Coral can bring a diverse range of color, beauty, and constant motion to any saltwater tank. In fact, there’s nothing quite as stunning as a healthy coral display with fish darting about the colorful landscape. With over 6,0000 species of coral, the potential to develop a rich array of textures and colors is nearly endless.

The Anthozoa class (under the phylum Cnidaria) includes corals, anemones, sea pens, and sea fans. These inverts don’t move around and are typically attached to a type of substrate. Consisting of polyps with internal or external skeletons, coral can add a fun and interesting look to any aquarium environment: When it comes to keeping coral in a saltwater tank, there are a few things to consider:

Best Lighting Options for Coral

In a natural environment, coral receive light from the sun in the proper intensity, spectrum and duration needed to thrive given their position and depth. When it comes to a reef tank, lighting is the most important consideration for a spectacular reef display. Depending on the type of coral you keep, you will need to be able to adjust their position in your tank to balance each species light intensity needs against their space or movement requirements.

When light is filtered through water, wavelengths travel differently. Red wavelengths are absorbed first and only blue wavelengths can reach into deeper waters. Talk to your local aquatic professional about what type of lighting your ideal display requires to ensure all the light variable boxes are checked for your tank set up.

Maintaining a Consistent Temperature

The most popular and colorful corals prefer a water temperature around 76 degrees. Water that is too hot or too cold can cause color fading or permanent damage, so if you notice any abrupt color change, this is a red flag. Additionally, a pH of approximately 8.3 is what you should strive to maintain using the proper calcium additives to maintain good health.

Enriched Nutrition for Best Results

Just like other creatures in your tank, coral need nutrition they can’t always get from the ecosystem you have duplicated. Most species rely on single-celled algae in addition to fresh phytoplankton or zooplankton.

Depending on the size of a coral’s polyps, using a combination of frozen or live and a formulated diet is considered a best practice. Using a coral feeder is highly recommended, as they are specifically designed for targeted feeding of liquefied and particulate foods to SPS corals, LPS corals and filter feeding aquarium creatures. With the slim design and extension tube, the Rio® Coral Feeder can be used to feed with phytoplankton, oyster eggs, cyclops, liquid coral food, baby brine shrimp, rotifers, copepods, and mixed coral frozen foods.

At Hikari^®, we offer a range of products ideal for direct feeding or target feeding coral! Hikari® Coralific Delite™ is a revolutionary diet, specifically developed for corals and their unique nutritional needs while offering two modes of feeding: Targeted Gel Feeding directly onto the mouth of a specific coral or Squirt & Go™ Feeding which allows the coral polyps to capture the food in the water column like they would zooplankton. Visit the official ®Hikari USA website to learn more.