Best Bang for the Buck Corals

my toadstool leather has grown fast for me.

 

forget all that bulb stuff, you asked a certain qustion so here it is. I believe the more they are worth when they grow the better the bang for the buck. So I would rather pay $80 for a Acan frag they will be worth $500 when it grows rather than pay $80 colony of xenia that is worth $80.

So I would say rare zoas, acans and other rare corals are more bang for the buck than Star Polyp, Xenia, etc.

 

Interesting view point, duly noted.

 

I agree.

My blastomussa's have been real winners for me. I got a single head of a red one that's up to about 8 or 9 now (about a year) and a 4 head purple that's up to around 25-30 heads (same time frame).

 

IMO, the best for color and growth are sps, especially under your lighting. You should get some really nice colors. However, they wont' grow as fast under the 20K, no coral really will anyways, and they can be more expensive. Of course, any really bright colored coral or multi colored coral will cost more, unless you can find some local reefers to cut you a deal. For pure value and growth, GSP, zoas, palys and leathers, they all seem to grow very fast and are pretty inexpensive. Unless you know some people with a nice collection of corals who won't charge you too much, IMO, it will be hard to find a coral that meets all of your criteria, but many of the best ones have been listed.

 

So lets just say I thought my bulbs were 20k... turns out they're 14k Hamiltons... yeah, insert facepalm here. Anyhow, that doesn't change much, except I'll get better growth. Given how blue these are, I could stand to go to 10k next bulb replacement. How does anyone tolerate 20k?

 

I couldn't! I ordered another 14k less than a week after getting a 20k.

 

That is a good point, but it assumes you will sell the coral or frags later on. If you're not planning on selling your corals, then it doesn't really apply. The biggest attraction to higher end corals is that the corals tend to be much more bright and are usually multi colored.