Top 5 Corals for Beginners: Soft Coral Edition

[@tidalgardens]

What's up guys, these are my picks for beginner soft corals. Do you have a different list?

[@bmeyaard]

majano

[@matthewwagner4042]

I'm glad all the corals I love are beginners corals... no need to move on from this list.

[@jeffsreeftank]

Than I'm not sure what is sharper, your images or your wardrobe choices. Nice video 👍🏾

[@iatranger]

Tidal gardens is by far the best source of information for those starting out in the hobby . Great content , great video and picture quality and brilliantly put together . Keep them coming Than .

[@tidalgardens]

Thanks Neil!

[@thelureangler4346]

I’ve been searching long and hard through the garbage videos on KZbin, and finally found your incredible channel. Subscribed and very grateful for your concisely presented and incredibly informative videos. Thank you.

[@captivebredcanada]

Great list, I've been in the hobby about 13 years and still keep pom pom xenia. It's contained to the overflow and I don't let it get out of control. One thing worth mentioning for beginners is your first tank is rarely your last and people who get really into the hobby tend to upgrade relatively quickly. So if your first tank is filled with fast growing softies not only will it look great faster, it may encourage you to upgrade to a larger tank and you don't necessarily have to move all of those giant softies over.

[@StewardshipGardening]

My tank crashed about a year ago and I'm getting back into it and referencing old videos. Thanks for what you're doing for the hobby and congrats on 100K subs!

[@ktollefson15]

You have the most relaxing manner, and most frank discussion of coral care. Thanks for your videos!

[@MARINETV]

wow , you are super talented with coral photoghraghy (y)

[@curtisbridgen1493]

Always very informative and honest opinion. Love that you don't go with the mainstream opinion on some corals. Can't wait until I can see some of your corals in person.

[@wayne6318]

Thank you for giving me something to work on. I am a literal beginner, I've had my aquarium for a little under a month and I'm trying to work out what will look the best for it.

[@Nifilheimur]

I have gone the whole circle from softies to lps and then sps but am back to softies, espesially gorgonians and leathers, just love them

[@tidalgardens]

Soft corals are underrepresented among experienced hobbyists. I think soft coral dominated tanks are great to look at.

[@kalkanort9333]

All of the videos you post are fire. You give the best info i can find on coral tips and care!!

[@ryan.maccallum8213]

Nice video, I think I have or had all five , look forward to more videos👍

[@bluerider0988]

Love these videos. Keep the informational videos coming😁.

[@tidalgardens]

More to come!

[@TattooCrazeInkStudio]

I have all five in a ultralow maintenance 60g Reef tank. Spot on Than. Love these types of videos.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Than your camera work on these videos is top notch! Beautiful presentation.

[@jayg9209]

Great video. I wouldn't mind seeing a updated version of this video in the new studio! Nd if your views or opinions changed over the year. Keep up the hard work. 💪

[@MrMostafoles]

Great vid, some really nice editing and quality. Also good info. Thanks!

[@RickyRanchu]

I literally watched this video 4yr ago and again just now. GREAT VIDEO

[@tidalgardens]

Welcome back!

[@calicat0510]

Love your videos, they have helped immensely with my new reef tank. Clear concise information given in a well thought out delivery. Even the simplest household tools that are helpful in feeding and maintaining. Thank you, thank you!!

[@Davelembo]

Great video and the end was funny too

[@jboh2112]

Thanks Than! Great video as always. I would love to see a video on how you started your hobby and grew it into a business. Happy reefiing!

[@kevinhayes3146]

I have a purple and green leather that i started as a very small frag that has grown to almost 2 feet in about 1.5 years. And that includes cutting large frags for friends. Definitely agree and recommend leathers to beginners. I have always been hit or miss with zoas for whatever reason. But the ones that do live have started to thrive. Blasto's seem to do very well in my low tech setup also. Not sure if that is due to hardiness or simply luck, but would recommend any beginner to give it a try. They are beautiful corals and have introduced me well into some harder to keep "lps". Thanks for the vid than, informative as always.

[@olgacirkunova2342]

Good information .Thank you to value people time.

[@tidalgardens]

Thanks and welcome

[@JAMcDonald1]

Very helpful, and refreshing style.

[@thestrawberryaniahomegarde7228]

Subscribed. Great videos and information.

