Everything you need to know about SPS:
Everything you need to know about the family Acroporidae, Pocilloporidae, Poritidae, Merulinidae, Agariciidae and Dendrophylliidae (this will take up two pages).
Now, lets start out with the basis: what does SPS stand for? SPS is not a scientific term, it’s merely a term used in our hobby (only). If you asked a marine biologist what an SPS coral is, most likely he would have no clue what you’re talking about. SPS stands for small polyped stony, or more accurately put, small polyped scleractinian. A scleractinian refers to a group of corals (cnidarians) that grows a calcium carbonate based skeleton. Such corals include small polyped scleractinians, large small polyped scleractinians. And any octocorals or hydrocorals. What’s the difference between SPS and LPS? Small polyps scleractinians (SPS) have smaller sized polyps than the large polyped scleractinians (duh). Some corals that are scientifically referred to as small polyped scleractinians are more accurately put as medium polyped scleractinians. These corals would include Hydnophora, and pavona. Some corals in the class octocorallia and hydrocorallia, such as Heliopora coerulea and the Millepora sp., are not truly SPS, but are actually either hydrozoans or calcareous soft corals.
Anyway, back to our SPS topic. We have a few main familys in SPS. The largest group is Acroporidae, which includes the genus Montipora , Acropora, Anacropora, and Astreopora. We also have Pocilloporidae, which includes the genus Pocillopora, Seriatopora, and Stylophora. We also have the family Poritidae, which includes the genus Porites. Another family is Merulinidae, which includes Hydnophora and Merulina. We also have Agariciidae, which includes the genus Pavona. Finally, we have Dendrophylliidae which includes the family Turbinaria and Duncanopsammia.
Ok, so now that we have the families and genus’s down, lets talk about care requirements. As the family is often too vague, I’ll break the care requirements down into the genus.
We’ll first discuss the most popular genus of corals…Acropora. Acropora can often comes in a wide range of colors and growth forms, which makes this genus so pleasing to the eye. Acropora is generally found in high current areas with a high amount of lighting. Even those “deep water” corals that you often see on Anthony’s site contain zooxanthellae and are indeed photosynthic. They still require the same amount of current as other Acroporids would. So, why do they refer to them as deepwater corals? You must consider that most people would not want to dive down 50 to 60 feet for a single colony of Acropora. Most acroporids are collected in shallow waters- it’s easier to collect, they often have brighter colors, and you can collect bigger quantities of them. They’re only considered deep water as people often do not travel to such depths to retrieve a coral. Acropora is best kept with metal halides- I cannot stress this enough. People have had some limited success with keeping Acroporids under fluorescent lighting, but most do best under halides. They often grow the quickest under halides and they show the most coloration under halides. Under fluorescent lighting, they will often turn brownish colors due to the increased amount of zooxanthellae, which is used to capture as much lighting as possible. Now, so sum things up, Acropora does best with high amounts of lighting and high amounts of current. The same care also applies to Anacropora and Astreopora. The genus Acropora contains 171 species.
Next I will be discussing the genus Montipora. It’s strange to think that Montipora, a very hardy coral, is related to Acropora. Thanks to evolution, Montipora is much more hardy and disease resistant than Acropora. Why? The corallites on Montipora are positioned inward rather than extending outward, like Acropora has. This prevents any diseases, such as rapid tissue necrosis, from reaching the corallites of the coral. Montipora is generally a very good starter coral for beginners, or people just turning over to the dark side. They’re hardy corals that will accept a wide range of water conditions and lighting requirements. Many species of Montipora are known for thriving under fluorescent lighting, which proves that they can withstand a wide range of intensity. Montipora does best with strong amounts of current. I like to aim for 3-8 inches per second of current. As for lighting, I would recommend they be placed under either strong amounts of fluorescent lighting or halides. Montipora contains the following species:
The next genus would be Pocillopora. Pocillopora is susceptible to many diseases, including rapid tissue necrosis. Pocillopora can be hardy once acclimated to the aquarium. Pocillopora can be tolerant of lower amounts of lighting, although most species prefer strong amounts of halides. P. damicornis is a popular, easy-to-find species of Pocillopora. Pocillopora, like most other SPS, enjoys strong amounts of current. I aim for 3-8 inches per second, meaning that 3-8” of water would pass by an area in one second.
Please note that Stylophora (also in the family Pocilloporidae) contains very similar care information.
Finally in the family Pocilloporidae, I will discuss the Genus Seriatopora. Seriatopora is generally a hardy, low-light coral. This is the type of coral which I would highly recommend to beginners. The. S. hystrix is a very nice species to start out with. Generally, if you give the S. hystrix low amounts of lighting, it often turns to a deep rich brown. If you give the S. hystrix intense amount of lighting, it will often turn bright pink or red. Seriatopora will usually do fine under Power compacts or VHO’s, proving water quality is good. As with the other SPS, a current of 3-8” per second is recommended.
The next family I will discuss is Poritidae, which contains the genus Porites. Porites is generally another good beginner coral, which is tolerant of a wide variety of lighting. Porites is a hardy coral, which is resistant to many diseases. Again, a current rate of 3-8 inches per second is recommended. Porites contains the species:
The next family I will discuss is an odd one- Merulinidae, which includes Hydnophora and Merulina. Hydnophora is scientifically classified as a small polyped scleractinian (SPS), although I always question that placement. As some of you know, Merulina is related to Large polyped scleractinians (LPS), although may sometimes be called an SPS. So, the family Merulinidae contains both LPS and SPS. Hydnophora is, in my opinion, an extremely hardy coral which can thrive under fluorescent lighting. Hydnophora is a great beginners coral, and often has a great fluorescent green coloration. Hydnophora does best with strong amounts of current, around 4-8 inches per second. Hydnophora is also susceptible to Rapid tissue necrosis, along with a few other diseases. Hydnophora is, in my opinion, one of the most aggressive “SPS” out there. Hydnophora contains strong nematocysts which are able to kill any neighboring corals relatively quickly. Hydnophora also contains long tentacles, which aid in fighting off corals that are too close. Because hydnophora has such strong nematocysts and since the polyps are oddly shaped, I like to refer to hydnophora as a Medium polyped scleractinian (MPS)
Merulina is another hardy low-light coral which is also tolerant of a wide amount of water conditions. I would recommend a current of 2-6 inches per second for this coral.
Next is the family Agariciidae, which includes the genus Pavana. Pavana is again a low-light coral which is extremely hardy. This is another coral which I would highly recommend to beginners. Pavana is tolerant to many water conditions and a wide variety of lighting, which makes it as hardy as it is. The genus Pavana does best with a current of 3-7 inches per second, with stronger amounts of lighting (strong amounts of Power compact or VHO may work, provided there are good water conditions). Pavana contains the following species:
The last family I will discuss is Dendrophylliidae, which includes the family Turbinaria and Duncanopsammia. Turbinaria is another coral that may be referred to as either an LPS or an SPS, although I like to call it an MPS. Turbinaria is tolerant of many water conditions and a wide variety of lighting, and comes in many different growth forums, including branching, whirling and table growth forms. It’s a hardy coral, which does best with a current rate of 3-6 inches per second.
Dunanospammia only contains one species, which is D. axifuga. D. axifuga is rare, and hasn’t been in the trade too often. D. axifuga has similar corallites to Tubastrea, although It is documented that Duncanopsammia does contain zooxanthellae, while Tubastrea is zooxanthellate.
sps page 1 copied from swf.com
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