The article below is a brief introduction to soft corals for beginner aquarists. This is, by no means, an exhaustive treatment of soft coral husbandry.
Example of soft coral: mushroom coral.
Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @John3 ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Soft corals, commonly known as Softies, are the easiest type of coral to get started with when starting out in the world of Reef Aquariums. And while they are one of the best to get started with, like any living creature they have their own needs and quirks. With this article we hope to introduce you to soft coral ownership and whet your appetite for setting up a display of your own.
Alcyonacea, is the order to which soft corals belong. Taxonomy changes all the time, but below is a screenshot on what was found at the time of this writing. Octocorallia is a subclass under Alcyonacea, and most soft corals belong to Octocorallia. Zoanthids, or button polyps, are not found within Octocorallia and are not technically a soft coral, although they are good for beginners.
Screenshot is courtesy of @Seawitch, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Soft corals don't have a lot in common with stony or hard corals, usually referred to as Small Polyp Stony (SPS) and Large Polyp Stony (LPS) corals, the livestock most people think of when you use the word coral and have only have a superficial resemblance to them. While their tentacles and polyps may look similar to more classic stony corals, they lack the rigid calcium carbonate skeletons possessed by stony corals and possess eightfold radial symmetry (with their polyps and tentacles coming in patterns of eight) as opposed to sixfold radial symmetry (in patterns of six).
In fact they are as genetically related to hard corals as they are to other marine invertebrates that are not commonly thought of as a type of coral, soft or otherwise, such as anemones. Lastly, soft corals can be photosynthetic or non-photosynthetic and mostly survive on plankton with their eight tentacles, eating anything that isn’t fast enough to get away though most of them possess symbiotic zooxanthellae algae that help with their food and energy needs, more on that later.
How much zooxanthellae algae the soft corals possess is directly related to the depth at which these corals are found in the wild. The deeper the corals live in the ocean, the less zooxanthellae algae they have. Soft corals have no need for zooxanthellae algae at great depths where the sunshine doesn't penetrate the water.
Green leather (soft) coral.
Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @kichimark ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Softies are excellent corals for those looking to start with reef cultivation, for several reasons. They are hardy and less prone to injury and infection during collection than hard corals. They grow quickly and easily in captivity, producing individuals that are hardier and less expensive than those collected in the wild. Even when they are wild collected, they can be removed from a reef ecosystem with less damage to that ecosystem as they do not build reefs but simply live on them. They are not a principal prey species and don’t regularly serve as habitats for other reef creatures. Softies also thrive on the dissolved organic matter that can be common in busier aquariums requiring less to be filtered out as it plays an important role in the diets of corals. Many corals also benefit from the waste and daily feedings generated by keeping fish in a tank.
The calcium needs of soft corals are typically much lower than those of stony corals. Some soft corals have sclerites, internal needle-like pieces that help to give them shape. However, since soft corals aren't actually building the reef structure like stony corals, they won't use up calcium in a closed environment at anywhere near the rate of stony coral consumption. This is another feature of soft corals that makes them good for beginners: you won't typically have to start dosing calcium right away. There is some fairly recent research that genus, Sinularia, soft coral may be a minute reef builder.
Cabbage coral, Sinularia brassica.
Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @andrewkw ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
There are many species of soft corals that are popular additions to large and small aquariums. Starter corals such as mushrooms, and some leathers tolerate the parameter shifts in a newly cycled tank and will actually help stabilize it. Alcyoniidae or Leather Corals really show the variety of appearances soft corals can take on. With unique-looking specimens like Anthomastus looking like a ball, and Sarcophyton looking like lettuce or cabbage. Nephtheidae another popular family of soft corals often known as carnation corals, tree corals or colt soft corals and they have a wide variety of attractive colors such as reds, pinks, yellows and purples. A particularly striking variety is the Japanese Pink Nephthea which comes out a gorgeous bright pink. Another very common species is the Eleutherobia variabile having a pleasing pink and orange appearance and attractive polyps that look like an underwater flower arrangement.
It’s important to note that some varieties are not recommended at all for the home hobbyist. A good example of this is Dendronephthya/Scleronephthya which have been difficult, bordering on impossible to keep in captivity but attempts are often made due to their attractive colors . They lack photosynthetic zooxanthellae that can be found in other coral varieties and as they are voracious filter feeders they require a large amount of plankton that is almost impossible to produce in a captive environment. Similarly, many of the types of coral that do not possess symbiotic zooxanthellae require so much extra food to make up for the missing sugars that they frequently result in the tank becoming fouled.