[@SpeedrscerF1]

I love softies, got a couple LPS and SPS nothing crazy but tons of softies

[@charitas4347]

Awesome and very useful video as usual, thanks for all the mistakes you keep me from doing :). In this special video: would you mind telling me whiche species it shows at 4:58 and 9:55, please?

[@blunderbuss1395]

i think it's sarcophyton elegans, it looks sorta green because of the actinics

[@duraticatereef1003]

Nice work! Getting more proffessional with every video. I love these videos

[@jcabibi1]

Sweet double Windsor! Great video too 👍👍

[@nickbarone4221]

Thank you for this video. Very informative.

[@EuphoricReptiles]

Good video! Going to show this to my brother! 🤞🏼 Trying to get him into Reefing

[@gbuena22]

Amazing video clips great video.!

[@fizzz35]

Awesome video quality

[@jr8688]

Love softies!

[@aussied723]

Love your work 👍

[@UltraReefReseller]

Nice job, I like your choices!!

[@greetingsearthlingspluto6666]

My first was a dwarf pink and white feather duster,doing great.

[@dopeameanreef6221]

im starting my 1st 90 gallon reef tank friday and of course ive been watching your vids for that past few years and gain lots of knowldge from you and i would love to get your input on my set up

[@michelleirby7587]

Thank you you’re always so informative

[@captaincow5041]

This video helped me a lot,THANK YOU

[@KreefAquariumhobby]

Great info !!!

[@ReefDudes]

Great video as always!! That bring said i would love to do a zoa only tank one day :)

[@tidalgardens]

It's a good look for sure and you don't have to worry about aggression.

[@EthelSalubon]

great content, though I would love to see more coral footage out of anything else :)

[@joshuanowayjose3285]

My 1st coral was an Acropora that was brown, but turned green. Tank was a 29 gal with ice cap 3 x 24" vho's put an over flow in corner with a rio800 that fed a cheesy hang on tank skimmer,. I loved that tank to say it thrived wouldn't do it any justice ...... used b-ionic 2 part this was back in 1998 lol in the valley of the sun

[@CD-ol7xi]

I got a tiny rock with Xenia on it. Not the pulsing kind though. I got them like super small as young polyps and now they have grown like 2X as large and more polyps on the rock than I can count!

[@jerryebner7582]

Nice topic I got all those and I am under 2 years as a reefer.

[@rechtschreibkontrolleur]

Are you going to do this for LPS and SPS? I would like to see that!

[@tidalgardens]

Yes, I plan to!

[@keeganblack7534]

Tidal Gardens awesome, I love all these videos.

[@zakartaz]

Than, can you do a video sometime on reef lighting? I am currently using AI Prime HD's but not sure if I am using the optimal lighting percentage. I have a range of corals from bounce mushrooms, jawbreaks, to montiporas...

[@RichardHaig-sd6rc]

Interesting because my Kenya Tree (green) and my long polyp toadstool are the brightest most fluorescent things you’ve ever seen!

[@brandongordon2546]

I have all five of these!

[@TheShmeebitdog]

I’m weird I can’t keep easy corals alive but the ones considered very difficult thrive in my tank but I like the look of the easy coral far better

[@TonysCorals]

maybe to good of flow and the softs dont like it?

[@Pagodacoralsllc]

Can we see a video of your display tank that you were talking about would make a awesome video

[@tidalgardens]

I was going to, but it is a half-circle tank and the glare is brutal in the greenhouse. You can sort of see it in some greenhouse walkthrough videos right at the beginning, but it is really tough to shoot.

[@Pagodacoralsllc]

Oooh 😮 must be beautiful half circle tanks are awesome wish they made more of them and I definitely understand how that can be a problem brother

[@AaronsStudio]

For your softies...do you approach lighting, spectrum and salinity differently than your other tanks?

[@eroggero]

Have kept all those and propagated most, but some reason my zoas just don’t do well, you mentioned feeding them, what are you using to feed with? Thanks and look forward to more videos.....

[@markphillips9418]

I have a toadstool which has grown with large proportion in recent months but this week it has bent over and hid away for a few days but today has come out in the day but at night it has gone again into hiding .. any ideas what’s going on apart from the obvious shredding ?

[@ronniefields4166]

I have 2 tanks. One of my saltwater tanks is a 13.5 gallon. I an now wanting to add coral to it and I am leaning toward soft corals. Due to the size can you give me some recommendations as what to start with?

[@Oofle_the_Worm]

Woah! What’s the discosoma that pops up at around 3:01?

