This thread is intended to be a general guideline for different species and subspecies of corals ranging from SPS (Small Polyp Stony Coral), LPS (Long Polyp Stony Coral), Soft corals and Polyps.

Starting with my favorite the classification of SPS (Small Polyp Stony Coral).

Small Polyp Stony Corals (SPS) come in every color of the rainbow and can even be a compilation of colors with the polyps and flesh of the acropora being different colors.

SPS need pristine water quality with absolutely no waste what so ever. In most circumstances acropora and all SPS corals will suffer from RTN (Rapid Tissue Necrosis, More on RTN and other coral diseases later on) if exposed to anything other than perfect water quality. SPS requires undetectable amounts of nitrite, nitrate and ammonia. If exposed to any trace amounts of these waste products of fish, over feeding and even from the slime coral emits on regular circumstances the SPS coral will most likely die. The best and most sought after water quality for all species of coral is as followed.

Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
P.H. 8.1 to 8.3
Calcium 430 PPM to 480 PPM
Alkalinity 8 to 12 DKH

Lighting for Small Polyp Stony Corals
Most people recommend metal halide lighting (Also commonly referred to as MH) but SPS can live under T5 (High output fluorescent) and PC (Power compact) The colors and growth rate will be greatly reduced but it is possible to keep SPS alive under T5 and PC. You will usually get greater results from metal halides for all SPS corals, however some SPS dominant tanks have multiple T5 tubes and can rival even the most stunning of metal halide displays but you will need more wattage of T5 and more light bulbs where as compared to metal halide you could simply have one or two 150 watt or 250 watt for a moderately sized display and for T5 you would need many tubes more wattage and a wallet that can afford all the extra electricity to get the same growth. The best possible lighting you could get for SPS corals would be T5 and metal halide lighting (Many aquarium companies sell lighting fixtures with both MH and T5 incorporated in the same unit).
Here is a compilation for acropora and all SPS color and growth under different kalvin ratings of metal halides.

Color Loss Of SPS Corals
Acropora (and SPS corals) lose color under less UV radiation, the nice colors that all reefers want is basically a sunscreen that protects the zooxanthellae algae that feed the coral through photosynthesis the "sunscreen" comes from mass amounts of UV radiation and light and this tells the zooxanthellae algae living within the corals tissue that it needs to protect itself from bleaching and then it becomes a bright color, When corals are exposed to a lesser amount of light the coral will become a more subdued color because the bright sunscreen is not necessary to protect the zooxanthellae algae from bleaching (or in some cases a different kalvin rating like 6K,10K,14K and 20K, usually the higher the kalvin rating the more colorful your SPS will be). For instance if an acropora is blue and purple in a tank lit by a 400 watt 20K metal halide light and then put in to a tank with a 150 watt 10K metal halide the color may be more subdued instantaneously or over time.

Some people don't like certain kalvin ratings for some reason, here is an over view of the metal halides kalvin rating for you.

6.5K, Usually never used for reefs but more likely a refugium or a freshwater planted tank. 6.5K lights will have a horrible yellow look almost a urine yellow look to them. 6.5K is more of a rare bulb to come across since it is more used for high end fresh water planted tanks (And those are rarer than an SPS dominant tank is). But they usually can be found on planted tank websites.

10K, Usually used for SPS reef tanks that want fast growth. 10K lights will help your SPS grow faster but the SPS colors will be subdued. 10K lights will have a yellow look to them but not as bad as 6.5K.

14K, 14K MH bulbs usually are the choice for most reefers since they have a nice crisp white look to them and give ok color and ok growth to SPS but the growth will not be as good as 10K bulbs and the color the coral becomes will not be as good as 20K bulbs. 14K is basically just a mix of the 10K and 20K bulb and gives the “Undecided” reefers a good alternative to 20K or 10K.

These are some of my SPS that were under 70 watt 14K MH lighting.



20K, 20K lights will give your corals flamboyant colors, but growth will be less than that of 10K and 14K lights. Most SPS dominant tank of the month tanks (TOTM) have 20K metal halide lighting (Not all but most) because of the nice colors it gives corals. Some people hate 20K MH bulbs because it is not a crisp white light that it produces but rather a blue light and because of the decreased growth it provides some people would never consider buying a 20K bulb, but they do not weigh in on what every reefer wants colorful corals. So it is in a way a trade off with the 20K you get beautifully colored corals but your corals will grow about 25% to 35% less than under 10K or 14K lights.

And just like SPS can turn from blue to brown a brown SPS can turn to basically any color variety (but usually green or if the acropora is an especially dark brown color it may become an awe inspiring blue color). The color change from brown to some bright color may or may not happen depending on the species and tank levels and just about every other factor that reef keeping details, But it is possible to change that $25 brown acropora colony in to an awesome show piece with the correct care and a little $25 gamble on if the coral will change colors or not.

