Hard Coral Vs Soft Coral

Hard coral is a lot different than soft coral. Some types of soft coral aren't actually soft like you would think that they are. Hard coral is much more difficult to keep alive. It requires a very high powered light and often times you will need to spend at least $300 for a good lighting system. You will still need a good light with soft coral but it doesn't need to be as good as it would for hard coral. Soft coral is also a lot easier to take care of. It's also a lot easier to maintain and keep alive. Hard coral is not recommended for the beginner.

If you are new to the saltwater fish hobby you will only want to purchase soft coral. You can purchase different types of polyps and mushrooms. These are considered soft corals even though they are not coral. You can also purchase invertebrates such as the sea urchin because they are just as easy to keep alive as your average soft coral would be. You will want to add supplements to the water such as iodine and trace elements if you have soft coral in your fish tank. Most types of hard coral will require a lot more supplements than your soft coral would.

With hard coral you will have to purchase calcium, strontium, trace elements and iodine at least. Most types of hard coral will require at least six different supplements in order to keep them alive. If you have a large fish tank you would expect to go through a bottle of supplements around once every three months. The supplements will usually cost you around $6 a piece, so hard coral can be more expensive to take care of than soft coral would be. You will want to purchase corals that require the same trace elements so that you don't spend hundreds of dollars on all different kinds of supplements. If you add too much you can develop an algae problem which is hard to get rid of.