[@melvinnieves1964]

Nice video

[@LarKange01280]

Hi from France, i like your last tank when you present Xenia, is it possible to have the name of the different livestock you had in it? And is it viable to do the same kind of reef in a 90G reefer ? With fish as well ? Thanks for all

[@pascal590]

Woah, what zoanthid was that at 6:18 ?? One of the prettiest I've seen, thanks

[@rugvedkulkarni1593]

Most of the corals I see for sale online are shown under blue lights, what types of corals look good under pure white light?

[@silverakantor]

I honestly had the worst luck with zoanthids and star polyps in my 120 when I had it. The always slowly but surely withered away with time. Yellow polyps did well. So did Duncan and a few plain corals. It was odd.. I didn't understand why something so easy to care for ended up failing many times in my few years of having reef tanks.

[@stevenl4881]

I have sps corals in my tank that are growing and doing awesome! ( I got em from u thanks!) But I have some zoas or palys not sure, that don’t grow at all. They stretch out sometimes and fold over on themselves other times and suck themselves in others times. Their always doing something weird lol. Is that normal for them?

[@freddy-b]

Xenia...they took over my entire tank!!

[@brandonezdoofenshmirtz2916]

Id just kill them all and start fresh

[@africancichlidworldtheacw8116]

So I'm wanting to do a salt water coral tank a 55 gallon do I have to have a RO system for my water or can i do it like my fresh water and use tap water and just treat it

[@brandonezdoofenshmirtz2916]

I was gonna get some pulsing xenia before I heard about them budding across the tank

[@jessicafriedrich6929]

I’m at a loss. Star polyps, Xenia and leather coral have all died in my tank. I have tried three leathers and Xenia four times. They always melt. My tank is well established 3 years and I just don’t get it. I seem to be the only hobbyist capable of killing these normally easy to keep corals. But my bubble, galaxia, zoas, and ananthalia are doing fine. Any suggestions?

[@CoralEuphoria]

👍👌nice vid

[@traynice9633]

Hi my tank can not be drilled, other than a overflow box do I have any other options?

[@mumblingstumps406]

I just got a Xenia and it stoped pulsing after a couple of days in my tank. Any idea why? Nice videos by the way 👍

[@tidalgardens]

Could be for any number of reasons. Here in the greenhouse mine stop pulsing in the winter and pick up pulsing in the summer. Maybe it's a heat/light thing?

[@mumblingstumps406]

I was thinking it might be the light. Perhaps they need the light energy to pulse otherwise they conserve it.

[@mumblingstumps406]

I put it up closer to the light to see what it does. I’ll keep you posted

[@mumblingstumps406]

So I did put it closer to the light and it started pulsing again. That’s awesome!😃👍

[@SwedensFine]

Than puts the sickest music in his videos.

[@monkey76kerr]

Might be a silly question but I have a bicolor angel. Which of these 5 can we say are safe from being eaten by it?

[@tidalgardens]

Most fish don't like to nibble at Discosoma mushrooms.

[@carlosvarela3571]

Can you trim corals? The ones that grow too fast?

[@166feliz]

I like grow mdntipora but my tank is 50 % green stars poly can that the reason why I can’t grow montiporal

[@williamgauthier9294]

Yeah...I have a tank full of zoas and never a problem!!

[@marcelrodriguez2067]

What if i dont like doing water changes and rely more on carbon dosing to keep nitrates down?

[@dennisvanopstal7360]

Dont get any think. Not even a fishbowl.

[@ashketchup1093]

What’s the coral at 1:36?

[@157buffum]

I have a large Hollywood stunner montipora. I seen today has a dark brown spot about the size of a quarter in the middle of it. Looks like the skin is gone in that spot. Would you have any ideas? Any help would be great! I can email pictures of needed.

[@mipogrow]

If Xenia was put on a rock of its own away from the main reef area would it stay there? Or can it cross the sand bed or bottom and still take over.

[@tidalgardens]

They usually don't cross the sand.

[@mipogrow]

Tidal Gardens thanks😀

[@artificialecosystems5874]

Are finger leathers the same things as Kenya trees?

[@tidalgardens]

Finger leather generally describes a lot of different types of branching leathers. A Kenya tree is one type of leather lumped in with other "finger leathers" like Sinularia or Nephthya etc.

[@ruwhan]

How about coral replacement for anemone for clown fish?

[@timothyboles6457]

Does Xenia have a natural predator that eats them in the wild?

