Before the hobby chased rainbow acros, reef tanks were built on these: toadstool and finger leathers swaying like trees, clove polyp mats opening by the hundred, and pipe organ — the octocoral with a secret red stony skeleton like a church organ’s pipes. They remain the honest backbone of a first reef: motion, color and forgiveness at a beginner price.
Leathers have one habit worth knowing in advance: every few weeks a healthy leather closes, turns waxy and sheds a film like a snake shedding skin, then reopens brighter. It looks alarming and is completely normal — give it flow and days, not fiddling. Cloves and pipe organ just want light, gentle flow and to be left to spread.
Care at a glance
| Light (PAR) | 75–150 |
|---|---|
| Flow | Moderate — enough to sway and to carry sheddings away |
| Placement | Leathers on open rock with growing room; cloves and pipe organ where a spreading mat is welcome |
| Feeding | Not required |
| Aggression | Low physical, but leathers release chemicals — run carbon in mixed reefs |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
Softies and stony corals mix fine as long as the chemical side is handled — a bag of carbon covers it. If the soft-coral look is the goal, add mushrooms, zoanthids and gorgonians and the tank furnishes itself; the species directory has each one.
Classic softies in stock now
7 in stock right now
Green Pipe Organ Coral$39.99View this coral →
Green Forest Clove Polyps$59.99View this coral →
Fireworks Clove Polyps$59.99View this coral →
Purple & Green Pipe Organ$59.99View this coral →
Firework Clove Polyps (Clavularia sp.) – 6–8 Polyp Frag$59.99View this coral →
Toadstool Leather Coral (Sarcophyton sp.) – 3" Frag$79.99Only 1 availableView this coral →
WYSIWYG Long Tentacle Toadstool Leather Coral – 6"$199.00View this coral →One thing to know before you order: shipping and packing are charged by the box, not by the coral. A box holds several corals for the same $15 packing fee and the same overnight ride, Florida orders under 6 lb ship overnight for a flat $30, and orders over $399 ship free. If this page puts one coral on your list, it is worth seeing what else belongs in the box — start with corals under $100 or the newest WYSIWYG pieces.
Every stony coral we sell is aquacultured at the shop in Key West under Florida Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072, and the photo on a WYSIWYG listing is the exact animal that ships. Corals ship UPS Overnight every Tuesday and Wednesday. If you are ever in Key West, come see the raceways.