But What Exactly Are Corals?

Corals are actually calcium carbonate deposits, or to be more precise, the actual skeletal remains of sea animals like anemones and polyps. These skeletal remains have piled up one on top of the other over time. A “single” living coral is actually a colony of tiny organisms living, feeding, and reproducing together. The larger the coral, the older it is. Many of the polyps residing in these corals feed on plankton, sweeping them using long, refined tentacles. Other polyps feed off the nutrients from the water, by utilizing a symbiotic relationship with an alga called the zooxanthellae. The alga helps produce about 90% of the colony’s energy through photosynthesis; and in turn, the coral provides safe harbor to the alga from likely predators whose main diet consist of various algae species.

Here at God's reation's Under The Sea, we have a great selection of corals like large polyp stony corals or LPS Corals; small polyp stony corals or SPS Corals; soft corals; mushroom, ricordeas; and polyps.

Large polyp stony corals or LPS Corals are perhaps, the hardiest of the coral species. They are rather fleshy and can occupy a large amount of living space when they establish themselves successfully in a coral reef fish tank or aquarium set-up. In the wild, these corals can grow to enormous sizes; some of them can even grow over 20 feet in diameter. Usually, the LPS start with a single branch of polyp. It can regenerate or reproduce itself several times over given adequate lighting, space, and the amount of nutrition it receives in moving water.

Like all coral species, moving water is essential to the development of the LPS, and with adequate supply of light. Its wavy tentacles filter the waters for microscopic feed, and at the same time, it utilizes the energy provided by the alga zooxanthellae via a process called photosynthesis. Perhaps the most recognizable example of an LPS would be the brain coral.

Dramatic is one word that can truly represent this coral species. Brain corals have vibrant coloration and are usually characterized by spheroid shape of the entire polyp colonies. Incredibly, some brain corals have been estimated to have 200 year old life spans.

Other Large Polyp Stony Corals (LPS Corals) species that can be availed of here at God's Creation's Under The Sea include Acanthastrea Coral, Alveopora Coral, Blastomussa Coral, Bubble Coral, Cup Coral, Elegance Coral, Frogspawn Coral, Favia Brain Coral, Favites Brain Coral, Fungia Coral, Galaxea Coral, Goniopora, Goniopora Coral, Hammer Coral, Lobo Brain Coral, Modem Coral, Montipora Capricornus, Pearl Coral, Platygyra Brain Coral, Scolymia Brain Coral, Sun Polyp Coral, Tongue Coral, Torch Coral, and Trumpet Corals.

We also carry an assortment of small polyp stony corals (SPS Corals) like the branching Acropora Green Coral; the reddish, aqua-cultured and plated Montipora Capricornis; and the umbrella looking Fungia Coral, to name a few.

Soft corals (polyp species that lacks the hard exoskeleton) are also a top favorite among hobbyists and here, we have a selection ranging from Cabbage Leather, Carnation Coral, Christmas Tree Soft Coral, Colt Coral, Devil’s Hand Leather, Glove Polyp, Kenya Tree Coral, Pipe Organ Coral, Sea Fan, Sea Plume Gorgonian, Sea Rod, Spaghetti Finger Leather, Star Polyp, Thin Finger Leather, Toadstool Leather, Tree Coral, Yellow Toadstool Leather, and Young Finger Leather.