SPS / LPS / Softie, what is the difference?

[D3DPrintedThingz]

We need a *dumb question* warning for times like these. I know I can do my research, and google, and read forums, but where is the interaction in that?

Sooo what is the difference between SPS / LPS / Softie coral? Anyone who knows anything always refers to SPS dominated or LPS dominated etc. types of tanks and I am always sitting in the back nodding my head like I understand while in my head I am reciting the 50 states in reverse, completely unable to comprehend.

Anyone want to volunteer to describe what the differences are, so I would be able to play with the big kids at recess during discussion time? I currently have a green star polyp baby frag and a ricordea mushroom in my tank, I believe those would be "softies" but even then I am unsure.

Thanks in advance fellow reefers.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Softies are your corals like leathers, Xenia, zoas, shrooms, and even gorgonians (though technically zoas, shrooms, and gorgs are in their own classifications). These lack a true skeleton and generally don’t sting (I believe some shrooms can), many, like leathers, use chemical defenses as their main form of defense.
Toadstool leather, palys, and gsp:

LPS, or large polyp stony, have a skeleton and large amounts of flesh, the skeleton and flesh act almost like 2 different parts. These include euphilia, favia (and other brains), trumpets, duncans , and some encrusters like cyphastrea and lithophyllon.
Frogspawns and torch:

SPS, or small polyp stony, are your corals like acropora, montipora, leptoseris, and stylophora. They have a small amount of flesh that blankets a skeleton. They also tend to be the hardest to keep alive. Some are encrusters, others grow in plates, and others grow in branches.
Leptoseris:

There is also NPS, which is pretty much any coral (or even nems) that does not carry out photosynthesis for food. This includes many gorgs, sun coral (related to duncans), and tube anemones. I’ve even seen flame scallops called NPS.
Often reefs are dominated by one type of coral, simply because it’s easier to provide for the needs of specific corals instead of attempting to keep all kinds happy at once. Mixed reef is doable, but I’m quickly finding out how much of a headache it is.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Softies are your corals like leathers, Xenia, zoas, shrooms, and even gorgonians (though technically zoas, shrooms, and gorgs are in their own classifications). These lack a true skeleton and generally don’t sting (I believe some shrooms can), many, like leathers, use chemical defenses as their main form of defense.
Toadstool leather, palys, and gsp:

LPS, or large polyp stony, have a skeleton and large amounts of flesh, the skeleton and flesh act almost like 2 different parts. These include euphilia, favia (and other brains), trumpets, duncans , and some encrusters like cyphastrea and lithophyllon.
Frogspawns and torch:

SPS, or small polyp stony, are your corals like acropora, montipora, leptoseris, and stylophora. They have a small amount of flesh that blankets a skeleton. They also tend to be the hardest to keep alive. Some are encrusters, others grow in plates, and others grow in branches.
Leptoseris:

There is also NPS, which is pretty much any coral (or even nems) that does not carry out photosynthesis for food. This includes many gorgs, sun coral (related to duncans), and tube anemones. I’ve even seen flame scallops called NPS.
Often reefs are dominated by one type of coral, simply because it’s easier to provide for the needs of specific corals instead of attempting to keep all kinds happy at once. Mixed reef is doable, but I’m quickly finding out how much of a headache it is.

I shall print this and put it in my aquarium binder. Yes I am a nerd and I keep an aquarium binder. Lol. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for the time spent sharing your knowledge

 

[Rick's Reviews]

You have more to learn and your binder will become encyclopedia... Your doing the best thing by learning but please don't expect all knowledge to be sent to you via a message

 

[Sharkbait19]

I’m sure others will be able to chime in with better explanations than me, this is just the best way I can explain it.
My advice is to buy what corals you like. If you aren’t sure what they are at the lfs, ask someone and they should be able to give advice on general care, or you can look it up or hop on here for questions. Early on it’s tough as you are limited in selections, but as the tank matures, pretty much anything is up for grabs.

 

[Miami Reef]

Mixed reef is doable, but I’m quickly finding out how much of a headache it is.

In what ways do you find maintaining mixed reefs being a headache?

 

[Sharkbait19]

In what ways do you find maintaining mixed reefs being a headache?

Where to start lol…

First, there is the shear overgrowth of certain soft corals, in which they can, if you’re not careful, overrun a reef and grow over and sometimes kill stony corals. This was the case with palys that I put in the tank, that started as two polyps, and now claim an entire side of the tank. Pulsing xenia is also a nuisance, that can be controlled by very few stony coral species.

The even bigger problem is chemical warfare. I made the mistake of purchasing five separate leather corals in my early reefing days. As they continued to grow and become more established, they began to create many ill effects. You’d think that stony corals could combat leather corals and other softies with their sweepers, but it tends to be the opposite. In the wild, soft corals release chemical deterrents that keep other softies and stony corals from encroaching, but in a reef tank, these chemicals remain in the same location and diffuse quickly into the relatively small water volume. On multiple accounts, I have had lps meltdowns because I accidentally really ticked off a leather coral (sometimes via intentionally moving/prying off a rock). I used to not know the reason for these meltdowns, but picked up on the pattern that the leathers were always the cause. I have slowly become more aware of the problems this was causing in my reef, stunting growth and oftentimes killing the smaller and weaker stony corals. From my experience, chemical warfare can be quite relentless and is one of the most damaging aspects to a mixed reef.

