ReefBay data · Most popular corals
What are the most popular corals in reef tanks?
Updated November 2, 2026 · Sample: 4,458 tanks · Recomputed weekly
This ranking counts live tanks in the ReefBay app that list each coral, not sales or search volume. A coral counts once per tank.
Key findings
The most popular coral in reef tanks is the Zoanthid, kept in 52.1% of the 4,458 ReefBay tanks that list corals. The Green Star Polyp (30.8%) and the Hammer (23.1%) come next.
The median reef tank in ReefBay keeps 6 different corals (mean 7.9), about 6 individuals in total.
In nano tanks (30 gallons or less) the top coral is the Zoanthid (50.6% of nano tanks). In tanks of more than 100 gallons the top coral is the Zoanthid (54.3% of large tanks).
Top 3 corals
The 30 most popular corals in reef tanks
Percent of the 4,458 saltwater tanks that list corals and keep this species. Click a name for its care page.
- Zoanthid 52.1% (2,321)
- Green Star Polyp 30.8% (1,373)
- Hammer 23.1% (1,032)
- Duncan 22% (981)
- Rhodactis Mushroom 17.5% (782)
- Torch 15.9% (707)
- Ricordia Mushroom 14.7% (656)
- Toadstool Leather 14% (626)
- Kenya Tree Coral 13% (579)
- Goniopora 12.8% (569)
- Acan 12.4% (554)
- Pulsing Xenia 12.1% (541)
- Frogspawn 11.8% (527)
- Candy Cane 11.7% (523)
- Mushroom 10.4% (464)
- Montipora 9.8% (438)
- Acropora 8.1% (362)
- Favia 8.1% (359)
- Gsp 7.7% (342)
- Chalice 7.1% (315)
- Clove Polyp 7% (312)
- Gold Hammer 5.9% (265)
- Rasta Zoanthids 5.5% (247)
- Alveopora 5.2% (233)
- Blastomussa Merletti 5% (225)
- Acan Lord 4.9% (219)
- Birdsnest 4.7% (210)
- Green Splatter Hammer 4.4% (197)
- Rose Bubble Tip Anemone 4.3% (193)
- Bubble Coral 4.1% (185)
Top 10 in nano tanks (30 gallons or less)
1,808 tanks
- 1 Zoanthid 50.6%
- 2 Green Star Polyp 31.8%
- 3 Duncan 20.8%
- 4 Hammer 19.3%
- 5 Rhodactis Mushroom 15.9%
- 6 Ricordia Mushroom 13.6%
- 7 Torch 12.8%
- 8 Toadstool Leather 12.2%
- 9 Pulsing Xenia 12.2%
- 10 Kenya Tree Coral 11.2%
Top 10 in large tanks (more than 100 gallons)
580 tanks
- 1 Zoanthid 54.3%
- 2 Hammer 29.3%
- 3 Green Star Polyp 27.2%
- 4 Rhodactis Mushroom 22.2%
- 5 Ricordia Mushroom 20.7%
- 6 Duncan 20.3%
- 7 Torch 20.2%
- 8 Goniopora 19%
- 9 Frogspawn 18.4%
- 10 Acan 17.4%
Full ranking
| # | Species | Tanks | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoanthid | 2,321 | 52.1% |
| 2 | Green Star Polyp | 1,373 | 30.8% |
| 3 | Hammer | 1,032 | 23.1% |
| 4 | Duncan | 981 | 22% |
| 5 | Rhodactis Mushroom | 782 | 17.5% |
| 6 | Torch | 707 | 15.9% |
| 7 | Ricordia Mushroom | 656 | 14.7% |
| 8 | Toadstool Leather | 626 | 14% |
| 9 | Kenya Tree Coral | 579 | 13% |
| 10 | Goniopora | 569 | 12.8% |
| 11 | Acan | 554 | 12.4% |
| 12 | Pulsing Xenia | 541 | 12.1% |
| 13 | Frogspawn | 527 | 11.8% |
| 14 | Candy Cane | 523 | 11.7% |
| 15 | Mushroom | 464 | 10.4% |
| 16 | Montipora | 438 | 9.8% |
| 17 | Acropora | 362 | 8.1% |
| 18 | Favia | 359 | 8.1% |
| 19 | Gsp | 342 | 7.7% |
| 20 | Chalice | 315 | 7.1% |
| 21 | Clove Polyp | 312 | 7% |
| 22 | Gold Hammer | 265 | 5.9% |
| 23 | Rasta Zoanthids | 247 | 5.5% |
| 24 | Alveopora | 233 | 5.2% |
| 25 | Blastomussa Merletti | 225 | 5% |
| 26 | Acan Lord | 219 | 4.9% |
| 27 | Birdsnest | 210 | 4.7% |
| 28 | Green Splatter Hammer | 197 | 4.4% |
| 29 | Rose Bubble Tip Anemone | 193 | 4.3% |
| 30 | Bubble Coral | 185 | 4.1% |
Method
- Source: tank profiles and logs created by ReefBay app users. ReefBay is a reef aquarium app for iOS and Android.
- Excluded: deleted tanks, deleted accounts, ReefBay staff and test accounts.
- Counted: saltwater tanks that list at least one species of this kind. A species counts once per tank, whatever the quantity.
- Only library species count. Custom entries typed by users are excluded.
- Nano = 30 gallons or less. Large = more than 100 gallons.
Cite this page
You may reuse these numbers and charts with a link to this page (CC BY 4.0). Suggested citation:
ReefBay. "What are the most popular corals in reef tanks?" November 2026. https://reefbay.com/stats/popular-corals
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