Coral Identification
One of the most exciting parts of setting up a reef tank is choosing your first corals.
But for beginners, all the terms — soft corals, LPS, SPS — can feel confusing. What do they mean? How can you tell the difference? And why does it matter?
The good news is that identifying coral types becomes easy once you know what to look for.
Here’s a simple breakdown to help you quickly tell them apart and understand the basics of each group.
Soft Corals
Flexible and flowing, soft corals are the easiest to recognise because they don’t have a hard skeleton. Instead, they are flexible and bend with the current, often appearing to sway like plants or trees.
Many species also have leathery or mat-like textures, which adds to their soft appearance.
Common examples include Zoanthids, Mushrooms, Toadstool Leathers, and Sinularias.
For beginners, soft corals are an excellent starting point. They are generally hardy, forgiving of less-than-perfect water conditions, and quick growing, which means they can provide a lot of satisfaction for new reef keepers.
LPS Corals (Large Polyp Stony)
Fleshy and colourful, LPS corals have a hard stony skeleton but are distinguished by their large, fleshy polyps that extend from the skeleton. They often look inflated or puffy, with visible mouths at the centre of each polyp.
This makes them easy to spot compared to SPS corals. Popular examples include Hammers, Torches, Frogspawn, Acans, and Favias.
These corals are known for their vibrant colours and flowing tentacles. They require more stability than soft corals, but with moderate lighting, stable parameters, and occasional feeding of meaty foods, they can thrive even in a beginner’s reef tank.
SPS Corals (Small Polyp Stony)
Branching and Rigid, SPS corals are the most rigid in structure. They have hard skeletons with very small polyps that often appear as a fine fuzz covering the branches or plates of the coral.
Their growth forms include branching, plating, and encrusting shapes. Examples include Acropora, Montipora, Birdsnest, and Stylophora.
These corals are the most demanding of the three types. They require strong lighting, high water flow, and very stable parameters such as Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium. While they are stunning and form impressive reef structures, they are best left until you have experience keeping soft and LPS corals.
Why Does It Matter?
Understanding the difference between soft, LPS, and SPS corals helps you choose species that match your experience level. It also allows you to provide the correct placement in your aquarium, as SPS often thrive near the top under stronger light, LPS prefer mid-levels with moderate flow, and soft corals do well in lower or shaded areas.
For beginners, the best path is to start with soft corals and hardy LPS species. Once your tank matures and your confidence grows, you can gradually introduce SPS corals.
Identifying them is simpler than it seems. Soft corals are bendy with no skeleton, LPS corals are large-polyp stonies with fleshy tissue, and SPS corals are small-polyp stonies with rigid, branching structures.
