Soft Corals, Marine Aquariums and Coral Reef Aquarium Tank, Stand, Canopy, and Aquarium Filter System

Soft Corals

Soft corals are most often refered to as corals that have a soft or leathery feel to them. They do not have a 'hard' calcium skeleton but do utilize small amounts of calcium, called spicules, to give themselves some rigidity. Their polyps vary in size and some are retractable whereas others are not.

Soft corals require medium to slightly high water flow. There are two reasons for this;

Leather corals tend to produce a occasional smooth mucous coating ( which aids in cleansing themselves ) that is shed after one to two weeks and flow helps them 'slough' this coating.

Soft corals ( Cladiella and Nephthea sps. corals in particular ) are very sensitive to their surrounding neighbors and when threatened will retract and produce heavy amounts of mucous for protection. This mucous if not swept away can encourage bacteria or protozoan infections that can cause the demise of the coral.

Lighting requirements vary from simple flourescents to strong metal halide. When adding new soft corals determine what light intensity the coral was under previously and after an acclimation period slowly increase the intensity

Leather Coral

Toadstool Leather Coral
Sarcophyton sp.
Central stalk supports a wide oral disk that is covered with small polyps. Individual polyps vary in size, length, and color.

Toadstool Leather Coral
Sarcophyton sp.
Central stalk supports a wide oral disk that is covered with small polyps. Individual polyps vary in size, length, and color.

Milk, Leather Coral
Sarcophyton sp.
Central stalk barely supports a wide oral disk that is covered with small polyps. Individual polyps vary in size, length, and color.

Finger Coral

Finger Soft Coral
Sinularia sp.
Sturdy base divides outwards to form finger like branches that are covered with small polyps. Individual polyps vary in size, length, and color.

Finger Coral
Sinularia sp.
Sturdy base divides outwards to form finger like branches that are covered with small polyps. Individual polyps vary in size, length, and color.

Finger Coral
Sinularia sp.
Sturdy base divides outwards to form finger like branches that are covered with small polyps. Individual polyps vary in size, length, and color.

Colt, Soft Coral
Cladiella sp.
Fluid like body dividing into branches. Depending on flow the shape can be short and bushy, or elongated and feathery. Polyps are concentrated at the ends of the branches.

Green Soft Coral
Nephthea sp.
Smooth body with elongated branches. Polyps are generally short and concentrated at the ends of the branches. Famed for its 'green' color, supposely this coral is no longer easily available due to effects of ElNino in the wild.