Soft corals are most often refered to as corals that have a soft or leathery feel to them. They do not have a 'hard' calcium skeleton but do utilize small amounts of calcium, called spicules, to give themselves some rigidity. Their polyps vary in size and some are retractable whereas others are not.
Soft corals require medium to slightly high water flow.
This mucous if not swept away can encourage bacteria or protozoan infections that can cause the demise of the coral. Lighting requirements vary from simple flourescents to strong metal halide. When adding new soft corals determine what light intensity the coral was under previously and after an acclimation period slowly increase the intensity Leather Coral Toadstool Leather Coral Sarcophyton sp. Central stalk supports a wide oral disk that is covered with small polyps. Individual polyps vary in size, length, and color.