[@totallynothuman6530]

i acutally have a 5 gallon majano anemone tank, with a few anemone shrimp in them

[@Pedro60037]

what is a MOCHANO ANEMONIES?

[@gold3nrul311]

Sinularia and GSP nuked my QT tank. I swore off soft corals after that (except mushrooms).

[@traynice9633]

Hey everyone do corals for beginners, what are some good corals for the guys who just got out the beginner stage?..

[@alexeverson2015]

TRAY NICE i love euphyllia (hammer, frogspawn, torch) they’re hardy and look pretty sweet when they sway from the flow - i also got some montiporas (plating type) and they look awesome.

[@flynnpaul26]

There is a reason people most often start with the least and count down to the best.

[@jarredlkling]

lol, I consider some of there corrals as weeds. I actively try to get rid of GSP and mushrooms so they dont take over my tank and kill my other peices.

[@kevinhayes3146]

A lot of people do, but i remember being a beginner and being in love with these weeds. They have their place in the hobby to set people up for success. I don't actively keep xzenia or gsp anymore, but they served a purpose as i was learning the hobby.

[@MeekoHerptile]

Xenia is my favorite coral as well but I belong to the 10% category. I don't run an ULNS.

[@SimplyJade2024]

MeekoHerptile neither do it. Mine is a 20 gallon I built myself and a canister filter and lately it's been taking off and even got back to it's pulsing nature. As where before it wouldn't even do it or really wouldn't multiply

[@MeekoHerptile]

Mine is "just OK." It did good for a while then slowly melted. Two new heads sprouted from the bit of tissue that was left. But that's it. It does pulse slowly when I turn down the pumps. Incidentally I also have bad luck with star polyps, toadstools, kenya trees, etc. My shrooms, lps and sps are doing good, however.

[@monkey76kerr]

I have pulsing xenia which seem fine. I also have a mushroom that has shrunk to a 10th of its original size. I also have a Kenya tree. I was told the Kenya tree and pulsing xenia tree like good flow. I think the bicolor angel is eating the mushrooms but I might be wrong. Someone in maidenhead aquatics recently advised me to increase circulation.

[@tidalgardens]

As a rule I do not trust angels. They like to nip at corals and are good at not getting caught doing it which luls people into thinking they are reef safe.

[@gbj6581]

Imo xenia are bullet proof.. hers the thing. It grows like wildfire. So as a beginner coral I put this in my tank. It's now on all the rocks covering everything. As a beginer I did not know how to manage this coral. Now I have to redo 'all' my rocks.. So is it practical for a newbie.. I duno.. for me I would say not. (Ps even now, knowing how to manage it, it still finds a way of floating to new areas of the tank. )

[@stephensmith8317]

I want to see the bits you edited out :) ha ha lol and then the cat pops up :)

[@lawsonsutherland2549]

More cats!

[@alfie1113]

My Xenia has done terrible a lot of it has disappeared and it has shrunk .... I’m not sure if it was caused by my bicolour angel pecking at but I don’t think that’s it . Can any1 give me some advice on how to make my Xenia grow back ?

[@tidalgardens]

It is very likely your angel that is the problem.

[@alfie1113]

Ok I might consider taking the angel back to the fish store because she pecks at other corals aswell . Thank you for you’re advice .

[@JLards]

I dont know, Than. My Aptasia Anemone is doing wonders. The stupid people at the fish store didnt even know they gave it to me for free! Suckers. It has divided so many times that im considering selling frags! XD

[@clayw9905]

JLards Thantastic! I have had good luck with peperment shrimp. They eat all it in a single night

[@tidalgardens]

Back in the 1990's, stores regularly sold "anemone rocks" that were just Aiptasia.

[@JLards]

:O Did not know that, wow!

[@clayw9905]

Tidal Gardens wow! The 90's coral seen must have been desperate. I am so happy to be in the hobby today where i can almost always see a new type of coral every weekend when i go to the fish store. Now if only i had more room.

[@mynameisnotcory]

Get a copperbanded butterfly!

[@greengrass3830]

Do you ship coral??

[@truereefkeeping6022]

It’s crazy you say green star polyps I bought them multiple times and I could NEVER get them to open no matter what I did, my hammer corals does better than those for me lol

[@theamjadjamousable]

where the carbon dosing video at man ?

[@johnbernier1025]

My Xenia shrink and die as soon as I put them in my tank, tried 2 times.

[@bmeyaard]

Xenia: "hand's down" the best coral... lol nice pun.

[@tidalgardens]

I try!