Soft Corals, Gorgonians, and Sea Pens comprise the Octocorallia, a major branch in the coral tree of life whose 3000+ species come in nearly every shape imaginable. Not surprisingly, this biodiversity has confounded taxonomists for centuries, resulting in no shortage…
soft corals
Show soft corals some love with a shallow lagoon tank
We don’t show enough of our tanks from the other side of the Atlantic so I thought I would show my own little project from the UK – this 200 liter/52 gallon soft coral-dominated lagoon tank. It was devised over…
Sinularia mesophotica, A New Species of Photosyntetic Soft Coral From The Deep
Sinularia mesophotica is a new species of soft coral that has just been described from the deep waters of the Red Sea. This coral is special for a number reasons, not the least of which is how deep it was found…
Wanting Versus Needing
Wanting Versus Needing While my daughter was at home for Spring Break, one of her most frequent refrains was “I need this” or “I will die without that”. As a parent one of the things I tried to…
Get Inspired By This Forest Of Soft Corals in Raja Ampat
Besides Zoanthids and the new wave of shrooms, the aquarium hobby is ruled by our love for stony corals. But soft corals are an important part of the reef environment, sometimes becoming so dominant that they form veritable forests of softly swaying…
Sinularia levi, a new species of soft coral from the Red Sea
There’s a new soft coral on the books and it’s called Sinularia levi. This new species of finger leather coral comes to us from the shallow waters of the Red Sea. Sinularia levi was described from a re-examination of S. polydactyla, the pulsing…
The Tyson Reef tank looks incredible after 15 years
The Tyson Reef tank is an old school 110 gallon reef tank that is going on 15 years old. Upscale marine aquarium service company Premier Fish & Reef took over the maintenance of this aquarium about three years ago and…
Sinularia dura, the one and only cabbage leather coral
The cabbage leather coral, Sinularia dura, is one of those inimitable corals that all reefers should keep at some point in their aquarium career. This coral has the potential to be incredibly beautiful but it is rarely ever displayed in a flattering…
Reef Building soft coral has the thickest stony “branches”
Soft corals are called “soft corals” because they are kind of like corals, and they are primarily soft. We know that there are always exceptions to every rule in the animal kingdom, and the most notable of these in the Octocorallia soft…
Two new coral species found off West Coast of North America
Two new species of octocoral have been discovered off the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada. The new corals were discovered in a tide pool in San Diego and the other off the coast of British Columbia. Octocorals are…