SPS, LPS, soft, frags & polyps

lietz06

lietz06

Member
So I'm looking into getting some corals for my 22nd birthday(this Monday:D). I was wondering what is the difference between SPS, LPS, soft corals, frags & polyps? What is the easiest to keep-what is the hardest? Right now I have PC lighting, which I was told some of the softies would do okay with. I'm looking into some new lighting...actually I've been looking into it for awhile now...just no money, lol! So I'd like to know the difference & hardiness with the other ones as well. Thanks
 
extinct 1ne

extinct 1ne

Member
Soft Corals, Zoanthids, Polyps, Mushrooms are all easy to take care of (your pcs should be fine).
LPS or Large-Polyp Stony are the 2nd hardest to take care of. They are "hard" unlike the Soft corals.
SPS or Small-Polyp Stony are the hardest to take care of, and would not advise keeping them under any lighting but Metal Halides.
Polyps are a type of coral.
Frags are just a small portion of a mother colony coral. Some hobbyists "frag" or "cut" a small piece of their mother colony to have more than one.
I hope that helped.
 
markw

markw

Member
Originally Posted by lietz06
http:///forum/post/3121996
So I'm looking into getting some corals for my 22nd birthday(this Monday:D). I was wondering what is the difference between SPS, LPS, soft corals, frags & polyps? What is the easiest to keep-what is the hardest? Right now I have PC lighting, which I was told some of the softies would do okay with. I'm looking into some new lighting...actually I've been looking into it for awhile now...just no money, lol! So I'd like to know the difference & hardiness with the other ones as well. Thanks

LPS- large polyp stonies
SPS- small polyp stonies
Softies- Soft coral
Frag- Piece of a coral that will grow into a full blown coral
Polyp- Piece of a coral such as zoas and mushrooms that have individual heads. Each head is called a polyp.
SPS are generally known as the hardest to keep because they need very strong lights. The easiest are usually the softies because they are generally the least light-demanding. A frag is a part of any of the types of corals as is a polyp. So, with PCs, if your tank is any more than 12", youre going to have trouble keeping anything in the lower levels. Youll do okay with softies and some LPS most likely if theyre at the upper levels. Maybe some Xenia? You will keep them alive, just not see much growth as fast as you could.
T5s will keep all three depending on which fixture you buy and Metal Halides will surely keep all of it (but also depends on which fixture and the depth of the tank. Put anything near the top with MH and it will live great unless it doesnt like light.)
Hope this helped.

Mark
 
extinct 1ne

extinct 1ne

Member
Your Welcome. With Pc's I would stick to Softies, Zoos, Shrooms...I would look into getting a Colt coral. They are amazingly pretty when they are huge! Here is a picture of mine in my 55g soft / lps reef. Sorry for the flash, it looks prettier without the camera.

 
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