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Hard Coral


Button Coral Bird's Nest Blue Coral Brain Coral Brain Coral, Favites Bubble Coral Cactus Coral Candy Cane Coral Cat's Paw Coral Cauliflower Coral Daisy/Flowerpot Coral Doughnut Coral Elegance Coral Elephant Nose Coral Flower Pot Coral Frogspawn Coral Galaxy Coral Goniastrea Brain Coral Hammer Coral Horn Coral Jeweled Finger Coral Lettuce/Cabbage Coral Lobophyllia Brain Coral Nemenzophyllia Fox Coral Pearl Bubble Coral Pineapple Coral Pipe Organ Coral Plate Coral LT Plate/Disk Coral Platygyra Brain Coral Slipper/Tongue Coral Spiny Cup/Lettuce Coral Staghorn Coral Torch Coral Tube Coral Turbinaria Coral Velvet Coral


Soft Coral


Sea fan Cabbage Leather Coral Tree Coral Christmas Tree Coral Clove / Glove Polyp Colt Coral Corky Sea Fingers Devil's Hand Coral Finger Leather (Cladiella) Finger Leather (Sinularia) Flexible Leather Coral Kenya Tree Coral Mushroom / Leather Coral Pipe Organ Coral Pulse Coral Purple Sea Blade Rough Sea Plume Sea Rod / Red Tree Star Polyp Strawberry / Pink Cauliflower Tree Coral - Yellow Tree Coral - Paralemnalia Waving Hand Coral Yellow Sea Blade


Mushrooms


Actinodiscus Mushroom Coral Bullseye Mushroom Coral Elephant Ear Mushroom Coral Giant Cup Mushroom Coral Hairy Mushroom Coral Ricordea Mushroom Coral


Zoanthids


Elegant Moon Polyp Palythoa Button Polyp Stick / Tree Polyp Zoanthus Button Polyp

Hard Corals

Hard corals are most often referred to as corals that contain a 'hard' calcium skeleton. Their structure consists of a calcium framework, or base, of which a polyp or polyps extend off of. These polyps are generally large ( for the sake of this web page they are ), fleshy and consist of one or more individuals. The fleshy, or bulbous polyps are used for capturing sunlight, as well as, food particles.

A large number of 'hard' corals contain within the fleshy polyp's) a symbiotic algae know as Zooxanthellae. This algae lives within the fleshy tissue and utilizes sunlight via a process called photosynthesis to create a food source for the coral. One of the by-products of the photosynthetic process is that the polyp's) will secrete calcium at their base. It's this depositing of calcium that forms the 'hard' skeleton structure.

In addition to sunlight the coral will also feed on small particles of living matter, dissolved organics and debris's. Most of these 'hard' corals have tentacles that are used for capturing these particles. Some produce the tentacles when they sense food in the water, others only produce them at night. The tentacle is armed with a nematocyst, or stinging cell, that is used to sting its prey or to deture encroaching, competitive, corals.

Because of these corals light and food requirements one needs to provide lighting that is equal to the suns spectrum and intensity ( see the Lighting page ), taking into consideration the depth and turbidity at which the coral normally resides, water current parameters, and its proximity to its neighboring corals.

Purchases of these corals should be subject to inspection of the corals tissue and its even growth over the edges of the calcium skeleton. These corals are subject to considerable damage during shipment and handling. The resulting stress makes them highly subject to protozoan and bacteria infections.

Soft Coral

Soft corals are an order of corals which do not produce calcium carbonate skeletons and so are neither reef-building corals nor do they lay new foundations for future corals. Instead they contain minute, spiney skeletal elements called sclerites. Aside from their scientific utility in species identification, sclerites give these corals some degree of support and give their flesh a spiky, grainy texture that deters predators.

Unlike stony corals, most soft corals thrive in nutrient-rich waters with less light intensity. Almost all utilize zooxanthella as a major energy source. However, most will readily eat any free floating food, such as brine shrimp, out of the water column.

Many soft corals are easily collected in the wild for the reef aquarium hobby, as small cuttings are less prone to infection or damage during shipping than stony corals. Nevertheless, home-grown specimens are both more ecologically responsible and more practical. Soft corals grow quickly in captivity and are easily divided into new individuals, and so those grown via aquaculture are often hardier and less expensive than imported corals from the wild.

Mushroom Coral

Mushroom corals, also called Corallimorphs or mushroom anemones are very hardy corals, and one of the best for the beginner reef aquarium. Amon one of the best beginner corals, they can even be maintained in aquariums with just sand substrate, live rock, and an airstone for water movement and oxygenation. This is because they will tolerate high levels of nitrate and other organic compounds. They will do even better, and their colors will brighten in an aquarium with low levels of organic compounds. Most mushroom coral prefer indirect light or shade so the VHO fluorescent or metal halide lighting is not required.

One of the most popular mushroom coral species is the Actinodiscus species. These corals come in many different colors like blue, red, green, brown, purple and often have stripes, spots, and mottled color variations. A very easy coral to keep, the Discosoma species prefer indirect light from fluorescents and low water current. They will often propagate until they completely cover the substrate upon which they grow.

Tech Notes on Mushroom Corals: The symbiotic algae zooxanthellae hosted within the mushroom coral provides the majority of its nutritional requirements from the light driven process of photosynthesis. Mushroom corals will also benefit from regular feedings of zooplankton and small meaty items. Place the mushroom coral low in the aquarium until it opens fully, and then gradually over a few weeks, move the coral to the desired location. To open large, mushroom corals prefer low water movement within the aquarium.

Zoanthids

Zoanthids (order Zoanthidea) are an order of cnidarians commonly found in coral reefs, the deep sea and many other marine environments around the world. These animals come in a variety of different colonizing formations and in numerous colors. They can be found as individual polyps, attached by a fleshy stolon or a mat that can be created from small pieces of sediment, sand and rock. The term "zoanthid" refers to all animals within this order Zoanthidea (also called Zoanthiniaria), and should not be confused with "Zoanthus", which is one genus within Zoanthidea.

Zoanthids can be distinguished from other colonial anthozoans and soft coral by their characteristic of incorporating sand and other small pieces of material into their tissue to help make their structure. All known zoanthids have this unique feature, excepting the Family Zoanthidae. While the most well-known zoanthids are the zooxanthellate genera found in tropical and sub-tropical waters (primarily Zoanthus and Palythoa), many other species and genera exist, some still relatively unknown to science. Many zoanthids (in particular the genera Epizoanthus and Parazoanthus) are often found growing on other marine invertebrates.

Often in zooxanthellate genera such as Zoanthus and Palythoa there are a large number of different morphs of the same or similar species. Such zooxanthellate genera derive a large portion of their energy requirements from symbiotic dinoflagallates of the genus Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae), similar to many corals, anemones, and some other marine invertebrates.

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