 

[Brucealmighty]

This kind of information, and a coral compatibility chart, that are easily accessible from the homepage of the new R2R app could be useful for all newcomers to the hobby and most importantly save a few corals from pointless deaths put in the wrong kind of setup, like ultra low nutrient coral types not going in with the mushrooms and zoa's in a 16 months old tank, therefore saving the hobbyist money and heartaches from losing expensive corals, juat a thought what do y'all think about it?

 

[Miami Reef]

Where to start lol…

First, there is the shear overgrowth of certain soft corals, in which they can, if you’re not careful, overrun a reef and grow over and sometimes kill stony corals. This was the case with palys that I put in the tank, that started as two polyps, and now claim an entire side of the tank. Pulsing xenia is also a nuisance, that can be controlled by very few stony coral species.

The even bigger problem is chemical warfare. I made the mistake of purchasing five separate leather corals in my early reefing days. As they continued to grow and become more established, they began to create many ill effects. You’d think that stony corals could combat leather corals and other softies with their sweepers, but it tends to be the opposite. In the wild, soft corals release chemical deterrents that keep other softies and stony corals from encroaching, but in a reef tank, these chemicals remain in the same location and diffuse quickly into the relatively small water volume. On multiple accounts, I have had lps meltdowns because I accidentally really ticked off a leather coral (sometimes via intentionally moving/prying off a rock). I used to not know the reason for these meltdowns, but picked up on the pattern that the leathers were always the cause. I have slowly become more aware of the problems this was causing in my reef, stunting growth and oftentimes killing the smaller and weaker stony corals. From my experience, chemical warfare can be quite relentless and is one of the most damaging aspects to a mixed reef.

Do you consider mixing SPS with LPS a mixed reef?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Do you consider mixing SPS with LPS a mixed reef?

Not so much, because they both fall under the category of scleractinian (reef building) corals, and provide similar functions. Others find that this would constitute as a mixed reef, but to me, the biggest difference is between stony corals and soft corals. There are, of course, SPS, LPS, and Soft dominant reefs, in which only one remains the main type of coral, though there could be some other types thrown in there. To me, these types of reefs wouldn’t count as mixed reefs. I feel that a mixed reef really would have an equal balance of different types of corals.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

You have more to learn and your binder will become encyclopedia... Your doing the best thing by learning but please don't expect all knowledge to be sent to you via a message

Hey I fully agree. This one was the classic “man I am bored” at work. You best bet I’m lurking almost 24/7 reading up on emergencies and general information to prepare for when I inevitability run into the same situation. I will say I have yet to ask a question and not get multiple answers all better than my own personal research, maybe R2R is spoiling me?

 

[Miami Reef]

Not so much, because they both fall under the category of scleractinian (reef building) corals, and provide similar functions. Others find that this would constitute as a mixed reef, but to me, the biggest difference is between stony corals and soft corals. There are, of course, SPS, LPS, and Soft dominant reefs, in which only one remains the main type of coral, though there could be some other types thrown in there. To me, these types of reefs wouldn’t count as mixed reefs. I feel that a mixed reef really would have an equal balance of different types of corals.

I fully agree with you.

 

[Gigajoulz]

To keep the conversation going on the different types of corals and *dumb questions* - I've visited several fish stores in North Florida and South Mississippi, and all the fish stores in Alabama, and at the last store in FL I think it finally clicked for me the differences in light spectra depending on the type of coral - soft, LPS, or SPS. I noticed that the store's SPS (like the acropora and montipora) tanks had that deep, rich, eye watering blue light spectra, while the softie (zoas, xenias, mushrooms) had more of a white-orange/pink light spectra, and the LPS (duncans and euphyllias) had a cool white/blue or cool pink/blue spectra on them. These tanks looked immaculate.

I've read where in years past the folks really like metal halide and T5s, but for what corals? and when did you supplement those with LEDs? or did you use a combination of tinted metal halides and T5s to get those differing cool white/pink and eye watering royal blues? Asking this for new reefers who've never used the those old bulbs (myself included). PetCo sells lights kinda like those old bulbs, but they are LEDs and fixed to a specific spectrum (one is like a pink and purple color, another is a deep rich blue, and another is a cool white, for example of the Aqeuon LED bars for their tank hoods).

 

[Gigajoulz]

This kind of information, and a coral compatibility chart, that are easily accessible from the homepage of the new R2R app could be useful for all newcomers to the hobby and most importantly save a few corals from pointless deaths put in the wrong kind of setup, like ultra low nutrient coral types not going in with the mushrooms and zoa's in a 16 months old tank, therefore saving the hobbyist money and heartaches from losing expensive corals, juat a thought what do y'all think about it?

