Soft or Hard
- Thread starter mike owen
- Start date
Andrew Henry
New member
If you're just starting out I'd definitely start with soft corals before sinking $$ into Hard corals.
Also, to make this question a bit easier to answer could you tell us about your tank, size, lighting, filtration etc etc
Also, to make this question a bit easier to answer could you tell us about your tank, size, lighting, filtration etc etc
In addition to soft corals (AKA octocorals), there are some other critters that are relatively easy. Mushroom corals (AKA mushroom anenomes, corallimorphs, or corallimorpharians) are hardy, often tolerant of lower light than hard corals, and usually quite colorful. Zoanthids, palythoas, and their relatives (AKA zoos, zoas, palys, or just "polyps") are also good starters, and come in an incredible variety of color combinations.
There are three main things that make hard corals (AKA hexacorals) more difficult than soft corals, especially for beginners. First, they usually need more intense light than soft corals, mushrooms, and zoanthids. Second, they sometimes need stronger water flow than the other animals. Third, they need high water quality, and they don't tolerate much variation in the water quality.
These qualities make hard corals tough for newcomers, who often have lower-powered lights and fewer powerheads, are less likely to own or have access to a Reverse Osmosis-DeIonized (RO/DI) water system, and have less experience at maintaining water quality. Many newcomers also tend to start with smaller tanks, and the quality of a small volume of water will change more quickly than a larger volume. It's counter-intuitive, but in this hobby, smaller systems can be harder to maintain than larger ones.
Saltwater hobbyists have divided the hard corals into Large Polyped Stony (LPS) and Soft Polyped Stony (SPS) corals. This distinction doesn't come from marine biology, but from practical reef-keeping experience. In general, LPS corals are harder to take care of than soft corals, zoos and mushrooms, and SPS corals are more difficult than LPS corals. A good LPS coral for a relative beginner would be Duncanopsammia axifuga (AKA Duncans, sometimes Duncanos), but like mcfeefer, I would advise starting with softies, shrooms, or zoas before trying your first LPS.
Edit: Another quick tip - Leave anenomes for later, too. Many people start with clownfish in their first salwater tank, and they want their fish to have an anenome to live with. Unfortunately, it's much harder to keep anenomes alive than clownfish. Luckily, clownfish are very adaptable, and will happily use many different kinds of soft corals, and several types of LPS, as substitute anenomes.
There are three main things that make hard corals (AKA hexacorals) more difficult than soft corals, especially for beginners. First, they usually need more intense light than soft corals, mushrooms, and zoanthids. Second, they sometimes need stronger water flow than the other animals. Third, they need high water quality, and they don't tolerate much variation in the water quality.
These qualities make hard corals tough for newcomers, who often have lower-powered lights and fewer powerheads, are less likely to own or have access to a Reverse Osmosis-DeIonized (RO/DI) water system, and have less experience at maintaining water quality. Many newcomers also tend to start with smaller tanks, and the quality of a small volume of water will change more quickly than a larger volume. It's counter-intuitive, but in this hobby, smaller systems can be harder to maintain than larger ones.
Saltwater hobbyists have divided the hard corals into Large Polyped Stony (LPS) and Soft Polyped Stony (SPS) corals. This distinction doesn't come from marine biology, but from practical reef-keeping experience. In general, LPS corals are harder to take care of than soft corals, zoos and mushrooms, and SPS corals are more difficult than LPS corals. A good LPS coral for a relative beginner would be Duncanopsammia axifuga (AKA Duncans, sometimes Duncanos), but like mcfeefer, I would advise starting with softies, shrooms, or zoas before trying your first LPS.
Edit: Another quick tip - Leave anenomes for later, too. Many people start with clownfish in their first salwater tank, and they want their fish to have an anenome to live with. Unfortunately, it's much harder to keep anenomes alive than clownfish. Luckily, clownfish are very adaptable, and will happily use many different kinds of soft corals, and several types of LPS, as substitute anenomes.
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It may be a common, entry-level question, but it could become an advanced topic. What's the cutoff from SPS to LPS? 5mm polyps, 2mm? Is there such a thing as Medium Polyped Stonies? Why exactly are SPS so much harder to care for than softies and LPS? There could be a discussion of non-photosynthetic softies; they certainly aren't easier to keep than SPS.
We can maintain this as an advanced discussion area by taking a high-level approach to even the simple questions, instead of just saying "Softies are easiest; buy those," or far worse, "Get lost, newbie, we don't answer those questions here." Every round of "Let's keep the beginner questions out of the advanced forum" seems to wind up with people getting agitated over the distinction between 'beginner' and 'advanced', and the Mods keeping a close eye on the thread. I vote to skip it this time.
We can maintain this as an advanced discussion area by taking a high-level approach to even the simple questions, instead of just saying "Softies are easiest; buy those," or far worse, "Get lost, newbie, we don't answer those questions here." Every round of "Let's keep the beginner questions out of the advanced forum" seems to wind up with people getting agitated over the distinction between 'beginner' and 'advanced', and the Mods keeping a close eye on the thread. I vote to skip it this time.
robs.mark
Premium Member
Define difficult? I would say to keep any form of marine life we should be aiming to keep our water in pristine condition, thats just good practice. That in mind your system would have to up to scratch also.
I know nothing about your system so its hard for me to comment. But to put yourself in a good perspective starting position i would recommend that you system has good lighting (eq to 250w halides over a 24" tall tank) and plenty of flow (e.g I run a pair of 6055's, a 6045 and a K1 + 4000 l of return pumps on my 3x2x2). Im not saying that its impossible to grow sps under a system without all the toys, but imo the easier your tank makes if for you to do so, the less chance you have of getting burnt out trying.
The rest would be up to you by deciding how much time in a week you would be willing to invest into your tank..
soft corals been the least amount of effort, sps been the most!
I know nothing about your system so its hard for me to comment. But to put yourself in a good perspective starting position i would recommend that you system has good lighting (eq to 250w halides over a 24" tall tank) and plenty of flow (e.g I run a pair of 6055's, a 6045 and a K1 + 4000 l of return pumps on my 3x2x2). Im not saying that its impossible to grow sps under a system without all the toys, but imo the easier your tank makes if for you to do so, the less chance you have of getting burnt out trying.
The rest would be up to you by deciding how much time in a week you would be willing to invest into your tank..
soft corals been the least amount of effort, sps been the most!
Reverend Reefer
New member
in my humble experience, i've found soft corals in general quite difficult. i really dont know why. i realize different tanks are different but ive never been able to keep very many softies alive in general. i do have lots of zoas but that's all. most of my "soft" corals, like leathers, which are supposedly very easy to keep according to most, melt away in my tank, wherever i place them. ive had a lot of luck with LPS corals and generally find them almost impossible to kill.
since i started this hobby, maybe 3 or 4 yrs ago, i still have a large bubble coral, an open brain coral, a couple frogspawns/torch corals, while all my softies (several leathers, green cloves, anthelias, etc) have melted away. my acans (hard) seem to be more resilient than any soft coral ive ever owned.
since i started this hobby, maybe 3 or 4 yrs ago, i still have a large bubble coral, an open brain coral, a couple frogspawns/torch corals, while all my softies (several leathers, green cloves, anthelias, etc) have melted away. my acans (hard) seem to be more resilient than any soft coral ive ever owned.
