If you’re new to reefing, you might find it somewhat overwhelming at first to figure out which corals to add to your new tank. To shed some light on your options and hopefully give you some ideas, we have prepared a list of the top 10 corals for beginners!

1) Star polyps

Image source: animal-world.com

This species is beautiful and pretty much indestructible, and it is cheap and available in your LFS. Note that different strains vary slightly in appearance. These corals are known to grow quickly! (and overtake your aquarium, place it on a separate rock scape)

2) Leather corals

Image Source: Reefguide.org

These corals make for a great choice for your tank’s centrepiece. Sometimes, the tentacles will retract for long periods of time; it’s okay, as this is the coral’s way of cleaning itself. With proper water flow, this film will tear off and the tentacles will re-emerge soon after.

3) Pulsing Xenia Coral

Image source: Animal-world.com

This is a very easy coral to take care of. It gets its name from the rhythmic pulsing of the coral polyps that look like a hand opening and closing. Once it gets used to your tank, it will prove a hardy coral with a great growth rate.

4) Trumpet coral

Image Source: Animal-world.com

These corals offer beginners a bit more color and pattern than many of the other tough coral species. Trumpet corals need moderate to strong light and are very tolerant of polluted water.

5) Open brain coral

Image Source: Animal-world.com

This coral would be happy to rest over the substrate on the bottom of the tank and is very tolerant of lower light levels. It is also known to be one of the hardiest corals.

6) Toadstool Coral

Image Source: Animal-world.com

This coral is great for the beginner saltwater tank. It is hardy and can grow quite a bit.

7) Zoanthids

Image Source: Animal-world.com

These corals are available in a wide array of colors. They are hardy and will grow on their own with minimal care that meets their basic needs.

8) Mushroom Corals

Image Source: Animal-world.com

You can’t go wrong with this coral. It’s very hardy and will grow in any saltwater tank you frag it in!

9) Colt Corals

Image Source: Animal-world.com

Also known as the Kenya tree coral. These corals grow extremely fast. They will be all over your tank in no time!

10) Fox Corals

Image Source: Animal-world.com

These corals require a gentle current and a dim to moderate light. Because they don’t have tentacles, they get their nutrition through absorption. Something to keep in mind about these corals is that they have a very delicate skeleton structure that is easily broken, so be careful handling them.

That ends our list of top 10 corals for beginners! As always, if you have any questions or feedback, please get in touch with us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!

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