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…
Australia’s newly discovered reef at Wilson’s Promontory Marine National park
As if Australia isn’t one of the luckiest continents with the largest reef in the world, a new reef has been discovered in the far south at Wilson’s Promontory Marine National park . This reef is a deep one, 300 feet…
Nanipora kamurai, a skeleton-building Octocoral that could already be in your tank
Nanipora kamurai is a new species of Octocoral which may be small and nondescript, but it falls in a very special place on the soft coral tree of life. We are all taught that soft corals are by definition soft, and we…
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…
Amazing Aquarium’s soft coral display will lull you into a hypnotic trance
I think it’s so unfair that people don’t give soft coral enough credit. I’m not talking about zoanthids, those single limited edition collectable polyps that cost as much as an emerald ring doesn’t quite cut it for me. I’m talking…
Tank Profile: Marco Pardun’s 104-gallon Room Divider Triton Reef
When I first came across this aquarium, it caught my eyes for a variety of reasons. First and foremost was the variety of color in its inhabitants. Next is the fact that it is a room divider (something I’ve always…
Tank Profile: Brian Babcock’s SPS-dominated Reef
With towering pillars of small-polyp stony corals framed against a spotless blue background, this aquarium makes me feel as though I’ve been plopped down smack dab in the middle of a coral reef, peering into the blue abyss beyond. Being…
Tank Profile: Roy Seine’s Alluring 312-Gallon Reef
When I came across a full-tank shot of this large aquarium, I knew I had to learn more about the system and its owner. Great profiles, large coral colonies, showcase-size specimens, and a clean bare-bottom layout all collaborate to catch…
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…
The polyps of the weeping willow leather coral have gotten even longer
Earlier this year we shared with you a video of the Weeping Willow leather coral, a particular Sarcophyton species of soft coral that has been growing in aquaria since the nineties. At the beginning of the summer we began nourishing the aquarium water…