Water Flow For SPS
SPS corals can live in relatively low water movement (fifteen times and hour) to very fast sand stirring water flow (126 times an hour) in my experience. SPS corals will grow differently depending on water flow. SPS corals (And all corals) breath only when there is water movement against their flesh, Basically the flesh of a coral is both its skin and its lung, With the water touching the corals flesh it also brings essential oxygen and calcium (and every other nutrient corals need) the coral thus absorbs the oxygen and all the nutrients required for the coral to survive, thrive and grow through water movement. All corals produce slime and waste from their flesh, this slime and waist must be taken away from the coral with water movement or the coral could suffocate in its own slime and waist. The most important thing for a coral is water flow, corals can survive in low light (Yes even SPS corals) but no coral can survive without water flow.

Growth Pattern And Bone Structure Of SPS Corals Kept In High Water Flow Tanks

Branching acropora corals in high water flow tanks (Over 50 times turnover rate and hour)

Acropora will grow more in clustered colonies when kept in high water flow, they will have thicker and stump like branches. The bones of acropora will also be denser and stronger when kept in high flow rates, since the acropora coral has to add on more calcium to its skeleton so it will not break in high flow rates or surges in water flow caused from wave makers or simply from the water pumps and filters turning on. It will be extremely hard to break an acropora skeleton when it is kept in high flow rates simply because the bone structure is so strong that even fragging bone cutters will have a hard time clipping the corals branches.




Montipora Capricornis Coral In High Water Flow Tanks

Montipora capricornis grows in a plate like manner and will most likely form multiple plates or tiers when kept in high flow tanks. The bones of montipora capricornis will be stronger but will still be brittle even when kept in high flow tanks simply because even a thick plate of montipora capricornis will be very thin (Where as with branching form of coral like acropora and montipora digitata the branches can become thicker and thus stronger). Even an arm brushing against this species could damage it (If it is with enough force of course), However the plates of montipora capricornis will be thicker than if they were kept in low flow tanks.



Encrusting SPS Coral In High Water Flow Tanks
Encrusting SPS species will still encrust the same in low flow and in high flow tanks. The only difference is the growth may be less in high flow tanks because they must be denser but basically all encrusting species of coral rely on the rock they grow on for structural support.


Montipora Digitata Coral In High Water Flow Tanks
Montipora Digitata grows in branches (Similar to branching acropora in shape), They will grow with thicker branches and more dense colony structure when kept in high flow tanks. But again it will take longer to grow since the branches must be of a denser bone structure.


Pocillopora Coral In High Water Flow Tanks
Pocillopora is my favorite SPS coral simply because it is one of the heartiest coral I have kept (When compared to other SPS corals that is). Some species of pocillopora will grow in very tight clusters with small branches and others will grow to have club like branches that are well over two inches thick and the only space in between the club branches will be small crevices that let water flow in to the coral colony, Pocillopora corals with this bone structure would have to be kept in very high flow tanks just because of the fact that the inner parts of the coral would die from lack of water movement. Pocillopora colonies that have the club like branches would be the hardest to break or fragment simply because of how dense a coral skeleton that is more than an inch in diameter would be.




Growth Pattern And Bone Structure Of SPS Corals Kept In Low Water Flow Tanks

Branching Acropora corals in low water flow tanks (Under 50 times turnover rate and hour)
Branching forms of acropora when kept in low water flow tanks will have very thin branches, The colony will be thin rather than lush. The coral will grow outward so more water flow can get throughout the colony and give essential oxygen and everything else the coral needs, It will also allow the coral’s waist to be removed easier than if it was a lush colony. The good thing about branching corals kept in low flow tanks is that the coral will look more like a colony since it will take less time to grow because the branches are thinner and there are far fewer branches thus giving a more mature look to your tank in half the time. But the bone density of the coral will be weak and an arm brushing against the coral could break off multiple branches.



Montipora Capricornis Coral In Low Water Flow Tanks
Plating montipora capricornis coral when kept in low flow tanks are more likely to grow in a single plate or sheet so the multiple tiers of the coral do not obstruct water flow. The bone density of the coral will be much weaker and far easier to break.



Encrusting SPS Coral In Low Water Flow Tanks
As I previously stated encrusting SPS coral will grow almost identically in low or high water flow rates the only difference is bone density but that does not matter since the encrusting coral relies on the rock it is attached to for structural support, But if kept in low flow rates encrusting SPS coral will grow faster considering that the bone density is weaker and it does not have to take the time to build and reinforce and can simply rely on growing out.



Montipora Digitata Coral In Low Water Flow Tanks
Montipora digitata corals will have extremely thin braches when kept in low water flow tanks so the lower water flow can support the colony. The branches will grow sparsely and be very brittle because it will not require a lot of bone density since it will not have to deal with the high flow rates. Again it will appear to grow faster because the branches are thinner and more sparse giving your tank a mature look in half the time.



