- My first memory of collecting things
was sitting on the floor of my living room.
I must've been five or six years old.
I was on the phone with a friend
and he needed a Jose Canseco card.
And I looked, and I only had a Joe's Canseco card.
Then there was the POG frenzy
of the late eighties and early nineties.
And that was quickly followed
by my middle school obsession with Magic the Gathering.
So I get collecting things, but as a hobbyist,
who was always focused on beginner content,
I do not get the high end coral frag collectors market.
As a beginner, don't waste your money
on corals with fancy names
and imperceptible color variations.
Just stick with us for these next few videos.
We'll point you on the right path.
(upbeat music)
A big howdy howdy to all of my fellow
and future hobbyists out there.
My name is Matthew, I am your BRS beginner guru.
Well, we are almost done everybody.
We only have five videos left in the series.
But I really don't think any beginner series
for a reef tank would be completed
unless we spent a few videos on coral.
So let's jump right in and talk about
what makes a beginner coral a beginner coral.
Well, let's get started with the question.
What is a coral?
A coral is a sessile marine invertebrate
that typically lives in colonies with identical polyps.
And sessile means that it stays put.
Just think about corals versus anemones.
Many of you may know this,
but some of you might not know this.
An anemone has a foot and anemones can move around.
Where corals, for the most part, stay put.
So they're considered sessile.
And I know many of you already know this,
but a lot of beginners don't.
A coral is not a plant, it's an animal.,
Many corals, if not most corals, are photosynthetic,
meaning that they can produce their own food.
But there are a lot of corals that are not photosynthetic.
Hobbyists have broken down corals
into three main categories.
You have your soft corals,
your LPS or your large polyp stony corals,
and your SPS your small polyp stony corals.
A soft coral is a coral that doesn't secrete
a calcium carbonate skeleton, so its entire body is soft.
A large polyp stony and a small polyp stony corals
both secrete calcium carbonate skeletons,
but as the name suggests large polyp stonys
typically have long fleshy polyps at the end,
whereas small polyp stonys
have very, very small fleshy polyps.
Moving on to the 10 characteristics
that make a beginner coral a beginner coral.
Characteristic number one, beginner corals are hardy.
Let's be honest here, beginners are going to make
a lot more mistakes than a seasoned hobbyist.
So you want a hardy coral
that's able to survive our mistakes.
Those mistakes that beginners make
often upset the water parameters,
the flow parameters and the lighting schedules.
And a beginner coral is just going to be able
to forgive the mistakes that we're all gonna make
and be able to thrive going forward.
Beginner characteristic number two,
beginner corals are easy to find.
They're common in the hobby.
Don't go out and buy rare corals.
A coral is rare because collectors
have deemed the coloration unique.
Maybe they're hard to find in the wild
or maybe they're expert only
and really difficult to keep an aquarium.
Common corals are not only prevalent in the oceans,
but they're also probably really easy
to propagate by fellow hobbyists.
But not all common corals are easy to care for,
so you'll still need to do some research.
Characteristic number three,
beginner corals are tolerant of changing water parameters.
Why is this important, you might ask?
Well, because as beginners we're more likely to struggle
with keeping consistent water parameters,
especially things like our salinity,
the temperature, ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates.
And on top of that beginners often experience
large swings in some of these parameters
and large swings are really unhealthy for coral.
Characteristic number four,
beginner corals are inexpensive.
Corals die sometimes and sometimes they die for no reason.
Have any of you experienced hobbyists out there
bought a really high end torch
just to put it in your home aquarium
and have it brown, jelly and die on you for no reason?
It has definitely happened to me.
Wile you are learning how to care for corals,
they will likely have a higher mortality rate in your tank.
This may sound a bit callous, but I think it makes my point,
which would you rather have die in your tank?
An ordinary looking $20 frag.
Or a slightly more colorful $200 frag?
And the fifth characteristic,
beginner corals are easy to feed.
Hands down, the easiest corals to feed
are the corals that feed themselves.
So photosynthetic corals.
I've heard it said before,
and I have no idea how accurate this is,
but I have heard it said that photosynthetic corals
get approximately 90% of their nutrition from the light.
Whereas on the other hand,
non-photosynthetic corals receive zero percentage
of their nutrition from the light.
Non-photosynthetic corals are expert only, period.
If you're a beginner watching this,
don't even consider, don't even think about
getting a non-photosynthetic corals.
Luckily, you don't have to worry,
because by far the majority of corals we find
in this hobby are photosynthetic.
Seriously, don't don't buy them.
Some of them are super pretty, but it's a bad idea.
Expert only.
The sixth characteristic is beginner corals are peaceful.
Corals belong to the phylum Cnidaria,
which also includes anemones and jellyfish.
For those of you beach dwellers,
especially you tropical beach dwellers,
you know the difference between the sting of a moon jelly
and the sting of a Portuguese man of war jelly.
One is uncomfortable, the other is deadly.
Corals are exactly the same.
Now I'm not saying there are some corals
that are going to kill you,
but some corals have a weak sting
and other corals have a really strong sting.
So a good beginner coral is one that will be a good neighbor
and won't send out long sweeper tentacles
to attack and kill their neighboring corals.
Characteristic number seven
is beginner corals ship and acclimate well.
I mean I find air travel stressful
and I'm not shoved into a tiny bag
in a black box and put into a cargo space
that is poorly temperature controlled.
I mean, there are just some corals out there
that are more tolerant of changing water temperatures
and the rough ride of air travel.
And then there are other corals
who are a bit more like me, a little temperamental.
Ideally you'll find a coral at your local fish store
that has been there for weeks.
That way, you know that it has transported
and already acclimated well.
Characteristic number eight, beginner corals grow quickly.
I have corals that don't look like they've grown
even a centimeter in the past year
and other corals that grow like weeds.
Sometimes fast-growing corals can be a pain
because if you're not careful,
they can take over large portions of your rock work,
oftentimes encroaching on other corals.
But that being said a fast growing coral
is almost always less expensive and easier to keep.
And if it gets too big and spreads too fast,
you can always frag it and share it with your friends.
Characteristic number nine,
beginner corals are not prone to pests and disease.
Corals are animals just like us.
So yes, of course any coral
can carry a pest or have a disease,
but there are just some corals in this hobby
that seem hardier than others
and don't seem to carry as many pests
and seem more resistant to common diseases.
In my experience, soft corals,
such as leathers, toad stools, mushrooms,
they've been pretty pest-free.
Whereas a lot of large polyp stony
or small polyp stony corals
have tended to carry a lot more pests.
But stony corals, your LPS and your SPS corals
just seem to have a lot more
nooks and crannies for pests to hide.
There are also an entire subset of pests
that only seem to attack
your small polyp stony, your SPS corals.
So it's just another good reason
for beginners to stay away from them anyways.
Well, that leads very nicely into our 10th characteristic.
Beginner corals are soft corals
and large polyps stony corals.
Okay, if you're an experienced reefer watching this,
do not jump down my throat right now
and leave a comment below.
Of course there are tons of exceptions to this rule.
There are definitely going to be soft corals
and large polyp stony corals that are not beginner friendly.
But I'm just trying to make this
as easy as possible for beginners.
So I get it, yes, there are exceptions.
But on the whole, soft corals and LPS corals
are definitely easier to keep
than your small polyp stony corals.
Well, now that you know,
the 10 characteristics of a beginner coral,
you might be like, but Matthew, which corals should I get?
That's next episode.
As always, everyone, thanks for watching.
Happy reefing, be well, we'll see you next time.