Sarcophyton colony (toadstool coral) in a museum in Sweden. This colony is about a meter across.
Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @Sallstrom ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
It's impossible to generalize about the husbandry required for all soft corals. And we recommend that you research the needs of each and every coral you add to your tank. There are at the very least 3000 species of soft corals. That said, we will give you some hints on what soft corals usually need.
In order to build an optimal environment for your softies you will need low to medium lighting or at least a lot less than is required by SPS corals, a constant low level food supply and a gentle current. Lower lighting needs is another reason why soft corals are often recommended for beginners--these corals won't usually require extremely high (and expensive) light and more sophisticated lighting fixtures than what came with your first all-in-one (AIO) tank.
Timing your feeds can also be important, for example the Alcyonium or Indo-Pacific Sea Hand needs dim light and to be primarily fed at night. It’s also important to note that the zooxanthellae in many of your soft corals will provide the sugars that your corals need to survive, but that is only energy – not nutrients. Softies require a lot of particulate food in order to meet their protein requirements. However, much of the proteinous food requirements can be met with a well maintained sand bed combined with extra particulate supplied by the fish in the aquarium though in a pinch the aquarist can add their own planktonic material to the aquarium to supplement. What your softies need depends on what kinds of soft corals you have and what kind of an aquarium you have (size, bioload, etc.)
Soft corals can reproduce both sexually and asexually. They can bud and produce new polyps that can then be removed to create a new individual or reproduce via a “brooding event” where released sperm is captured by female polyps or both sperm and eggs can be released and fertilized ova settle on the bottom of the sea.
The removal of pieces of the coral to create new individuals is known as fragging. One of the advantages of soft corals is that they are often easier to frag and expand than stony corals, often requiring simply a rubber band to hold the fragged piece in place while it attaches to a piece of live rock. An important factor to keep in mind, however, is that some soft corals can be some of the most difficult to attach. Soft corals often produce slime when cut which can make them difficult to glue into place, this can often be averted by cutting away some rock with the coral so you have a solid base for the coral plug.
In many cases you will need to prune back your soft corals to prevent them from growing out of control so expanding that type of coral across your aquarium, transferring a cutting to an additional aquarium or even selling your cuttings can be a natural offshoot of the pruning process. Many aquarists with a lot of coral soon set up a dedicated "frag" tank.
Hopefully our overview of soft corals has given you a healthy interest and hunger to get started in building your own soft coral displays. Many reef aquarists aspire to raise SPS coral and view stony corals as much more beautiful. Soft coral can be quite lovely to look at, too, and should not be underestimated. The Reef2Reef January 2019 Reef of the Month was a soft coral display.
Please note that soft corals can sting just like stony corals. Wear gloves when handling soft coral for your protection and the protection of your coral.
Sources
· http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cnidaria/octocorallia.html
· http://www.wetwebmedia.com/soft.htm
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyonacea
· http://seaa.rwsentosablog.com/hard-corals-soft-corals/
· https://www.mydigitalpublication.com/article/Soft+Corals+—+Ecology+And+Nutrition+Of+Azooxanthellate+Octocorals/1417163/161377/article.html
· https://www.thoughtco.com/soft-corals-octocorals-2291391
· https://calicoaquatics.co.uk/blogs/news/beginners-guide-to-soft-coral
· https://reefbuilders.com/2016/10/13/how-to-frag-soft-corals/#
· https://www.petcha.com/soft-coral-fragging/
· https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fragging-and-attaching-leather-corals.90938/
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_soft_coral
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyoniidae
· http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i5/dendros/dendros.htm
· http://www.wetwebmedia.com/alcyoniids.htm
· http://www.3reef.com/threads/when-to-add-corals.121839/
· https://www.petcha.com/feeding-soft-corals-and-hard-corals/
· http://www.garf.org/FRUGALREEFER/sarc1.html
· https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/corals/coral02_zooxanthellae.html
· https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110816133113.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We encourage all our readers to join the Reef2Reef forum. It’s easy to register, free, and reefkeeping is much easier and more fun in a community of fellow aquarists. We pride ourselves on a warm and family-friendly forum where everyone is welcome. You will also find lots of contests and giveaways with our sponsors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Profile: Peter Steckley
Peter Steckley is a freelance science writer based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When he's not testing out new recipes on his family or studying reef aquariums, he's usually reading or enjoying the latest video game releases.
