Azoox Corals

Rare Soft Coral Surfaces at QGI Aquatics 

We have all seen our fair share of soft and azooxanthellate corals in the hobby, but this one is definitely different. Not much is known about Chromonephthea as they rarely make it into the hobby. The specimens pictured were imported…

Mark’s Simply Elegant NPS Biotope Aquarium
Mark's NPS Biotope It's hard not to fall in love with juicy NPS aquariums. Mark's NPS Biotope is a fine example, and we jumped on the opportunity to feature Mark's simply elegant tank. Mark's NPS Biotope is a rimless Elos 120XL…
Maine Coral Gardens are filled with Azoox corals and marine life

When we think of the state of Maine in the Northeast United States, we tend to think of lobsters and clam chowder. But as it turns out, there’s a really rich coral reef right off the coast of this northerly…

Preliminary success with Dendronephthya carnation corals

Dendronephthya soft corals, better known as ‘carnation corals’, are some of the most beautiful and iconic members of natural reef communities. However, their captive care requirements have remained elusive and to date, no one has really been able to keep…

A visit to the Smithsonian Institution’s vast coral collection

Aquarists spend the majority of their coral-keeping career looking at, staring at, and growing live corals, hopefully. This is the inverse case for coral taxonomists such as Dr. Stephen Cairns who studies the remains of corals as skeletons, and all…

Dendronephthya colonies can grow to massive sizes

We’ve always read that certain species of Dendronephthya soft corals can grow to massive proportions but it really took seeing a colossal one in person to appreciate what this means. While diving for the Fluval Sea Flores Expedition, we came…

You can help crack the ‘Dendronephthya code’

The aquarium you are looking at at home would not have been possible without the effort many other hobbyists and scientists put in lots of experimenting. Just 50 years ago, keeping marine fish alive for more than a few months,…

Balanopsammia wirtzi, a new azoox coral species and genus from the Cape Verde Islands

Newly described stony corals are few and far between but West Africa has been hiding more than that in accessible, relatively shallow water. The new coral Balanopsammia wirtzi is an azooxanthellate stony coral from West Africa which was recently discovered to…

Mariusz’ sun coral reef is an azoox coral paradise

Mariusz Sun coral reef is one of those classic systems every serious reefer should know about. Mariusz sun coral reef is no longer in existence, and most of the photos are several years old, but reef is too worthy to…

Lophelia found at record depths in Gulf of Mexico

Lophelia may very well be one of our favorite corals ever – its stark white skeleton, elegant growth pattern and stunning transparent polyps making this an absolutely dreamy azooxanthellae coral. For those of you that do not know what we…