Pocillopora Coral In Low Water Flow Tanks
Pocilopora corals when kept in low flow will have again thinner branches and a weaker bone density. Rather than grow in clumps the coral will grow outward and look much more beautiful (In my opinion) than in a clump of tangled branches, it will also be easier to frag seeing as the branches will be longer giving a larger frag and an easier area to cut the fragment from.




So when it comes to high or low flow for your SPS you will have to make the choice on what you want your corals to look like and how you want them to grow.

Aquaculture, Breeding, Propagating, Fragging And Growing Your Own SPS Corals
SPS coral are the easiest coral to propagate or frag in my opinion simply because of how easy it is to attach an SPS frag to a rock or frag plug (Some other species of coral are very difficult to attach to anything and who wants a $50 coral frag lost in the tank?) A simply frag tank (Or tanks) will keep all your trimmed coral frag out of your display (My two 12 gallon aquapod frag tanks pictured below)



Fragging Branching SPS Corals.
To frag a branching form of SPS you simply need a pair of bone cutters or a pair of pliers to break off a branch or a small portion of a branch and attach it to a frag plug or to a piece of live rock using aquarium safe epoxy or a cyanoacrylate gel super glue (If you are not sure of the brand of glue to use simply buy it from an aquarium company that makes it especially for fragging corals).

Fragging Encrusting SPS Corals
To frag encrusting SPS coral you will need a chisel, a dremel or a tile saw to cut up the rock that the encrusting SPS in attached to, Just be prepared to have many small frags if you are not experienced with a dremel, chisel or tile saw. You cannot simply peel off the encrusting SPS from the rock (As you could with encrusting soft corals) because when the SPS coral encrusts on to the rock it embeds its calcium skeleton in all the little holes and crevices. When you do frag the encrusting SPS you simply use aquarium safe epoxy or a cyanoacrylate gel super glue and attach the coral to a frag plug or a piece of live rock.

Fragging Plating SPS corals
Fragging plating SPS corals is both easy and tricky at the same time, if you simply snap a small portion of a rounded plate then it will ether break off the whole plate or leave a straight line across where you broke the frag off of, that straight line will be there for a long time and will be behind the growth of the rest of the plated coral. The best methods of fragging a plating coral is to ether take the whole plate off or cut a complete ring around the coral so it will all still be an even shape with no straight lines that will take away from the beauty of your coral colony. As for attaching your new plated coral fragments simply use aquarium safe epoxy or cyanoacrylate gel super glue and attach the coral to a frag plug or a piece of live rock.

SPS Disease

SPS And RTN
The most common death of an SPS coral is RTN (Rapid tissue necrosis). RTN is when the flesh of the coral falls off and leaves a completely bare skeleton. Usually from poor water quality or if the coral was kept in sub-par conditions when in shipping or transit from the fish store or wholesaler. Another thing that can cause RTN is iodine dips. I had twelve acropora frags that I bought and I dipped six of them in iodine and six were put straight in to the tank (After proper acclimation of course), all the frags that had the iodine dip Suffered from RTN while the other six were fine. A good solution if you do not want to add an unwanted pest to the aquarium is to use a quarantine tank.


Red Bugs
Red bugs are tiny little red specs to the naked eye but they are quite deadly to acropora corals, they stay on the coral and eat its flesh. Red bugs can cause poor polyp extension and death to the acropora if these little pests are allowed to stay on the coral or in the tank. There are many different medications for the treatment of red bugs but you will usually have to lightly brush the coral with a soft bristle tooth brush before and after you use the medications for the red bug treatment to assure that the red bug eggs are cleaned off since the medications may not soak in to the egg sack. Again a better solution to medications is to have a quarantine tank and observe the coral closely for a few days to make sure there are no red bugs.



Montipora Eating Nudibranch
A montipora eating nudibranch can be very difficult to get rid of, usually you will have to nightly pick the little slugs off of your coral and use a soft bristle toothbrush to brush the eggs away. Some medications could be used but you may be better off picking them off nightly for however long it takes to make sure there are none left. Make sure to look under the colony because the nudibranch may be hiding under the coral. A quarantine tank would give you a few days to look at the coral to see if there are any of these little pets.




Soft Corals
Soft corals are among the easiest of coral to keep (Even easier to keep than zoanthids or polyps). Soft corals are commonly recommended to newer reef keepers simply because these corals are hearty, but soft corals are enjoyed by even the most knowledgeable of reef keepers. Usually soft corals have a tan, brown or green color, flamboyantly colored soft corals may be dyed with food coloring so it is more appealing to hobbyists (I should mention that some finger leather corals are naturally a very beautiful lime green color). Not all soft coral are photosynthetic, some are beautifully colored and so beautiful you would want to have a tank dedicated to them but they require the care of an expert aquarist and public aquariums even have a hard time taking care of the, I am of course talking about the carnation tree coral.
Example of a dyed soft coral


Soft corals can live and thrive in less than desirable water conditions which is why they are recommended to beginners in this hobby.
Obviously pristine water conditions are wanted for soft corals but soft corals can live in tanks with high nitrites and nitrates without problems.

