what is the best soft corals for beginners?

Answer 1

Sinularias,Litophyton,Actinos,and many more,check reef central.com

Answer 2

What type of lighting do you have? That's going to make all the difference in what you'll be able to keep successfully. Quite a few of the corals have photosynthetic algae inside their cells, so you'll need to have strong enough lighting to keep these alive, since they provide food for the coral.

Some of the easiest species I've found are mushrooms (not a true coral, but looks similar, stay away from hairy mushroom [Rhodactis] - these are more aggressive), riccordia (not a true coral but looks similar), sea mat (zooanthids), clove polyps (Clavularia), Xenia (under the right conditions this grows so well it can be a nuisance), and leathers (Sarcophyton and Lobophytum). These are all fairly hardy and show less aggression (by way of stinging or chemical production) toward other corals.

You can use this link for photos: http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/category_display.php?keywords=&category_search=62&root_parent_id=4&inc_subcat=1&search_in_description=1&parent_category=4&x=5&y=14

These have info on the species I mention and others: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/index.htm
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pcatid=597

Another good reference is the book "Corals: A quick reference Guide" by Julian Sprung. You might find a copy in a library near you.

Answer 3

These three websites will be of help for you to decide:

http://members.cox.net/canative/pages/1reef.htm

http://www.aquacon.com/softcoral.html

http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/external/ctsa/publications/Softcoral140.htm

:-)