Coral recommendations for beginner

I was wondering if you guys and gals could recommend some corals to get for a beginner. I have 4 PC on a 75 gal. If you could let me know of some easy ones to keep and if there are any special instructions on feeding etc..... Thanks in advance. And if you have a pic that would be even better!

 

Mushrooms are the simplest to keep with that light.

 

I would say mushrooms and polyps.
mushrooms were my first coral, and they are easy to care for. They come in a wide range of colors and styles. They will also grow in your tank easily.
Mushroom Coral - Blue

maybe some star polyps

Green Star Polyp (Clavularia sp.)

and maybe some zoos
Zoos - Assorted 5+ Polyps - limit 1

You can also probably consider a colt coral later on, these are easy to care for also. Stay away from any bright colored colts, esp from the site I have shown examples from. People have a tendency to "color" their colts and corals do not like very well. Colts are a dull pinkish color so if you see a very bright pink or brignt yellow, stay away.
Colt Coral (Cladiella sp.)

Once you are able to handle those, then you might want to get some sun corals. Sun corals do not need any type of light, HOWEVER, they are difficult to keep, as you must target feed them everyday or else they starve to death. I got lazy for a little bit on my suns and the tissue receded rather quickly. So I would not recommend this coral for some time...
Sun Coral - Orange (Tubastrea faulkneri)

 

Some of those are beautiful. How long after setting up aquarium should you wait to add corals. About 6 months or more?

 

Agreed Boogie, Muchrooms , some zoa's perhaps , kenya, colt, xeania, some toad stool,club,devils hand ( leathers )

Probly the leathers should be placed high though in that tank/light config.

 

you could do some euphillia like frogspawn, not really harder than the softies just needs more attention to flow that its in , be careful when placing it to not damage the fleshy part, dont need to feed but you can. frogspawn was my first coral, and is still one of my fav., grows really fast, for a stony. also the frogspawn is the least aggressive of the euphillia.

 

These are all some great choices. I think I want them all in fact I know I want them all. LOL. So any recommendations on how long to establish the tank before any coral additions are made?

 

I did not wait that long, I might be a bad person to answer, but I actually added a couple mushrooms as soon as my levels indicated I was done cycling. I first added a fish once cycle was done and waited about a week and then added the mushrooms.

Dont go crazy and buy a bunch of corals right away (or a bunch of anything for that matter) for a while. Just add a piece about every couple of weeks (nothing expensive or big) for a while and let things settle. When things settle, going slow is also important...dont want to increase bioload too much at one time, even an established tank

This is the time it is really fun, when you get to start looking and planning on what you want. Dont do what I did and start buying things right away without really planning and researching what I wanted in my tank in the long run. Look through various websites and read about fish, and different corals and start planning what you want. My first fish was a clown....meanist little burger I ever saw. Actually killed a fish and was causing great stress on my hippo tang. I ended up having a lot of fun catching Nemo (original name I know!) to take it back to LFS.

Look at the corals also and read up on them. If you really want a wide variety of corals, you might start planning on upgrades to T5 or MH.

But you will not back yourself in a corner with mushrooms or polyps to start with.

Have fun and good luck.

 

i would go with some zoos those are the most common starter coral at my LFS. you could probably add some zoo in after a month(you should be cycled by then). zoos are some of the easiest corals to keep.

 

Thanks my friends and you are right this is the fun part to sit back and plan my attack. I am like a kid in a candy store right now but I do know moderation moderation moderation. I keep telling myself that over and over. And of course so does the wife. She said I can't break the bank. LOL.