Water Flow For Soft Corals
Lower water flows are desirable for soft corals (Probably the highest I would recommend is a thirty five times turnover rate to fifty times turnover rate). The reason soft corals prefer lower water flow is because they do not have a skeleton like SPS corals and LPS corals do; they will be whipped around by the current and may not open or may die from too much water flow. Again how a coral breathes is through its flesh and from the constant water flow around the coral.
Growth patterns for soft corals will be the same in higher water flows as it is in lower water flows.

Lighting For Soft Corals
Soft coral can live under any lighting ranging from T8 fluorescent (Some soft corals cannot live under T8 so you should read up on the specific coral you intend to keep), T5 fluorescent, PC (Power Compact) and Metal halide. Soft corals will grow at a faster pace under higher lighting but they may prefer say T5 over metal halides simply because in some cases metal halides give too much light to the soft coral and inhibit growth. A good way to keep soft corals under MH is to acclimate the coral to the higher light with a lower photo period or to place the soft coral in a spot where they do not get direct metal halide lighting.
The best type of lighting for soft corals would be a mixture of T5 and metal halides but only when the soft corals are ether acclimated to direct metal halide exposure or when the soft coral is kept in a place in the tank where it does not get direct light from a metal halide.

Kenya Tree Corals (Cladiella sp.)
Kenya tree corals (Also known as colt corals) are extremely easy to keep and grow like a weed. As with all soft corals pristine water quality is not required for them to both live and thrive. Some people have said that Kenya tree corals can and will take over your tank, with me having kept one I would agree. I kept mine in a 55 gallon tank, I started with a five inch frag of Kenya tree coral and within a year the coral was twenty two inches tall by twenty four inches long and took over a whole half of my fifty five gallon tank. This is not a bad thing in larger tanks but in small tanks it will take over and you will soon have a species specific tank with a beautiful coral. One way to keep your Kenya tree coral in a manageable size is to frag the coral or trim it. You can easily attached the little trimmed frags to a frag plug or to a piece of live rock rubble and trade the frags in to your local fish store or sell them online and make a few dollars per frag.



Xenia (Xenia elongate and Xenia sp.)
Xenia is a very attractive coral that literally can turn from one stalk to five or ten in a matter of a few weeks/a month or two. Some xenia’s polyps can open and close in a pulsing mode and it really gives this coral and your tank a unique look. Placement for this coral is key, since they grow at such a rapid pace you must provide room for them to grow. An xenia will easily over grow other neighboring corals. This is by far the easiest soft coral to frag simply because they grow so rapidly it will not take more than a week or two for the coral to attach to a frag plug or live rock rubble, usually a line of fishing wire wrapped around the frag holding it against whatever you choose to attach it to will be good enough and the coral will attach. One of the only problem with this coral is they are known to have a die out period where one day the colony of xenia is thriving and the next they are shriveled and dead, Some people think this is caused by the tanks water being to hot others think it is because the xenia has used up all they could from the water, But in any case some xenia die for no apparent reason.



Toad Stool Leather Corals (Sarcophyton sp.)
A very beautiful coral that’s colors range from yellow, brown and green (The most common being brown). The growth pattern of this coral is a large mushroom shape with a beautiful bell for the top of the coral. In higher lighting the polyps of this coral may change colors to green but it may happen or it may not the only way to know for sure if your coral will have green polyps is to buy one that already has colored up (But this will usually double the corals price). Toad stool leather corals can emit toxins that prohibit the growth of stony corals but this can be taken care of with the use of carbon in the tanks filters.



Cabbage Leather Corals (Sinularia dura)
Cabbage leather corals grow to look like cabbage (As the name suggests), this type of coral grows in mats on the rock work and somewhat encrusts the live rock. The color of cabbage leather corals can be ether brown or green. This is a very hearty coral and is easily fragged using scissors and attached to a frag plug or live rock rubble with ether a rubber band or a fragging super glue.



Spaghetti Finger Leather Coral (Sinularia flexibis)
This is a common soft coral in the aquarium trade, This corals colors can be white, brown, green and rare colors forms include a lime green that if you did not know better you would assume it was fake. This species can emit toxins that inhibit hard corals growth but this can easily be combated with the use of carbon. This species of coral grows to look somewhat like a tree when it grows large with multiple branches that sway in the water flow.



Hand Coral (Lobophytum sp.)
Hand coral again are very common in the aquarium trade and grow to look like, you guessed it, a hand. This coral does not sway in the water as much as some other soft corals and has smooth skin with few polyps (Usually the polyps are only at the tips of its branches). This coral is extremely easy to care for and is usually relatively cheap compared to other corals.



