Fast growing corals to quickly fill your marine aquarium
Does your aquarium look like a bare rock garden and colorless. Be patient and do not fill your aquarium with corals too quickly. Patience is the key to maintaining a successful reef aquarium, but waiting for slow growing corals is not very rewarding, especially for new hobbyists. Once your tank is well set up and ready for the first inhabitants, there are a few fast growing corals you can add to quickly fill your tank. These corals bring life and movement to your aquarium. Before adding corals, make sure your parameters are stable and that you have your tank filled with live rock for at least 4-6 weeks. Then you can add a cleaning crew and let it sit for a few more weeks before you start adding the first fish and corals.
New hobbyists may rush to add fish or coral, which could result in a tank crash. However, there are several fast growing corals you can add to fill in empty space. These will quickly bring color and life to your aquarium.
Leather corals
Soft corals such as mushroom leather and finger leather add movement to a marine aquarium and these inexpensive corals are often available at your local aquarium supply store. Otherwise you can also order them online. If you are looking for leather coral, you should note that they can grow very quickly and take over the aquarium. Leather coral comes in green or pink colors, finger leather specifically comes in different colors.
Disc Anemones and Ears
Ricordea, rhodactis and discosoma are easy to keep and will live in almost all light and flow conditions. Don’t worry if you want to move these corals to another part of your tank. They can withstand fluctuations well. It is often necessary to ensure that these corals are not overexposed.
In general, discosoma are the fastest growing and most affordable corals. They have a thin smooth disc, they can easily fill with water, which can make some of them very large. You can fill rocks quickly and beautifully by placing some ears on a rock. Also note with these corals that they can spread very quickly and take over the aquarium. Therefore, place them on a large rock in your aquarium that is easy to remove. These corals will also respond well to feeding, just be careful when feeding your corals as this can contaminate the aquarium.
polyps
Corals such as zoanthids, green star polyps, and pulsating xenia, can add movement, and can quickly cover bare rock. As with ears, some polyps grow faster than others. And as a general rule of thumb, if you buy a polyp for more than $30, chances are they aren’t the fastest growing corals.
Green star polyps are one of the favorite corals to quickly add color and movement to your rocks and even the back wall of your aquarium. You can find all different shades of green. Xenia is often either a feared enemy or a welcome waving hand. Xenia can literally take over your aquarium in no time and it is therefore recommended that you keep it on its own rock so that it can be easily managed and removed from your aquarium. Personally, I like the look of this pulsating coral, and most new hobbyists would agree. Since xenia is such a fast growing coral it is also very cheap and you can often gain large rocks and healthy colonies.
Once you’ve filled some empty space in your tank with fast-growing ears, large leather corals, xenia and bright green star polyps, you can add a pop of color with some zoanthids. You can often buy 2-5 polyps that will grow into a beautiful colony on their own. These come in many different colors and will be a nice addition to your aquarium.
