Generally coral reefs are found in shallow waters throughout the world. They thrive in warm, clear, shallow ocean habitats that are rich in life. Many coral reef organisms need these specific environmental conditions in order to maintain its healthy lifestyle. So when starting your own coral reef aquarium, it is important that you make these conditions as close to the original as possible. The massive structure of a coral reef is formed from coral polyps, tiny animals that live in colonies; when coral polyps die, they leave behind a hard, stony, branching structure made of limestone. This eventually becomes the coral reef; the hard coral. There are soft corals that plant themselves on the hard coral, adding color and diversity to the coral reef.
In general, the coral reef provides shelter for many animals in this complex habitat, including sponges, fish (like Reef Sharks, groupers, clown fish, eels, parrotfish, snapper, and scorpion fish), jellyfish, anemones, sea stars, crustaceans (like crabs, shrimp, and lobsters), turtles, sea snakes, snails, and mollusks (like octopuses, nautilus, and clams). With the diversity found in a coral reef, you can have a large variety of different creatures in your aquarium that make it as unique and exotic as a natural coral reef.
There are two types of coral, hard coral and soft coral. Hard corals have hard, limestone skeletons which form the basis of coral reefs. Soft corals (like sea fingers and sea whips) do not build reefs. Most species in a coral reef like temperatures to be between 70 and 85 ° F. There are coral reefs off the eastern coast of Africa, off the southern coast of India, in the Red Sea, and off the coasts of northeast and northwest Australia and on to Polynesia. There are also coral reefs off the coast of Florida, USA, to the Caribbean, and down to Brazil. The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia, is the largest coral reef in the world. It is over 1,257 miles (2000 km) long.