Carnation Tree Corals (Dendronephthya sp.)
Carnation tree corals are beautiful corals that can be red, orange, yellow, and purple in color. Usually sporting garish colors and is tempting for any reef keeper. The problem with this coral is they do not contain the algae zooxanthellae and thus must be fed plankton a few times a day just to be able to live (Not thrive) but feeding your tank multiple times a day with plankton will crash your tank without the experience of an expert aquarist. Not only do these corals need fed they also need water movement that simulates that exact area of the ocean they come from. And for this coral to properly open it may need to be upside down with massive water flow. Carnation tree corals are surely beautiful but are better left in the ocean or in the care of an expert aquarist. This is no coral for a beginner.



Zoanthids (Zoanthus sp.) And Palythoa (Protopalythoa sp.) Corals

Zoanthids and Palythoa can come in every color and every color combination (I have even seen some that are black and white in color). Some colors of zoanthids or various polyps can be very expensive and are only sold by the polyp not frag or colony. I have even seen some single polyps of zoanthids going for three hundred dollars! But not all zoanthids are expensive; you can usually get a nice size colony of garishly colored zoanthids or polyps for less than fifty dollars depending on color and size of the colony.




[/b]Palythoa (Protopalythoa sp.)[/b]

Palythoa corals are commonly called 'button polyps" and can be very bright colors or very dark brown/black colors, It just depends on the coral and the lighting you keep the coral under. They grow like weeds and new polyps will pot up around the tank so make sure you like the species you buy because you may end up with it in a few different locations around your tank. These can be kept under low lighting (T5 and PC) to higher lighting like MH, Most brown corals from this species will turn green under direct MH lighting.

Common button polyp under direct 70 watt MH lighting

A bud from the exact coral above under T5 (The larger polyped coral)

So as you see this is a good example of the drastic color change polyps can undergo with different lighting for you aquarium.

Lighting For Zoanthids And Polyps
Under higher amounts of lighting zoanthids and polyps will have better colors while under lower lights the colors will be subdued. I once had a colony of button polyps that I kept directly under metal halide lighting and it was lime green, I later switch lighting to T5 and the coral changed to brown with green skirts within days (Pictures above). So zoanthids and palythoas color is highly dependent on the lighting they are kept under.
Be aware if you buy zoanthids or polyps lit with a better light or with a higher wattage of light than you have (Say you have T5 and the fish store has metal halides) the colors of the polyps or zoanthids may change drastically.
The best lighting for palythoa and zoanthids is metal halides and T5 but they can live under anything from T5, PC (Power Compact) or metal halides.



Scroll down for LPS coral guide.

Nice STICKY

good info.

Wow.

Sticky Sticky

Long Polyp Stony Corals

Long polyp stony corals (LPS) do not require much more than zoanthids and certainly not as much as SPS corals, but they do need good water and good lighting to survive grow and thrive. The most common LPS coral in the aquarium hobby is a brain coral (Favites spp.) but many LPS corals are available and are a beautiful addition to any aquarium.

Lighting for LPS corals

LPS corals can survive in T5, PC (Power Compact) and metal halides, If you are keeping LPS corals under PC or T5 make sure they get direct light and are not simply pushed in to the corner. If you are keeping LPS corals under metal halides you may have to acclimate them to the higher light depending on what light they were under before you got the corals. Caution must be taken with LPS coral because most have sweeper tentacles that will sting any neighboring corals, A good way to prevent this is to have good flow in the tank so the tentacles cannot extend more than a few inches beyond the corals skeleton.

Water Flow For LPS Corals
LPS corals do need moderate water flow but you must be aware that in high currents the flesh of LPS coral can actually be ripped off of the skeleton. Obviously do not put any LPS coral in the direct out flow of a powerhead.

Brain Corals (Favities spp. And Platygyra sp.)
Brain corals are very easy to keep and usually grow in a ball shape or a plate shape, If you wish to have a perfectly round brain coral you simply have to place the coral on your sand bed or on a flat rock and the coral will grow towards the light in a perfectly round shape, If the brain coral is on the rocks at an angle it will grow in a lumpy shape and grow towards the light. Brain corals do have sweeper tentacles so take caution on placement of this species. The colors of these species range from brown, green, red, purple, yellow and teal.

Brain coral placed unevenly on a rock.

Brain coral placed on the sand bed, this picture also shows the sweeper tentacles.


My brain coral under regular 50/50 PC.

My brain coral under actinic only.




Candy Cane Coral (Caulastrea furcata)
Candy cane corals are a very good choice for your first LPS coral because they are easy to keep, cheap, have no sweeper tentacles and are beautiful. Usually a single polyp frag of candy cane coral will be five or ten dollars and you will be able to grow the frag in to a beautiful colony in a few years. The colors of candy cane corals goes from lime green, blue and brown/tan.




