What's a good first invert/coral?

ya xenia r great, but they can reproduce very fast lol

 

I dont mean to hijack this thread, but AM can you elaborate on your corals that you are sorry for and why? Im interested to hear for my edification.
Oh and i recommend toadstool leathers, star polyps, and torch coral as some rather easy to start with.

 

Frogspawn is also an easier stony coral to start with ;D

 

Anthelia (fast grower, is currently trying to take over my entire 90 gallon sps tank)
Xenia (same as anthelia)
Green star polyps (fast grower, very aggressive)
Yellow polyps (fast grower, very aggressive)
Mushroom polyps (fast grower; can and will overtake an entire reef tank)

Don't get me wrong. These corals are fine if your long term goals are only to keep soft and/or lps corals but in an sps tank, they can become the bane of your existence. I have managed to rid myself of all of the corals listed above except for the anthelia which is proving to be a very resiliant coral

 

Note the caveats I stated above abou keeping those species on their own little rock islands ;D

 

Very good advice too! Keep in mind though that xenia, mushrooms and anthelia, will drop polyps once they run out of room on their rock(s). If you can't catch and remove the polyp before it takes hold, you will have a new crop of coral growing in no time.

What I liked doing with xenia to keep it contained was have it grow up the back glass of my aquarium but I made sure that the rock was far away enough from the glass so that the xenia couldn't grab hold. A back wall full of pulsing xenia looks very very cool, I must say and because it was on glass, it was easy to scrape off to sell and trade

 

I was trying that.....how did you get it to stick initially to the glass?

 

I took the rock that the xenia was attached to when I bought it and simply placed it on the sand so that the rock was propped against the back glass (and touching nothing else but the glass). Before I knew it, the coral was spreading and climbing and the entire back wall was pulsating

 

Coooool! Thanks! ;D

 

Hairy Mushroom's are great ones to start with. hardy and dont need alot to keep them going