What is the difference between octocorals and hard corals

There are other similarly colored gorgonians that do better in captivity. This video shows the various ways a Blue Coral can appear. Their polyps come out at feeding time and their "blue" coloring is actually inside the coral with more of a tannish skin.

When they shed, they pull in their polyps and they slough off a layer of slime, similar to Toadstool Leather Corals. They like strong turbulent flow not linear which can damage the polyps and strong lighting. Moderate lighting can work, however they will have to be fed to make up for the lack of light. This beginner coral is a little odd ball that will be a joy to own! As you can see the Sea Pen reacts by pulling itself tightly into a ball.

They need a 4" sand bed to sink their "foot" into and feed at night. Feed them regularly with zooplankton and other high-protein foods that are of small particulate size. Letting go and "floating" may be okay in the wild, though in captivity, this can lead to a disastrous end!

They are best left to advanced aquarists. They are best kept in a 50 gallon tank or more and they like bright lighting, however they can tolerate less light with supplemental feedings. They like moderate to high water movement, and will not do well in slower waters. Lysmata or Saron Shrimp will feed on them and certain species of algae will grow over them. This video uses organ music as a back drop for this Organ Pipe Coral. This video does well to show more of the inner structure of the coral, with the individual "pipes" for each polyp.

Colonies can reach 12" tall and 24" around, so a 50 gallon or more tank is needed. Bright lighting with feedings of artemia nauplii, rotifers, or dissolved frozen foods with fine particulates are needed. They must have a deep sand bed or refugium to produce other particulates in the water. This was the key in keeping them long term. Organ Pipe Corals like moderate to strong water movement. Corky Sea Fingers need a few things to stay alive and healthy in captivity.

The tank should be 50 gallons at least and 24" or deeper. If there will be other corals, protect them from your spreading gorgonian by making a "rock island" in the middle of the sand. Also use media to help keep their toxins under control so they do not kill other corals. Fish waste will add to the nutrients they take from the water as well as stirring the sand and at times, feeding live phytoplankton.

Some aquarists say they do not need food, just strong light, however with moderate light, they may need some very tiny particulate foods. This leather coral is one of over 40 species in the Lobophytum genus. They have fully retractable polyps and this genus has a short wide low stalk and has folds across its upper surface that are crowded planted or fingerlike.

The shapes of this genus can be bowl, dish or upright and shed mucus that should be kept off of other corals. Moderate light and moderate water flow and good calcium levels will help this coral grow quickly. Feed them foods that filter feeders eat. The Cabbage Leather Coral, Sinularia brassica inaccurately called dura is one of the species that reproduce by dropping branches or fragmenting. These toxic corals will not be bothered by angelfish! They should not be kept with Acropora and Porites as they will stunt or inhibit their growth, often killing these stony corals.

Some colonies of Sinularia can be over years old! What are Octocorals? Sometimes Octocorals are loosely dubbed "soft corals", but that's not quite right. These corals are softer than stony corals, and most do not really contribute to reef building. But most do have calcium, or aragonite, in their system. Rather than creating larger skeletal masses, most of these corals have teeny little skeletal pieces buried inside, called spicules or sclerites.

On some the spicules are used to build tiny internal support-type rods and others use them to anchor to the substrate.

The spicules are also used at a microscopic level to help identify the different species. Though not adding hard structure to the reef these spicules do add large amounts of sediment. Compounds within the tissues of soft corals may be used for medicines.

Threats include human disturbance through humans stepping on corals or dropping anchors on them , overharvesting, pollution, and habitat destruction. Soft coral species include:. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile.

Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Still, both types of corals include a huge range of species, so exceptions exist in the form of difficult soft corals and easy hard corals.

Soft corals still need calcium supplementation but less than hard corals, since soft corals need only enough to produce and maintain their spiracles.

Most species of soft corals also need 5 watts of light per gallon. Keep in mind that many species of soft coral, particularly star polyps, button polyps and mushroom corals may reproduce rapidly, and spread across hard surfaces in the aquarium.

By using the site, you agree to the uses of cookies and other technology as outlined in our Policy, and to our Terms of Use. Do Angelfish Need a Bubbler? How to Care for Zoanthids. Hard Corals are corals that have six tentacles or multiples of six i. They secrete a rigid skeleton made of calcium carbonate. The polyps live on the surface and within the top few centimeters of the skeleton.

Hard corals are also called "stony corals" and corals that form reef structures also referred to as hermatypic corals. Octocorals are corals that have eight tentacles. Most octocorals secrete a flexible skeleton that consists of a central core made of a protein called gorgonin and outer layer called the rind. The polyps are embedded in the rind. Octocorals are also called gorgonians and 'soft corals. Hard corals come in a variety of growth forms.

Some examples of these growth forms are branching corals, plate or sheet-forming corals, encrusting corals, and massive or boulder corals.

Each polyp produces its own skeletal material and sits in a pitted area of the skeleton known as a corallite. For some species of coral, the corallites are fused together to form elongated ridges and valleys.

Many species with fused corallites are commonly called brain corals because of their appearance, whereas many species with discrete corallites are commonly referred to as star corals. Although growth rates differ between different coral growth forms and species, hard corals generally grow very slowly. Hard coral growth is highly dependent on sunlight, warm temperatures ranging from 20 o C 68 o F to 29 o C 84 o F and water quality clear, low nutrient water is ideal and is therefore varies greatly from location to location and limited to shallow tropical and subtropical waters.

In Florida, branching corals can grow as much as 10 centimeters per year, whereas massive coral colonies grow about one centimeter per year.

Massive coral colonies like the star and brain corals pictured above can grow to be several meters across and can be several hundred years old. Octocorals come in two general growth forms, encrusting and branching. The branching growth form, however, has many variations. Examples are sea rods, sea plumes, sea whips, and sea fans. While most octocorals have a flexible skeleton with a central core made of a protein called gorgonin, some have a central core made of tightly bound or fused calcareous known as spicules.

These octocorals are not as common and are typically not as flexible. Though growth rates in octocorals are not as well studied as those of stony corals, the more common octocoral species in Florida have been found to grow in height about two centimeters per year.

Many hard corals, and all hermatypic corals, share a symbiotic relationship, a relationship between two dissimilar organisms, with microscopic algae called zooxanthellae.