See more about the magnificent lifestyle of some corals that can also live in your home aquarium!
Corals are one good example of our Creator's enormous creativity. Their mysterious, fascinating beauty and delicacy has got the close attention of people mostly ever since the beginning of humanity. So, let us look closer at them and their story.
These animals are a polyp species that belong to the class of Coelenterates. These polyps are connected with each other through calcareous channels. After the polyps' death, on the old calcareous skeleton grows another coral, and thus the coral reefs appear. The coral calcareous skeleton's most frequent colors are red and white. Because of its beauty, the coral calcareous skeleton is used by humans to make artifacts, jewelry pieces and decorative objects. Corals represent the living environment for numerous ocean species (in fact, for 1/3 of the ocean species). The corals' growing quotas are extremely variable, depending on environmental conditions or on the species.
There are many types of corals: ramified corals, flat corals, massive corals, brain corals, corals that look like paper or foil. Many of these corals can be kept in aquariums, only we need to mind their very own specific needs and particularities. Thus, Sinularia enjoys medium lighting and does not require a direct feeding. It is very easy to spread. It grows very fast and it can feed very fast. As it has been previously mentioned, medium lighting is better than small lighting.
Sarcophyton latum requires medium luminosity/brightness. It is not an aggressive species and it is easy to grow in an aquarium.
Sarcophyton elegans has a unique look. It has a very difficult resistance and do not respond positively to stress conditions. They are sensitive to the human touch, although they do not die if touched, they may get quite stressed out. They require medium to high luminosity conditions. Therefore, they require more light than Sarcophyton. Their placement varies depending on the aquarium's conditions.
Sarcophyton is incredibly easy to spread. It is the perfect type of corals for those who are not familiar with keeping an aquarium. They tolerate any type of luminosity, but they are more sensitive to the water's quality. They can be placed most anywhere, even in darker rocks. It is a somehow aggressive species, since it can spread out toxins in the aquarium that can harm other coral species.
Hydnophora has a medium resistance and it requires high luminosity. Its placement depends on the light. It is easy to feed, with any nutrients. This type has been spread in captivity. If we offer this coral a lot of light, it is rather easy to grow in an aquarium.
Heliofungia is a beautiful coral with long and colorful tentacles. This coral can be also found in local fish shops. It is a very healthy species and shall survive in the first months in captivity, with a very good reaction to change. It requires a lot of light.
Tubacrea, the sun coral is indeed a magnificent species. It has unusual colors such as yellow, orange and black. It does not contain algae that make the corals photosynthetic. If this coral is not photosynthetic and does grow in darker places it will survive longer. At any rate, the coral can live happily in both types of environment: luminous or darker. It is placed in a substrate or on small rocks. It must be regularly fed, with small cut pieces and each piece of polyp in particular needs special care. It can propagate due to its capacity to reproduce sexuality in its body and form the polyps. It is rather non-aggressive. It does imply a lot of difficulties to be grown in an aquarium. If during the feeding process all polyps do not receive food, those polyps which do not get any food will die.
Miss Ricordia are some wonderful corals. They are beautifully colored, easy to take care of and small enough to live in an aquarium, and also do not require a lot of light. They are very adaptable and like any type of luminosity, from fluorescent light to strong light. The difference in lights will affect the color and the coral's growth up to a certain point. The coral may sting and destroy its neighbors, so they should not be placed close to other coral species.