Torch Coral (Euphyllia glabrescens)
Torch corals are notorious for sweeper tentacles, these are worse than anemones when it comes to stinging its neighbors, But they are extremely beautiful and some clown fish will even host this species (A good alternative if you do not want an anemone but still want to watch the symbiotic relationship of clown fish and its host). Torch corals are also knows to be able to outgrow and out compete most LPS corals in a relatively fast time (A few months of growth may be compared to a year’s growth of say a brain coral or a candy cane coral). Fragging of this species is most likely necessary so it does not out grow its neighbors and take over a tank (For nano tanks that is, in larger tanks you may never have to frag this coral). These are however hearty and probably a good choice for a beginner who is familiar with sweeper tentacles and basic fragging techniques. These coral can benefit from being fed some brine shrimp or frozen food.
These corals do resemble anemones and Frogspawn coral and can be compared to them both in some ways.
Torch corals can be green and brown in color and the tips of the coral tentacles can be pink or green.



Frogspawn coral (Euphyllia paradivisa)
Frogspawn coral and torch corals look alike but you can easily tell the difference between the two, Frogspawn have multiple little tips per tentacle when torch corals only have one tip per tentacle. The two corals have basically the same requirements and the same type of sweeper tentacles. Clown fish will also host this species on occasion so this is a good alternative if you do not want an anemone but still want to see the symbiotic relationship of clown fish and its host.
The most common color of frogspawn is green with pink tips or brown with green tips but brown/tan color varieties are also common but not as desirable as the green variety or the brown with green tip variety. These coral can benefit from being fed some brine shrimp or frozen food every so often.




Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sinuosa
Bubble corals have beautiful bubbles hiding the skeleton of the coral, These corals do have sweeper tentacles so again placement requires some thinking on growth of the coral and if the coral will be able to sting other coral in the tank. Something that you must take caution with it moving this coral and taking it out of water, The bubbles can and will easily break when take out of the water (If the corals bubble polyps are extended that is) or when pushed against a rock or the glass/acrylic of your aquarium. How you avoid the bubbles breaking when you take it out of the water or move it in the tank is to gently shake the coral so its polyps deflate and are not extended nor filled with water. This coral colors are white, green or brown/tan. If you keep the white colored bubble coral under a 20K halide or actinic T5/PC then the bubbles may have a blue tint to them.





Plate Coral (Fungia Repanda and Heliofungia Actiniformis )
Plate corals as the name suggest look like a plate in your tank, something that makes these corals very interesting is they can actually move around your tank and find its desired location on its own. These coral prefer to be on the sand bed rather than on the rocks because the corals flesh is protected from jagged edges on the sand bed, when if the coral is placed on the rock work the rocks may cut the corals flesh when it moves around. The heliofungia actiniformis species has extremely long tentacles so extra care must be taken to ensure they do not sting any other corals. Basically with this coral you just have to keep an eye on it since the place you put it may not be its final destination and you may find this coral directly next to another coral on the sand bed the next morning. Sweeper tentacles are a problem with this coral so the best thing to do is just make sure this is the only coral on the sand bed until it chooses its final placement.
These corals come in a variety of different colors from green, purple, blue and even some are orange or pink.


[img]http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/0897/images/fungia.jpg

Long tentacle heliofungia actiniformis


Hammer/Anchor Coral (Euphyllia Ancora)
Hammer/Anchor corals can grow in two different growth patterns, the first is a wall like growth that can trail off and create multiple walls as the coral grows and becomes larger. The second growth form is branching and looks similar to torch corals and frogspawn corals skeletons. The tentacles of this coral resembles a hammer or an anchor (Hence its common names). Both growth forms of this coral have sweeper tentacles and care must be taken when choosing a location for them in your tank. These coral can benefit from being fed some brine shrimp or frozen food.
The colors of this coral can be green, brown/tan, pink and some rarer species have a blue tint to them, And the tips of the tentacles can be any mix of the colors previously listed.




Open Brain Coral (Lobophyllia Hemprichii)
Also knows as “Lobo Brain Coral” this coral does not resemble a brain as much as some other corals commonly called brain coral. But this is a beautiful addition to any tank. This coral grows in to a wavy lace looking growth form and can grow buds off of the main colony that will need to be fragged so they will not be pushed in to the rock or the substrate beneath the coral. These do have sweeper tentacles so care must be taken when placing this coral.



Pagoda Cup Coral (Turbinaria peltata)
This is my personal favorite for LPS corals, these corals grow in ether a plate form or a cup shape and have multiple polyps that are about 1/4th of an inch to ½ an inch in size. These coral usually do well under higher light as well as medium light. The colors of this coral will range from blue, green and brown/tan. These are very easy to care for and appropriate for a beginner, This species has no sweeper tentacles and can be placed closer to other peaceful corals that will not sting it.


(Top coral in picture)


Flower Pot Coral (Goniopora sp.)
Flower pot corals while beautiful and colorful are extremely hard to take care of and require daily if not twice daily feedings of zooplankton, phytoplankton and other filter feeding foods, the feedings will quickly foul the tank so a huge protein skimmer and large water changes would most likely be necessary. Not only does this coral require feedings but it also demands perfect water quality (This will be difficult because of the multiple feedings). One more thing about this coral is that if any of the corals flesh is damaged in any way it is likely the coral will die (shipping, In your local fish store, fish trying to eat the coral or simply from the coral falling basically anything you could think of). If this coral is not fed its polyps will not extend (For the first few days they will but after that the coral will not have any energy to expand and it will be difficult to try and nurse the coral back to health). As with other LPS corals clown fish may host this species but they usually irritate the coral and this may cause the coral death if they do not get used to the fish swimming throughout its tentacles. These corals are best left in the hands of an expert aquarist or simply left in the ocean. These corals do have the zooxanthellae algae that feeds the coral but they still require the daily or twice daily feedings in order to thrive.




