Coral Questions

thormoto

Would someone please explain the differences in corals are or direct me to a site that can. I see all these sps, soft, hard and other types but i dont know what anything means and whether i would like to try and keep them in my tank.

Reefing Madness

SPS Corals: Hard Coral and Stony Corals for the Aquarium
LPS Corals: LPS Stony Corals and other Hard Corals for the Aquarium
Soft Coral: Ricordia; Fiji and Indo-Pacific Soft Corals
Mushroom Coral: Hardy Coral Mushrooms for Reef Aquarists
Coral Polyps: Colonial Coral and Button Polyp Corals

thormoto

That helps sort of but it still doesn't explain what sps and los mean
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Reefing Madness

SPS= Small Polyp Stony Coral. The creature in the Hard Coral are small polyp based. The Coral grows very big, but the Polyps in them do not.
LPS= Large Polyp Stony Coral. These corals can get rather large themselves. Like a Frogspawn, they keep expanding their coral, and growing more heads. Brain Coral, keeps growing out. These guys don't have Polyps. But some LPS have feeder tentacles that extend to find food.

thormoto

So what types of coral are a good choice for smaller tanks like a 30 gal tank?
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Reefing Madness

Any of them. Either way you go, you will have to cut back or remove some Coral once they get to big for the tank. SPS will grow to the top of the tank, and will branch out. LPS can take over the tank by multiplying. You can get Brain Corals, Favia,Zoas,Softies, really anything you want to get. You can always sell a Coral Frag locally for some $$ when you cut it back.

thormoto

Oh i didnt known that well that is nice to hear that if i see something that i like and can take care of it i could always cut it back and maybe even make some money. Is it hard to cut it back and make frags?

Reefing Madness

Its pretty easy to cut Coral to make Frags.
Reef Aquariums: How to Propagate Your Own Coral Frags at Home

kitten_penang

i better explain that sps aren't beginner corals and the water temp for soft corals shouldn't get too warm or fluctuate too much. mushrooms,zoas are easiest for a small beginner tank

Reefing Madness

But, there are some Beginner SPS out there for people to have, that do not have problems with some wate flux.
Birds Nest for instance.