I like this idea also. We could really use several charts, even just basic ones that classify corals as softie, LPS, SPS, etc; a chart for best light spectrums; one for competitiveness or chemical dangers to other coral; charts for flow types. This would be sooo helpful to new reefers... not only for the coral, but for our wallets!

 

[Northern Flicker]

In what ways do you find maintaining mixed reefs being a headache?

Not the person you asked, but I have a lagoon tank, and providing the right amount of light and flow for, say, mushrooms and also acros....it's just not ideal. the tank is only 13" deep, so PAR doesn't vary much. I'm making a switch to mainly softies, I'd prefer to give them an ideal environment than give 3 different groups all an ok environment.

 

[Gigajoulz]

Not the person you asked, but I have a lagoon tank, and providing the right amount of light and flow for, say, mushrooms and also acros....it's just not ideal. the tank is only 13" deep, so PAR doesn't vary much. I'm making a switch to mainly softies, I'd prefer to give them an ideal environment than give 3 different groups all an ok environment.

See as a beginner this is even helpful for me as I'm starting to realize which flow and light spectrum are appropriate for for the different coral types. I have a 125 gal 6 foot tank and about 2 feet deep. As I've been buying corals, I've noticed my two leptastreas I've had over the the last two years have not done well at all, but I'm now realizing thats because I've not had adequate lighting (in terms of power), even with the deep rich blue spectra. When I do crank up that deep blue spectra, my softies tend to close up or generally look unhappy (the green stars grow under anything it seems like, unless its too bright). And my Zoas and softies I think have been irritated by the flow in my tank.

I currently have just a small circulation pump in the corner kinda blasting over the open space in the tank to keep things moving and from settling everywhere on the sand. Then again, I think having Zoas, GSP, Duncan, Leptastrea and Sympodium coral have landed me with a mixed tank that I'm not able to handle. I'm thinking of narrowing it down to softies and LPS for now, and then eventually when I get strong lights with better light programming options, and better DC flow pumps, then I can move from exchange my softies for SPS, and keep the LPS down near the bottom of the tank and the SPS in the middle, more directly under the light. I figure the SPS will eventually create some shade and inhibit flow to make things easier on the LPS when the that time comes. I'm in my current situation with a mixed tank because I've not been disciplined and get whatever catches my eye, at the cost of hundreds of dollars in dead corals.

If we can centralize information and expensive like this, we can make the hobby less expensive for the beginner

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Softies are your corals like leathers, Xenia, zoas, shrooms, and even gorgonians (though technically zoas, shrooms, and gorgs are in their own classifications). These lack a true skeleton and generally don’t sting (I believe some shrooms can), many, like leathers, use chemical defenses as their main form of defense.
Toadstool leather, palys, and gsp:

LPS, or large polyp stony, have a skeleton and large amounts of flesh, the skeleton and flesh act almost like 2 different parts. These include euphilia, favia (and other brains), trumpets, duncans , and some encrusters like cyphastrea and lithophyllon.
Frogspawns and torch:

SPS, or small polyp stony, are your corals like acropora, montipora, leptoseris, and stylophora. They have a small amount of flesh that blankets a skeleton. They also tend to be the hardest to keep alive. Some are encrusters, others grow in plates, and others grow in branches.
Leptoseris:

There is also NPS, which is pretty much any coral (or even nems) that does not carry out photosynthesis for food. This includes many gorgs, sun coral (related to duncans), and tube anemones. I’ve even seen flame scallops called NPS.
Often reefs are dominated by one type of coral, simply because it’s easier to provide for the needs of specific corals instead of attempting to keep all kinds happy at once. Mixed reef is doable, but I’m quickly finding out how much of a headache it is.

Circled back to this post for some reason and wow you really did a wonderful job of explaining that to me, thank you! Lol what a years time can do

 

[mdpitts]

I shall print this and put it in my aquarium binder. Yes I am a nerd and I keep an aquarium binder. Lol. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for the time spent sharing your knowledge

Me too! I'm nerding right there with you. There is SO much to learn with saltwater. I am constantly confused. I cracked up at the top because I have been doing the same thing with all the lingo. I found this thread trying to clear up the fog.

 

[mdpitts]

This kind of information, and a coral compatibility chart, that are easily accessible from the homepage of the new R2R app could be useful for all newcomers to the hobby and most importantly save a few corals from pointless deaths put in the wrong kind of setup, like ultra low nutrient coral types not going in with the mushrooms and zoa's in a 16 months old tank, therefore saving the hobbyist money and heartaches from losing expensive corals, juat a thought what do y'all think about it?

YES! I need this. I think something like this happened to me after I rearranged my tank. Dang. I had no idea you could get chemicals in the water from ticking off your corals. They don't have eyebrows to give me the frowny look so how do I even know. I guess the thing to do is just leave everyone alone in there as much as I can.

 

[sfin52]

In what ways do you find maintaining mixed reefs being a headache?

Flow light and nutrient needs are big ones.