Non-Photosynthetic LPS Corals

Sun Coral (Tubastrea aurea)
These coral do require feedings but they are much easier to keep than carnation tree corals. These corals grow in clusters and usually give off buds that will pop up around the tank. For feeding these corals it is best to feed frozen food that is thawed and put in to a needle-less syringe then target fed to each individual polyp, these corals will grow rapidly when fed properly. Sun corals can go for one week without feedings but it is best to feed two or three times weekly. You can tell easily when your sun coral is in bad shape, the polyps will not extends or when they do they will look sluggish and will not inflate fully. If your sun coral is acting sluggish then you should bump your feeding regiment up. These corals may only inflate when the lights are out but you can quickly train them by feeding during the day at a certain time and they will always open at that time. These are moderately hard to keep not for beginners but you do not have to be an expert to keep them alive and thriving.




Well I hope that helped some of you that read through this little summery of various corals.

I will be updating with new species as time goes on (Obviously I will not be able to post about every species of coral but I sure can try to post about the most common species!) so stay tuned. Part two will include ricordia, acans, duncans and much much more!

-AcroporaLokani

Oh no is this stolen from RC

Thanks


Thanks, Glad to hear an experienced reef keeper thinks so.



Thanks



Thanks



No, I did not steal my writings. I wrote everything myself. Why would I steal something?

Overall, nice guide. I do see some things though that are incorrect and/or questionable. I'm going to bed now, but I'll try to be more specific when I have a little more time to comment.

Well I just put everything down to the best of my knowledge. Ill reply to your specific post and try to answer any questions about my writing you have for me.

And no offense but I think I did ok for being sixteen and seldom having a more complicated thought than one of Cat Von D.

lol ^

I agree with lgreen, there were some things I'll have to go back and re-read. But also like lgreen, not tonite, I'm tired.

Great writeup!!!

Nicely done. Hope your post doesnt get ruined by they usual suspects.

sorry no offense I just saw the RC image hot linking deal

wow! nice acro. i actually read through the whole writeup (unlike others here...)

Ok a few things I didn't like:

You said sps in a 15x turnover tank will work? No way, I had some of my stuff with 30x turnover and they still weren't happy, my birdsnest wasn't getting full PE. Now I added the K2 to get 50x and WOW what a difference, except i thing it about killed a few pf my acans but my sps love it.

Also SPS will not do well under PC's, you'd have to have large amounts of bulbs and all your sps would have to be almost touching the surface of the water.

T5's for SPS can be cheaper than halides at times, lets say i want to light a 40 breeder. A good 150w Halide setup for that tank would be around $500 a tek 6 bulb is like $420 with bulbs.

What ever that's just my personal experience and opinion......

I just briefly skimmed over it (gotta go pick up my daughters) and it looks pretty good. I'll give it a full read when I get back home. I did notice that you misspelled waste though (you spelled it waist, as in your belt-line) .

Good job.



And guys remember, everyone's tank is different, this guide is just a generalization. Some people may be able to keep SPS in high-nutrient, low-flow tanks (I've seen beautiful ones on RC) and some people can't. It's all dependent on hundreds of tiny factors. I'm sure AcroLok just meant it to serve as a basic guide to all corals since we really don't have one.

Sticky please Mods.

This picture you used is my friend Kelly's Candy Cane that I have a frag of:



It is now the size of a half a basketball in his 150g. here is a pic of my frag from the same colony:

Well at least I was able to do an ok guide to some corals. Thanks for the sticky!




Thank you.



Yea I hope so as well.



Oh I actually was having trouble with some of the pictures and ended up switching some of them out so they would load.



Thanks. It snowed two feet and I was stuck inside all day because of the forty MPH winds so I decided to write this up.



And I took my time trying to explain them to you, If you don't like my posts you do not have to reply Nick.



I have kept SPS (Acropora, Montipora and Pocillopora) in a 15x turnover rate and they did great and even encrusted within three weeks (They were also under PC and not at the surface). Not sure why your birdsnest was not happy, I have never kept that coral so maybe they do need more flow, but I did not post anything about birdsnest. Anyway SPS can and will survive and thrive in lower flow rates. If a coral is being blocked from massive wave action in the ocean by larger corals around it then would the coral die instantly? No it would still try to survive and grow, All corals (and animals) have an instinct to survive this is why even after being ripped out of the ocean a coral can still thrive in a fish tank, Corals are remarkably adaptable and hearty and will adjust.



