Coral

Green Cabbage Coral is One Of The Best Corals for Beginners

If you’re completely new to reef aquariums or have had a bad run of coral deaths, our featured coral, the Cabbage Coral, is a great coral to add to your tank. As the common name suggests this soft coral looks…

Continuing A Reef Show Tradition With Chris Meckley

Chris Meckley, the owner of ACI Aquaculture, and I have different levels of experience in the reefkeeping hobby. Therefore, it’s fair to say that his preferences for corals may differ from mine. However, I always enjoy the opportunity to compare…

Flashback Friday: When Jake wrote about the Croc Scolies of the Arafura Sea

At twenty years old, with 50,000 images and nearly 15,000 posts strong, we love going back through the Reef Builders archives to remind ourselves just how good some of the corals were, along with the stories behind them. This morning…

FAQs on the Weeping Willow Leather Coral

We ask Sarcophyton fanatic Remy about the Weeping Willow Toadstool, how to ID it, and who if anyone has it now. What is the Weeping Willow? The “Weeping Willow” is a species of Sarcophyton. Commonly called “toadstools,” these leathers are…

Why Coral Collectors Trim Corals and Why You Should Trim Them Too. 

Have you wondered why some corals look the way they do when you buy them at your aquarium store? Some with a flat base cut, some with grinding marks on them, and other man-made alterations. You might have seen this…

Snake Polyps are the Oddballs of the Coral World

A fascinating soft coral rarely seen nowadays is the “snake polyp.” several species belong to this family, including Isaurus tuberculatus, I. cliftoni, and  I. maculatus. These species are closely related to zoanthids. They have a long stalk with a central…

World’s Largest Deep-sea Coral Reef Discovered off the Southeast United States

A deep-sea coral reef covering 6.4 million acres has been discovered off the southeast United States. Researchers working for NOAA and its partners mapped an underwater seascape of coldwater coral mounds the size of Vermont, deeming it the largest deep-sea…

Cryopreservation Breakthrough Sees Coral Larvae Survive and Settle After Freezing

You won’t be surprised to read that coral reefs are going through a tough time. It may surprise you to read, however, that scientists have been trying and failing to freeze coral larvae for the past twenty years in an…

Easy Corals: The Hollywood Stunner

In the UK we have a yeast-based food spread called Marmite (Vegemite,) and people’s vehement love or hate for it has become a British institution. Our featured coral, The Hollywood Stunner chalice coral is similarly polarizing amongst the reefing community,…

Raja in Pajamas is the Hottest Coral in the World Right Now

With the dark-rimmed yellow mouths and green base of a Raja Rampage, and the blue streaks of a Jelly Bean Chalice, the second we saw this coral we knew we had to find out more. Blaine Shivley from Top Shelf…