good first coral?

[B33FST3W]

I was just wondering what a good first coral would be for me?

I am planing on geting one once I can get my nitrates down (skimmer should be here today!!!).

My setup is:

37H tank
4 bulb t-5 HO on icecap reflectors (96 watts total)
1 MJ1200 with hydor flo
1 MJ900
18G sump
12G tank (going to be a mantis tank, but now it only has sand in it)
Octopus NW150 skimmer

My tank parms are:

Amm: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: >25ppm
Calcium: 450ppm
dKH: 12
Phosphate: ?? dont have a test kit
Temp: 82
SG: 1.026

I was looking at geting something like a xenia or a zoanthus.

Thanks for any replys,

Stew

[cw150]

xenia and zoas are both fairly invasive but if i had to choose between the two I'd choose the zoas. I'd say a better choice would be a hammer.

[Dubbin1]

Leathers and mushrooms would be a couple more choices for you to look at.

[IslandCrow]

My very first coral was a Sinularia dura (cabbage leather), and it's been extremely hardy. I've killed a couple corals since then. . .actually, just one coral. . .I recently discovered the hammer coral I thought died months ago has actually sprung back to life despite lying face down in the sand in the back of my tank. Despite that, I really have to disagree that a hammer coral or any of the Euphyllia genus would be a good idea for a beginner. Stay away from stoney corals in general if you're just getting started. They tend to be a bit pickier when it comes to lighting, water flow and water quality. You'll definitely want to get your nitrates down a bit before you try to keep LPS or SPS corals.
Xenia seem to be tempermental in some tanks, but try to find someplace you can get just a small frag. If it's going to do well in your tank, it's going to grow like a weed. I have to frag mine every couple of weeks to keep it under control. Once you start feeling comfortable with corals, Euphyllia (hammers, frogspawn, torches) and Caulastrea (candy cane/trumpet) are great first choices if you want to graduate to stoney corals.

[GobyJohnKenobi]

My first was a rock with mushrooms.
Make sure you really like the type you buy.
If they like you, you will wind up with a bunch of them.
Good luck.

[zenya]

Stew,

I would definately wait untill my NO3 levels come down to almost zero before adding any corals. Having said that, mushrooms and other octocorals are quite tolerant and adaptive to various conditions but why take a chance? ;)

wait 'till your skimmer is here and is working properly, make sure you water parameters are in check and then you can add your first coral. Why settle for something that can barely survive and not something that you really like to keep and ready to provide for? Just a thought... :)

[IslandCrow]

Good advice by zenya.