Example of soft coral: mushroom coral.
Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @John3 ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Soft corals, commonly known as Softies, are the easiest type of coral to get started with when starting out in the world of Reef Aquariums. And while they are one of the best to get started with, like any living creature they have their own needs and quirks. With this article we hope to introduce you to soft coral ownership and whet your appetite for setting up a display of your own.
Alcyonacea, is the order to which soft corals belong. Taxonomy changes all the time, but below is a screenshot on what was found at the time of this writing. Octocorallia is a subclass under Alcyonacea, and most soft corals belong to Octocorallia. Zoanthids, or button polyps, are not found within Octocorallia and are not technically a soft coral, although they are good for beginners.
Screenshot is courtesy of @Seawitch, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Soft corals don't have a lot in common with stony or hard corals, usually referred to as Small Polyp Stony (SPS) and Large Polyp Stony (LPS) corals, the livestock most people think of when you use the word coral and have only have a superficial resemblance to them. While their tentacles and polyps may look similar to more classic stony corals, they lack the rigid calcium carbonate skeletons possessed by stony corals and possess eightfold radial symmetry (with their polyps and tentacles coming in patterns of eight) as opposed to sixfold radial symmetry (in patterns of six).
In fact they are as genetically related to hard corals as they are to other marine invertebrates that are not commonly thought of as a type of coral, soft or otherwise, such as anemones. Lastly, soft corals can be photosynthetic or non-photosynthetic and mostly survive on plankton with their eight tentacles, eating anything that isn’t fast enough to get away though most of them possess symbiotic zooxanthellae algae that help with their food and energy needs, more on that later.
How much zooxanthellae algae the soft corals possess is directly related to the depth at which these corals are found in the wild. The deeper the corals live in the ocean, the less zooxanthellae algae they have. Soft corals have no need for zooxanthellae algae at great depths where the sunshine doesn't penetrate the water.
Green leather (soft) coral.
Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @kichimark ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Softies are excellent corals for those looking to start with reef cultivation, for several reasons. They are hardy and less prone to injury and infection during collection than hard corals. They grow quickly and easily in captivity, producing individuals that are hardier and less expensive than those collected in the wild. Even when they are wild collected, they can be removed from a reef ecosystem with less damage to that ecosystem as they do not build reefs but simply live on them. They are not a principal prey species and don’t regularly serve as habitats for other reef creatures. Softies also thrive on the dissolved organic matter that can be common in busier aquariums requiring less to be filtered out as it plays an important role in the diets of corals. Many corals also benefit from the waste and daily feedings generated by keeping fish in a tank.
The calcium needs of soft corals are typically much lower than those of stony corals. Some soft corals have sclerites, internal needle-like pieces that help to give them shape. However, since soft corals aren't actually building the reef structure like stony corals, they won't use up calcium in a closed environment at anywhere near the rate of stony coral consumption. This is another feature of soft corals that makes them good for beginners: you won't typically have to start dosing calcium right away. There is some fairly recent research that genus, Sinularia, soft coral may be a minute reef builder.
Cabbage coral, Sinularia brassica.
Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @andrewkw ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
There are many species of soft corals that are popular additions to large and small aquariums. Starter corals such as mushrooms, and some leathers tolerate the parameter shifts in a newly cycled tank and will actually help stabilize it. Alcyoniidae or Leather Corals really show the variety of appearances soft corals can take on. With unique-looking specimens like Anthomastus looking like a ball, and Sarcophyton looking like lettuce or cabbage. Nephtheidae another popular family of soft corals often known as carnation corals, tree corals or colt soft corals and they have a wide variety of attractive colors such as reds, pinks, yellows and purples. A particularly striking variety is the Japanese Pink Nephthea which comes out a gorgeous bright pink. Another very common species is the Eleutherobia variabile having a pleasing pink and orange appearance and attractive polyps that look like an underwater flower arrangement.
It’s important to note that some varieties are not recommended at all for the home hobbyist. A good example of this is Dendronephthya/Scleronephthya which have been difficult, bordering on impossible to keep in captivity but attempts are often made due to their attractive colors . They lack photosynthetic zooxanthellae that can be found in other coral varieties and as they are voracious filter feeders they require a large amount of plankton that is almost impossible to produce in a captive environment. Similarly, many of the types of coral that do not possess symbiotic zooxanthellae require so much extra food to make up for the missing sugars that they frequently result in the tank becoming fouled.
