the question. If you already have these in your tank.... then what difference does it make whether it's difficult to keep or not.

If you were going to choose something to put in your tank, then I could see the relevance of posting a question like this. But the hindsight question followed by a statement like "perhaps some acro's".

Are you successful with what you have ? And regardless of your success with the creatures you have, stepping up into Acro's is not only a question of challenging upkeep, but having the proper hardware.

Dave B

[Scorch268]

Dave, perhaps the premise of my question was a bit ambigous, I was in essence, seeking the general opinion of the board. I understand that difficulty is a rather subjective thing, but there can be trends observed which can be helpful. Regarding the acros, I do have the proper equipment and was going to try and relate the general difficulty of keeping them with my present corals. If the general consensus was that it is easy to keep my present system (which i think it is) then I can say my opinion is generally held. I was simply attempting to gauge my own opinion on a subjective issue with that of those who have kept corals for much longer than I. No biggie.

[Aquabucket]

I think it is a good question Scorch. Most people like to lump softies together as far as difficulty is concerned, however some can be more difficult than others for various reasons. Hammers and Frogspawn are basically staples for LPS keepers. Most of the difficulties with the Xenia and GSPs is that they can be difficult to control and can impeed other corals. Hammers and Frogspawn need lots of room because of their far reaching tenticles.

Stepping up to some Acros though is a new ball game. As long as you have your alk and calcium levels up to par and a clean tank with enough light you should do well.