Sandbed suggestions - Meat corals, other LPS, what's a good sandbed center piece that won't break the bank?

[Narideth]

Hey all! I'm looking for suggestions on corals that will be happy on the sand bed, or on a small island for support if needed at the very bottom of my tank. PAR in the area I'm looking at comes in around 220. I've been looking around and visited the best local coral shop for inspiration, but I'm still a relative novice when it comes to coral types.

From what I've gathered, a lot of the large 'meat' corals are quite expensive because they don't or can't be reproduced or fragged to aquaculture them. They look beautiful, but I just can't drop 500+ on a coral right now.

My ideas ranged from a decent scoly, even if it starts off small, to an acan garden of 6-7 choice pieces that I allow to grow in on a plug island. I'm not opposed to alternatives like a lower light clam, but this is a smallish tank, 15 gallons, so I don't have space for the really large ones to grow out.

The LFS suggested trachyphyllia, but the prices... but they are so pretty! I'd love some other ideas, and my only 'no' options at the moment are no zoas - I already have a garden started in this tank - and no euphyllia. They do not do well in this tank for some reason. Two attempted hammers and two dead skeletons later, and I don't want to risk killing more of them!

I'd say my budget for a single piece of coral is probably around $200, which does allow for some 'lower end' of those meaty corals, but I'm looking for bang for my buck. I do kind of want something that will give me pop, but I'm not sold on any one thing. Please, help me with suggestions! Show me your beauties!

 

[Rovert]

How about a lobo or wellso brain, or perhaps an elegance?

 

[Narideth]

After a peek through what I could expect price wise and color wise, those are some awesome suggestions! I realy like the look of the open brain types.

I also was not aware that elegance corals came in colors other than greeny purple! I haven't researched them well but I did read something about certain types from certain locations being difficult to keep?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I vote elegance too

 

[Narideth]

I vote elegance too

These sorts of replies are exactly what I was looking for. I'm going to be cruising booths at Aquashella and having a whole list of things to keep an eye out for will mean a much better chance of something that catches my attention and my wallet!

I see that Elegance aren't having the troubles they once did - I was turned off from getting one after hearing/reading about all of the tricky issues with sourcing their origin, but also that they have a pretty aggressive sting.

Lobophyllia seem to be incredibly slow growing? Better costs and gorgeous pieces for sure, just wanting to make sure my information is correct since I've been info-dumping myself since I got these answers!

 

[Midrats]

Lobos aren't slow if you feed them. Elegance are awesome but take up a lot of space and make fish disappear.

 

[GlassMunky]

I love my multicolored lobo
It’s not super fast growing but I wouldn’t call it slow either.

Elegance corals are super cool, but can sometimes be finicky.

Bubble corals are very underrated but look super cool when they puff up.

A nice acan garden always looks great too.
There’s tons of LPS that look good and would work.
Most of my current tank is LPS

 

[GlassMunky]

My lobo hungry and ready

 

[Narideth]

My lobo hungry and ready

Well alright then, you've convinced me. Lobos are on the list too! They certainly are attractive things.

Nice looking piece there.

 

[Rovert]

If you're interested, Ive been thinking about finding a good home for this guy. This piece is about 6"-8"in wide without the tentacles. PM me if it's something that works for you.