All new reefkeepers inevitably want the same thing - easy to keep corals that will add colour and movement to their tanks. With good water, lighting and flow, the following corals are within easy reach - even for newbies!

Duncan’s coral, Duncanopsammia spp.

Duncan’s are single polyp branching lps corals which are sold by the head, so one polyp will cost you X, and seven polyps in a colony will cost you seven x X, etc. They are undemanding of light and flow, pretty parasite and pest free and an easy first lps coral. Look out for the more desirable green stemmed ones from Australia too. Grow them and you’ll get a mass of heads which are easy to frag, just by cutting the branch and mounting it on a frag plug with putty or super glue gel.

Acan, Acanthastrea, Micromussa and Homophyllia spp.

Acans used to all be called Acanthastrea but now Rainbow acans are called Micromussa lordhowensis, and Bowerbanks, Homophyllia bowerbanki, with the Pumpkin patch, Acanthaphyllia echinata, staying in Acanthaphyllia. Now that the taxonomy is out of the way Acans are popular, colourful corals which stay low and spread over rocks. They come in hundreds of different colour varieties with the rainbows, bright reds and blues being the most desirable and most expensive.

Greens are some of the cheapest and recommended for beginners who are buying their first hard corals. Acans don’t need strong light or flow and do well under blue light - especially the rainbows. They do like a good feed though so turn pumps off and target feed the individual polyps with an lps food. Fragging is not so easy as most people do it with a coral bandsaw. Failing that just let them grow over the neighbouring rock and pull them apart.

Hammer coral, Euphyllia ancora and parancora

Hammers belong to the Euphyllia family and are cousins of Frogspawn corals and torches. Hammers can come either as branching or walling, meaning that branching ones are separate polyps in clusters on branches and walling ones are all joined together on a single, wavy wall of a skeleton. Hammers are sought after because they wave in even gentle current and reverse and gold hammers are the most sought after.

They only require gentle water flow, can be kept next to each other in Euphyllia gardens and medium light. Hammers generally need very little feeding and will strain out small particles in the water left from fish food. Branching hammers can be fragged with coral pliers onto a plug with putty or super glue gel, but walling hammers will need to be sawn. Dip them to make sure flatworms are not transported to your tank.

Torch coral, Euphyllia glabrescens

Torches are related to Hammers and Frogspawns and are very sought after because of their long tentacles and anemone-like movement. Gold hammers, Dragon Souls and Holy Grails are the most sought after and most expensive, with prices going sky-high while the Indonesia ban was on. Prices look likely to stay high too. 

Torches are a little bit more difficult than standard Hammers and can be targets for nippy fish. A few days of tentacles not being fully extended and it may not be happy. Check that the tentacles don’t touch other corals, although they are fine with their own kind in Torch gardens. Torches are sold by the head (polyp,) and are easy to frag by cutting the branch with coral pliers. They only require medium light and flow, and very little additional feeding.

Fungia, Fungia spp.

Fungia are a good choice of coral to add colour to the bottom of the tank. There are lots of other sand-dwelling lps, but Fungia are the most straight forward to keep and the most likely to succeed long term. Their prices are sensible too. Usually available in bright orange or bright green, Fungia should simply be placed on the sand bed where they receive light from above without being overshadowed and flow, but not too much flow. They can be seen to catch food and feed and can rid themselves of sand if covered.

They can reproduce by producing pups - miniatures of themselves that appear at their sides but if you want to frag them, it’s not easy as you will need a coral saw and success is not guaranteed. But leave them where they are in good water and good light, and they’re easy to keep. Rainbow colours are the most desirable Fungia, with brown being the least so.