I have kept SPS (Acropora, Montipora and pocillopora) under PC (Stock [biocube] 29 gallon lights) and they did great, They all encrusted within three weeks. and they were lower in the tank (Link in sig if you would like to read up on my BC thread).



A regular 150 watt halide is $300-$350 maximum,

150 watt Sunpod for $320
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...mp;pcatid=13975

150 watt viper $200
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...mp;pcatid=15489

150 watt MH with two 65 watt PC lighting system $386
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...mp;pcatid=12779

150 watt Aqualight $255
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...mp;pcatid=13922

Not sure where you are looking at $500 MH lights (Perhaps for a double light set?).



Well I am not out to make everyone happy (I just wanted a general guide), and you do not have to follow my guide if you think its wrong.

Your not 16...

Thanks.



Thanks, I'll fix the misspelled word (I finished this at 1:00 AM so I must have missed it, thanks for the heads up )

And thats correct all I wanted was a general guide, I cannot fit every variable for every coral in a few posts. And some corals can live in jaw dropping conditions and others need pristine water, It may even depend on the coral its self for instance, some flower pot corals will die if the tissue if damaged while others can be fragged without problem.



Looks great! I put pictures of my candy canes in to replace those.



Yes I am, I'll be seventeen in January.

People will argue that SPS will not do well under PC's but people are doing it successfully-including myself. Of course I wouldn't keep anything other than birdsnest and montis under PC's. I don't have spectacular color like I would with T5 or MH, but I have decent color and around 1/2"-1" of growth per month on my birdsnest and 1/2" on my montis.

That's good to know I am not the only one who has had luck with PC, Not the best colors but PC can work for some SPS.

yes but your generalizing. not ALL sps will do well under that lighting.

I agree. I've never tried any other SPS besides birdsnest and monti's under my lighting. I don't think anything else would do well but I can't really give any accurate info because I don't know.

very helpful thread..i think I know where to go from here w my 29 biocube...until tomorrow..happy new year....2009
Iain

Arguing turnover rate and lighting is insane. There are different types of flow, and not all PC/MH/T5 setups are equal.

Thanks, happy new year to you as well. And to nano-reef.com!

-Acro

The whole purpose behind keeping these corals is for their color. Let's face it brown corals in this hobby are a turn off for many.

You also stated that candycanes don't have sweepers. I have seen them extend 3" and longer many times.

Many LPS corals will extend longer sweepers under higher flow. A good example of this is the Galaxia coral.

You are correct about Pagoda corals not having long sweepers but fail to mention the mucus and poison darts these corals can expel.

Goniporas are photosynthetic and some species require a high amount of light.

The first nudibranch shown by the penny is not a montipora but a zoanthid eating nudibranch.

You also state that all soft corals can live under T8 and PC lighting. This is far from true. There are several species of soft corals that need higher light to survive. These include pipe organs, zoanthids and some types of toadstools just to name a few.

Overall I don't agree with everything but its not that bad of a general guide even though generalizing in this hobby can get you into trouble.

Also if you are going to use other peoples pictures you should not link directly to them and should give credit to the owners.

Gonipora are photosynthetic.

You are correct, but they do still need to be fed in order to thrive

Need a writeup on galaxia!

Yea, I'll be editing/adding more species in my fish and coral guides when I have time.

not bad not bad...this would be a great sticky to place in the beginners thread. although this si a generalized write-up, covers most of the general coral care.

I would agree, however, birdsnest in higher flow looks great, and i agree on you with pocillipora looking awesome!

*sigh*

oh nevermind. If you're only 16 years old, it's excellent that you know as much as you do about the hobby. However, I do strongly recommend that you do a spell and grammar check on your PC (with MSWord/CorelWord Perfect) or even have someone review your work before you publish it. There are a few things about your description of corals and lighting that I may have to disagree with you though. No worries.

Great job! This is a wonderful collection of information, and I found it very helpful. Maybe it's not perfect and there are some nay-sayers, but it's an exercise that no one else here has attempted to do to this extent on this forum. Advice to both sides: To you, don't get offended if others have differing opinions or experiences. To others, be appreciative that someone took the time to compile this information and be kind in your criticisms.

awesome job for a newbie like me to understand.

thanks for this guy, it should be noted that when clownfish host a torch, frogspawn, or hammer coral, that it ca irritate the coral and the coral can die.

A little more peer-review and some of this could be added to our coral database.

I wonder in Maddox would be willing to read and comment.

you should contact this guy.. he must have copied your post..

http://www.worldwidereefers.com/forums/sho...-Acropora-Guide

great sticky

You'll probably have to contact them on your own. Acroporalokani hasn't been on since march 2009.

I have kept zoanthids under low light, and they thrived. They were probably 15 inches from 2 t8 bulbs, and a t5. The ones I've kept definitely do NOT require high light, in my experience. They weren't brown either. They stayed a nice pink and blue color, and were very large.

So, I would say zoas have the ability to thrive under almost any lights.