Sarcophyton colony (toadstool coral) in a museum in Sweden. This colony is about a meter across.
Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @Sallstrom ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
It's impossible to generalize about the husbandry required for all soft corals. And we recommend that you research the needs of each and every coral you add to your tank. There are at the very least 3000 species of soft corals. That said, we will give you some hints on what soft corals usually need.
In order to build an optimal environment for your softies you will need low to medium lighting or at least a lot less than is required by SPS corals, a constant low level food supply and a gentle current. Lower lighting needs is another reason why soft corals are often recommended for beginners--these corals won't usually require extremely high (and expensive) light and more sophisticated lighting fixtures than what came with your first all-in-one (AIO) tank.
Timing your feeds can also be important, for example the Alcyonium or Indo-Pacific Sea Hand needs dim light and to be primarily fed at night. It’s also important to note that the zooxanthellae in many of your soft corals will provide the sugars that your corals need to survive, but that is only energy – not nutrients. Softies require a lot of particulate food in order to meet their protein requirements. However, much of the proteinous food requirements can be met with a well maintained sand bed combined with extra particulate supplied by the fish in the aquarium though in a pinch the aquarist can add their own planktonic material to the aquarium to supplement. What your softies need depends on what kinds of soft corals you have and what kind of an aquarium you have (size, bioload, etc.)
Soft corals can reproduce both sexually and asexually. They can bud and produce new polyps that can then be removed to create a new individual or reproduce via a “brooding event” where released sperm is captured by female polyps or both sperm and eggs can be released and fertilized ova settle on the bottom of the sea.
The removal of pieces of the coral to create new individuals is known as fragging. One of the advantages of soft corals is that they are often easier to frag and expand than stony corals, often requiring simply a rubber band to hold the fragged piece in place while it attaches to a piece of live rock. An important factor to keep in mind, however, is that some soft corals can be some of the most difficult to attach. Soft corals often produce slime when cut which can make them difficult to glue into place, this can often be averted by cutting away some rock with the coral so you have a solid base for the coral plug.
In many cases you will need to prune back your soft corals to prevent them from growing out of control so expanding that type of coral across your aquarium, transferring a cutting to an additional aquarium or even selling your cuttings can be a natural offshoot of the pruning process. Many aquarists with a lot of coral soon set up a dedicated "frag" tank.
Hopefully our overview of soft corals has given you a healthy interest and hunger to get started in building your own soft coral displays. Many reef aquarists aspire to raise SPS coral and view stony corals as much more beautiful. Soft coral can be quite lovely to look at, too, and should not be underestimated. The Reef2Reef January 2019 Reef of the Month was a soft coral display.
Please note that soft corals can sting just like stony corals. Wear gloves when handling soft coral for your protection and the protection of your coral.
Sources
· http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cnidaria/octocorallia.html
· http://www.wetwebmedia.com/soft.htm
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyonacea
· http://seaa.rwsentosablog.com/hard-corals-soft-corals/
· https://www.mydigitalpublication.com/article/Soft+Corals+—+Ecology+And+Nutrition+Of+Azooxanthellate+Octocorals/1417163/161377/article.html
· https://www.thoughtco.com/soft-corals-octocorals-2291391
· https://calicoaquatics.co.uk/blogs/news/beginners-guide-to-soft-coral
· https://reefbuilders.com/2016/10/13/how-to-frag-soft-corals/#
· https://www.petcha.com/soft-coral-fragging/
· https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fragging-and-attaching-leather-corals.90938/
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_soft_coral
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyoniidae
· http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i5/dendros/dendros.htm
· http://www.wetwebmedia.com/alcyoniids.htm
· http://www.3reef.com/threads/when-to-add-corals.121839/
· https://www.petcha.com/feeding-soft-corals-and-hard-corals/
· http://www.garf.org/FRUGALREEFER/sarc1.html
· https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/corals/coral02_zooxanthellae.html
· https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110816133113.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We encourage all our readers to join the Reef2Reef forum. It’s easy to register, free, and reefkeeping is much easier and more fun in a community of fellow aquarists. We pride ourselves on a warm and family-friendly forum where everyone is welcome. You will also find lots of contests and giveaways with our sponsors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Profile: Peter Steckley
Peter Steckley is a freelance science writer based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When he's not testing out new recipes on his family or studying reef aquariums, he's usually reading or enjoying the latest video game releases.
